Kaili expanded her palate last night when she ate pureed cauliflower with garlic for dinner. I was hesitant that she would like it but alas she did, she ate the whole bowl. Shane said, “of course she liked it, how can she be our DNA and not like garlic?” Good point! I need to do that more often, offer her herbs and spices. I think roasting garlic and adding it to sweet potatoes would be pretty yummy. These baby food sites I visit don’t have many adventurous recipes for the 6 month old but I have to imagine other cultures are feeding there children more than boring plain, steamed vegetables. I wonder if there are any Asian baby food recipes?

Kaili is getting better at sitting up unassisted. She teeters from  side to side and eventually falls back, sometimes with a loud thud to the head 😦 Sitting up gives her a whole new perspective to the world around her. Yesterday I put Yo Gabba Gabba on ( a cartoon) and she couldn’t peel her eyes away.

I had a nice time at my cousin’s wedding and survived my weekend away from the babe. Sure I missed her but I didn’t lose sleep and I didn’t worry. I knew she was in great hands with her daddy so I was able to enjoy myself. Fresno is nothing to write home about but the wedding was held in a theater and it was beautiful.

I had a fun time reconnecting with some cousins I haven’t seen in years and even got a chance to hit the dance floor.  Shane sent me this picture of Kaili and I received it while I was at the ceremony. We really need a shirt that says “Daddy did my hair!”

Once back home I decided that I would take Kaili back up to OC to visit grandpa and uncle KC for a few days. Kaili gets a kick out of new places and it’s so fun to watch her take in her surroundings. We met my dad at the gallery in Laguna Niguel where he was doing a painting demo, one day Kaili will be able to paint with her grandpa and that will be so fun to see.

Kaili successfully slept in her pack n play for the first time. I was nervous about how that would go but alas she surprised me once again and slept through the night both nights.

Kaili also started Gymboree last week and LOVED it! One hour jammed packed with all sorts of fun new toys and sounds, sensory overload. She couldn’t contain her excitement when we held a parachute over all the babies and shook it up and down. I need to remember to take some pictures at our next class. Next week we are heading back to Orange County for some family time and turkey dinner. I finally get to make these Pumpkin Whoopie Pies that I didn’t get to make last year since I was on bed rest.

Where does the time go? I swear the first 4 months of Kaili’s life went by so slowly but now she is growing up so fast. She is still such a happy, easy and laid back baby. She rarely makes much noise but has countless facial expressions. She has begun blowing raspberries and thinks it’s hysterical when you pull her socks or pants of quickly.

She also gets a kick out of playing Peek a Boo with a blanket. She get’s so excited when you get ready to cover her with it, she squirms around like a fish out of water.

I am leaving her overnight for the first time this weekend. My dad and I are heading to Fresno for a family wedding and baby girl will get some one on one bonding time with her daddy. I will miss her so much but I am looking forward to having a mini break, even if it is just Fresno.

1 year ago I was put on bed rest for the majority of my pregnancy but today I am celebrating the reason why.  6 months ago I was given the best give ever and I love her with everything that I am.  Our sweet baby girl is 6 months old.

The last few weeks we have seen some changes in her, just more proof that she won’t be a baby forever. Kaili has gotten her two bottom teeth and it seems that her 4 canine teeth will make an appearance in the near future.This turned our good sleeper into a non-existent one for a week or so. She was waking up every hour and sometimes not going back to sleep until a few hours later. It seems the worst is over (for now) Tylenol at night seems to be helping and she has been sleeping pretty well the last few nights. She is also done with the swaddle so the big girl is in footed PJ’s and sleeping on her side and stomach most of the time. I will admit it still scares me a bit and I find myself checking on her during the night but that’s the way she is comfortable and since she is 6 months the risk of SIDS has gone down greatly. She has been putting herself to sleep for the most part and sleeps with a cat “lovey” that she will use as a pillow, we have ourselves a smart one here! 

On the flip side she has finally found her laugh and I don’t think there is anything cuter than her little giggle. She is ticklish, especially above the knees just like me. She also gets a kick out of a game of peek a boo with a blanket and likes to be scared..BOO! Go figure.

Solids are a slow go, she is still not much of an eater. I can get her to eat a few bites in a sitting but I can already see the amount increasing. I made a batch of peas, sweet potatoes and applesauce to last about a month. She has had them alone and combined. We just introduced whole grain oatmeal and that is a hit, I think we have a favorite. It’s really yummy with bananas.

Friday was Kaili’s 6 month well check and vaccinations. Everything looks great, she weighs 13 lbs. 8 oz. and is 25 1/2 inches long. Her head is in the 97 percentile and her body is in the 10 percentile, BIG head, little body!  She took her shots like a champ and was done crying within minutes. We have to go back in a month to get the second half of her flu shot, they don’t give full doses at once.

I had planned a big day for Saturday, taking Kaili to Bates Nut Farm in her costume for pictures and pumpkins. About halfway through the drive she started crying, really crying which is rare. When we got there I took her costume off since she seemed really warm and uncomfortable, plus  it was 87 degrees outside. After walking around a bit she was so fussy and now running a low grade fever. Her face was red and flushed and my heart was breaking for her.We assumed it was due to her vaccinations, so we sat in the shade and gave her some tylenol and a bottle and she quickly started to feel better. We enjoyed some food and homemade ice cream, grabbed some pumpkins and went on our way. It was very crowded and after stressing about Kaili we were all over being there.

We wanted to check out a couple of local wineries while we were out and we found a gem.  Cordiano Winery is in the hills of San Pasqual county it has a nice large outside patio, wood fire oven for pizza’a and pretty good wine. We sat outside and enjoyed a delicious pizza Margherita and a couple bottles of vino. Kaili started to get fussy again and then I realized she had a tooth cutting through. No wonder why she was crying, poor thing was teething. I gave her some more tylenol which works wonders and she took a nice long nap. Turns out she is getting both her bottom teeth, I can’t believe how fast she is growing.

Kaili and I have been visiting some of our local parks to see which ones we like best. She is big enough to do a little swinging on her own and even went down the slides with me. So fun!

Sweet potatoes…yum! I baked them then processed them with  a little water until smooth and creamy, delish!

 

This morning marks a big milestone in baby K’s life, we started solids. She is officially 24 weeks tomorrow but I wanted to start today just incase she had a bad reaction, that way we would  have time to get to the Pediatrician.  I decided to start with peas because it made sense to have her start with vegetables. I don’t have any doubt this child is going to like fruits.

Making the food couldn’t be easier, all I did was cook frozen organic peas according to directions and then pureed with some of the reserved cooking water.  I made the whole bag of peas which made almost 2 full ice-cube trays.

She seemed to like them enough, she opened her mouth to eat and wasn’t shoving the spoon away. Once in a while she would spit some out but then would eagerly eat the next bite. She did gag a couple of times although I am not sure it was because of the taste or the texture in her mouth.

Some of those pictures crack me up. It’s great to see her react to new situations. I love it!
Next up…Sweet potatoes.

It’s been a few months now since Kaili’s cast came off.

Before

After

It really has healed nicely. I will never forget how lucky we are!!

 

 

I couldn’t help myself!