Yum Yum!

Chloe started on solid foods on July 22. We started with some rice cereal that was just mostly breast milk. She was pretty skeptical.


Since then she has had sweet potatoes, bananas, carrots, peas, and nectarines. The peas only lasted one day before we fed them to Griff because Chloe dry heaved with each bite. Who can blame a girl?


For the most part, Chloe likes eating solid food. She isn't ravenous or anything. She just goes with the flow. She has given us lots of cute faces and is getting better and better at keeping the food in her mouth rather than all over her face.


Her favorite part of eating real food is getting to drink from a water glass! You have to be careful with your water glass because she will do everything in her power to get it.

I have been making Chloe's baby food. Lately, I just whip it up while I burn my bras. Don't worry, I have not turned into a total hippie or anything. I still do an evil laugh every time I throw Chloe's disposable diapers into the trash. Rain on my weekends... take that, EARTH.

The reason I have been making Chloe's baby food is because my Bradley friends introduced me to this book called Super Baby Food by this crazy lady named Ruth Yaron. The thought would have never occurred to me that it would be possible and even easy to make baby food. It is as simple as cook, blend, freeze. It maybe takes ten to fifteen minutes to make a batch of baby food. The most amazing part is that it saves us at least $15 every batch I make. I can't cook an adult meal to save my life, but I am very handy with the microwave and food processor, so it turns out I can make a mean batch of baby food!

For the record, I truly do not believe it is better to make your own baby food, and I have some jarred baby food, too. It is just surprisingly cheap and easy. It is even sort of fun. I would recommend that book if you are even somewhat interested in learning how to make baby food. Like I said, the woman is a total nut. She probably spends her whole day making baby food and sanitizing every nook of her home. But the back of the book has a lot of great recipes and advice on how and when to pick ripe fruits and vegetables, how and how long to store them, etc. It's really interesting stuff!

Pumping Woes

When I was pregnant and I passed by another pregnant woman I always felt like we had this secret connection, a unique understanding for one another despite being perfect strangers. It was like I was granted membership into an elite group, and all it cost me was fifteen pair of size four pants.

A few months later when I became a breastfeeding/pumping mother, the group became even more elite, because there were more drop outs than not. Now when I come across a woman carrying a little, black, milk-stained backpack, I feel the empathy and the connection on an even deeper level.

Only she, the woman with the milk-stained backpack, could possibly understand the disappointment you feel when you wake up in the morning and realize that you forgot to put the milk, the precious, precious milk in the fridge when you got home from work.

Only she can can understand the paradox you face when your office phone is ringing, and you really need to take the call, but will the person on the other line wonder what that "Riurr Riurr Riurr" is in the background? Also, only she agrees that the "Riurr Riurr Riurr" is actually taunting "Nipple Nipple Nipple."

Only she knows the feeling of spilling three ounces of milk down your shirt, pants, and shoes at the office because you failed to notice that the milk was pooling at the top of your tiny, disposable Medela storage bag.

She may not be the only one to notice, but she is definitely the only one who understands why you keep instinctively pressing on your boobs, which have turned into boulders because it has been almost five hours since you last pumped.

She knows how it feels to pump in a parking lot that was once empty, but is now full of construction workers on their lunch break. She knows how it feels to pump in a moving car, a pontoon boat, and a closet. She knows how it feels to pump over top of a public toilet, and when you drop a piece of your pump into said toilet and cry momentarily before throwing a fit of rage, only she will testify in court that your husband in fact MADE you do it and so it wasn't your fault that you attempted to kill him.

And in that moment when you see her hauling her purse, work tote, breast pump, diaper bag, and baby from her car you briefly think she may be the most amazing woman you've never known... but then again, is that bitch wearing size four jeans?

Chloe - 6 Months

Half a year! Six months! 26 Weeks! 181 Days! It doesn't matter how you count it - holy cow the time flies!


Chloe weighed in at 16 lbs 7 oz at her six month check up, and was 25 inches long. She was below average for height and above average for weight, and may be shaping up to have her momma's figure. Haha. The doctor was very impressed with Chloe's motor skills. She said Chloe was very strong and healthy. When she asked if Chloe could get up on all fours I turned her over and she stood with her palms and feet flat on the floor with her knees locked and butt straight in the air. It was her downward dog yoga pose I think. The doctor was laughing so hard, and it really was one of the cutest things Chloe has done to date. Little Miss Amelia also had to have two vaccinations. She cried so hard, but the pain was short lived and she was back to herself after a quick nap.

At six months Chloe is sitting up without much risk of falling over. She can roll all over the floor to get where she wants to go, and she can even army crawl. She is laughing and smiling all of the time. Her hair is coming in very thick and very blond. She still has blue eyes and dark skin.

Her biggest accomplishment so far has been breaking through two bottom teeth on July 16! She handled it like a champ. She wasn't fussy and didn't have a fever or diarrhea or anything. Chloe is one tough girl! I wasn't too thrilled about the challenges of teeth, but so far she has only bit me lightly a few times. Nothing major yet, although I'm sure I've got it coming.

Right now Chloe loves: necklaces, hair, beards, Griffin, grass, stroller rides, the outdoors in general, baths, drinking water from a cup, books, her exersaucer, mama and dada, grandpas and grandmas, Melissa, and country music (if Chloe is every crying in the car we just crank up some Rascal Flatts and she goes right into a trance). Right now Chloe hates: getting into her car seat, being left alone in a room, and taking naps (most of the time).

Chloe still sleeps pretty well at night. She goes to bed around 8:00 p.m. and stays sleeping until around 5:30 or 6:00 a.m. The problem is that when she hears people awake then she wants to play. She will take a hour long morning nap on a good day and then two 20 minute cat naps throughout the day. She is just go go go and hates having to stop for a nap. She is a good girl with or without her naps so no one seems to mind.

We started eating some rice cereal two days shy of her six month milestone. More to come on that in a later post. For now I'm just amazed at how fast these first six months have went. I have loved every month and all of the changes they have brought. Every day with Chloe is so much fun. I feel both joy and sadness to see my little baby grow into a big girl. Luckily, Chloe is getting to be more and more hilarious as the days pass.