Jamaica, here we come!

We booked our prize vacation last night:

35 days and counting!

"Green" diapers

The number of diapers we go through makes me sick.  We shove them in the diaper genie until it's packed solid, then we toss the bag in the garbage, then the trash man comes once a week to take them away and send them to live forever with all the other zillions of dirty diapers in the landfill.

So... I've been looking into "eco-friendly" diapering options and I finally decided to try out some gDiapers, because they use both cloth and biodegradable/flushable liners.  I figured these would make for the easiest transition, because I am not yet ready to take on the extra laundry.  I certainly haven't committed to anything -- I only bought three gPants and one package of liners.  So far they've worked fine, and Bobby doesn't seem to mind them... plus they look pretty darn cute compared to disposables.

Reviews seem to place these near the top, but I don't know -- is there something better?

New foods

We "processed" another vegetable for Bobby: acorn squash.  

I've never been much of a squash eater myself, but I figured I shouldn't force my ill feelings toward the food on my son.  And I'm glad I didn't, because Bob loved the acorn squash.  He was very displeased when I stopped feeding him to take a photo:

He even sucked the extra bits off his fingers between bites:

We also picked up a "sippy" cup for him.  Now instead of his two little bottom teeth clink-clinking on the glass, they scritch-scratch on the rubber.  I guess that's probably better, and in any case, this requires less supervision.  Bobby loves to drink water.

After a couple days of squash, Bobby tried avocado.  (I had fed it to him once before, but only a bite.)

He seemed to like it, but before the serving was finished he got too anxious for his liquid dinner:

(See his two little teeth?)

We finally moved on to the sweet potato we cooked and froze a couple of weeks ago:

(He's so delicious I could eat the mush right off his lips and fingers!)

I suppose I can't keep track of every single time Bobby eats a new food for the rest of his life... but I can try, can't I?

i love tulips.

Aren't they lovely?  To me, each tulip is a beautiful little miracle.  When I really think about it, flowers totally blow my mind.  God must be super busy in the spring working these miracles all over our gorgeous earth.

Bobby is such a good boy, walking around with me while I take a hundred pictures:

(Okay, maybe "a hundred" is an under-exaggeration.)

And Bob is a little miracle himself -- even more incredible than all of these tulips combined, if you ask me.

Tragedy

My heart is hurting today for Marissa and this little angel (Lincoln) who lost his father two nights ago.  Please pray (I'll say it again: PLEASE PRAY) for the whole family -- for Marissa to feel God's love and grace pouring over her.

Times like this make me so incredibly thankful to have a perfectly healthy baby and a loving husband.  We love you, Marissa and Lincoln.

First foods

This past weekend Bob made his foray into the consumption of "solid" foods.  I thought it might be time because Bobby has been acting even hungrier than usual (didn't know that was possible!) and besides, he'll be six months old soon.  Plus, you never know, maybe this will help him get through the night?

We started on Saturday with just a taste of the standard recommended baby rice cereal, mixed with breast milk to a practically liquid consistency.

  

 

He didn't seem to be a big fan of the taste (I don't blame him), and most of the cereal ended up dribbled down his chin, but he did manage a few swallows.

The next day, Sunday, we tried the same thing again.  This time he got a little more into it.

Take #3, on Monday, he ate the whole tablespoon and wanted more.

Ben and I also became the proud owners of a food processor for the first time in our lives.  It's like we're real grown-ups.  First we tested it out and made chicken salad.

But the primary purpose for the food processor (as you may have guessed) is to make baby food.  We started with carrots.

I gave Bobby a little taste just for fun.

He seemed to like the carrots a bit more than the cereal.  Maybe because they actually tasted good.

Here are the carrots.  (I got the ice cube tray idea here.)

We did sweet potatoes next:

Then went for a walk and Ben (sort-of) let me take his picture:

Here's the food all frozen and bagged:

 

On take two with carrots (Tuesday) Bobby got maybe 5 or 6 good swallows down before he got impatient and wanted his usual dinner.

Same thing went for today -- he was into trying the food, but before long he was whining, "where's my boob?"  I can't say I mind... I think it's amazing how he has thrived and grown to this point just on his mother's milk.  For me, breastfeeding has brought a great deal of satisfaction and joy.  Even with all of the pumping and bagging, I wouldn't have traded it.  And I won't... hopefully we'll keep it up for six more months at least.

And now, if you don't want to hear about BBMs (a term I just invented for baby bowel movements), stop reading.

So... Bobby hasn't pooped since Thursday... is that a problem?