Six Months Old

Ada Babes is about to turn six months old. I can't believe that half a year has flown by already. I know it's cliche, but it seems like just yesterday I gave birth to our baby girl.

Ada is bright and sunny: full of laughs, smiles and snuggles. She is definitely the apple of her Daddy's eye and has him wrapped around her little finger.

We started solids on Monday and Ada is taking just fine to her rice cereal. She tries to 'nurse' the spoon, but isn't having any problems swallowing the pablum. I'm looking forward to introducing her to some nummy fruit in the months ahead.



Our little girl has discovered her hands and is reaching out and grabbing for things. Anything, really. Glasses, hair, noses, forks and cat tails are all fair game and go immediately into her mouth. But the best thing about Ada learning to use her hands is that she'll gently touch our faces when we hold her, or she'll play with my hair and rub my arm while she nurses. I remember Liam did the same thing when he was this age...it was heart melting.

Ada is becoming more mobile. When put on her tummy, she can push herself around in a circle with her hands. She can also push herself backwards too. I didn't think she could move as well as she could until I felt her gnawing on my pant leg while I was making lunch today. She had moved half way across the kitchen floor to where I was standing!

Ada's two favourite things are still her brother and her cat; seeing either will send her into spasms of laughter.

I am truly blessed to have great kids and a happy home. Here's to the next six months ahead. Cheers!

Kids Say the Darndest Things

This morning, Liam was watching a Bobcat clear the parking lot across the street. When the bobcat had been loaded up onto the trailer and driven away, he asked, "Mommy, where'd the bobcat go?"

"Well, Liam, he probably had to go to another parking lot to clear the snow there. A bobcat has a lot of hard work to do."

"Yeah," Liam responded with a serious look on his face, "but it sure does impress the girls."



I just about died laughing.

Nap Time?

Nap Time is a rather loosely used term around here. Liam rarely, if ever, takes naps anymore. His nap time consists of playing quietly in his room for about an hour after lunch. This quiet time is more for my sanity's sake than for his rest.

Ada, however can sleep like a machine during the day (the nights are a whole 'nother story). When she starts to fuss I can just lay her down in the play pen and walk away. No nursing or rocking her to sleep needed. I lay her down, she wiggles around under the covers, gives a smile and promptly falls asleep.

So imagine my surprise when I laid Ada down for a nap today and didn't hear her quiet snores, but instead heard her giggling and squealing.

Can you guess what I found when I went to investigate?

Apparently, Big Brother doesn't think Ada needs naps either. They were having so much fun together, I had to take a video of it...

Ada, thankfully, still took a good nap once I finally got her brother out of there.

Hmmmm, what could this be?

See that? Looks like a pretty bad rash on the small of Liam's back, doesn't it? Well, it's not a rash.

Nope. That's from the cat.

Liam is forever bugging our cat, Otto. When Liam was younger the cat would just sit and take whatever assault came his way, but now that Liam is getting older, the cat clearly is starting to fight back.

Look out Liam, I think you've met your match.

Domesticity

I've been feeling very domestic lately. It's probably the snowy weather.

Yesterday, I tried my hand at making some homemade crackers for Liam. They were a lot easier to make than I thought they would be and very tasty too. After his first bite, Liam announced that he "yuvs these."



Sesame Whole Wheat Crackers

1 3/4c whole wheat flour
1/4 c olive oil
1/4 c sesame seeds
1/2 c water
2 t honey
1 t salt

(you can omit the sesame seeds for just a basic whole wheat cracker)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, olive oil and sesame seeds in a bowl. Add honey and salt and mix thoroughly. Add water and mix until you have pie dough consistency (don't over mix or the dough will be too tough to roll out). Roll out dough to 1/8" thickness on some parchment paper. Score with a knife into squares. Bake 10 to 15 minutes until crackers are golden brown.

I found my edges were starting to burn and that the middle was still uncooked, so I broiled the tops of the crackers, then flipped them and broiled the other side to get the crackers nice and toasted.

Soooo good. Original recipe here.

Oops...has a month really gone by? Let's see if I can remember what new and exciting things have been happening around here lately.

Liam and Ada are now taking baths together. Liam has a great time showing off to his sister how he can 'swim' in the tub. Ada, as always, is quite enamored with her older brother and is more than thrilled to take a bath with him.


Ada shows her love for the water by constantly kicking her legs and pumping her arms when she's in the tub. She now sits in a tub ring, which supports her perfectly.

Our Ada Babes turned 5 months old last week and is turning into quite the wiggle meister. She enjoys rolling around on the floor and is learning how to use her jolly jumper. Her love affair with the swing isn't anywhere close to being over. She could sit in that thing all day if I'd let her.

Just a short update. I promise to be more diligent with posting. Should be lots to write about now that it's almost Christmas.

Sick Days

Liam and I have been pretty sick since Saturday. Ada, thankfully is feeling OK besides an occasional runny nose. We've all been stuck at home in our pajamas for quite some time now, but that doesn't mean we haven't been goofing off a bit in between sniffles.

Ada is getting very good at holding her head up now.

Brother and Sister each think the other one is pretty cool.

I dressed Ada up in a bonnet. I love bonnets...probably because I read Little House on the Prairie over and over and over again when I was younger.


By this point Ada was tired of posing for the camera.



This picture really cracks me up!

We're slowly working on getting better. Liam is off to the farm today so that I can get a chance to take a nap and try to shake off this cold. I have to go grocery shopping today and I'm looking forward to it. It's Wednesday now and today will be the first time I'll have left the house since Friday!