Lots of new adventures...

Wow, time is flying. Tim's on the desktop computer tonight, so I can't access any new pictures to post right now. I'm thankful I can at least document some significant changes via laptop though! Kairis has been moving everywhere these days....she just started "rocking" back and forth on her shins, one step closer to crawling. She's scooting everywhere, but isn't content with just that. When she sees something she wants, like Emma's food and water bowls, she's there in an instant. It's so cute to watch her move so quickly! We spent some time at a friends house today, and they have two dogs, Emma and Zoe. Emma is a King Charles Spaniel, and Zoe is some huge mountain dog-can't remember what kind. Anyway, Kairis absolutely loved them. She wanted to be near the dogs every second I was there. So cute! Unfortunately, I think dogs might be in our future....

On another note, we started Kairis on solids last Monday night, March 23rd. We visited Dr. Joel earlier that day, as Kairis was coming down with a cold, and after she checked out fine, he recommended we start solids. She's more than ready for it, (well, besides that she has no teeth still) so we gave it a shot. He suggested we start with organic liver, egg yolk, and home made Kefir. So, we ventured over to New Seasons and bought some organic brown eggs, organic chicken liver and organic whole non-homogenized milk from Strauss dairy in California to make Kefir with. That evening it took Tim and I 3 eggs before we finally got the hang of hard boiling without cracking, and getting them cooked to perfection for her. I think we have a long ways to go! :) Anyway, we tried to spoon feed egg to her, but mainly we let her explore her food and play with it. The reactions and facial expressions she gave us were hilarious. I don't think she really liked the texture of the egg, but none the less, we're continuing to give it to her from time to time. Breastfed babies tend to be deficient in Iron, hence the organic liver. The egg yolk has great omega 3 fatty acids and support good brain development, as does the whole milk/kefir. So, that's why we're doing those first. Tonight, I gave her a bit of cooked sweet potato. She really liked that too. Yesterday she had some cooked turkey and did fairly well with it. She also had a tiny taste of mashed banana. That was her favorite--though, we're going to continue to hold off on the fruits until later, as they're quite sweet for our little girl.

It's actually more fun watching her eat/feeding her than I thought it would be. I wasn't looking forward to the messy fingers, face, and floor, not to mention the clean up involved. However, it's a lot of fun watching her learn and enjoy something new. I think I wish we had a dog, for one purpose only: to clean up the leftovers she's tossed of her high chair! This summer, we're going to enjoy the privacy of our courtyard and eat our meals outside. That way, we can hopefully make clean up more manageable. :)

On another note, Kairis is sleeping through the night (for the most part) and becoming easier to get down for the night again. I think she gave us hard times earlier because she was sick, and fighting off one cold from the next. She seems to have regulated into a more predictable schedule too, partly by my doing perhaps? She's up by 8am, down for an AM nap by 9:30, awake by around 11, down again for another nap at around 12:30-1:30ish and awake no later than 4. Than, it's dinner time, daddy/mommy/Kairis time, bath/books/bottle/bed by 7:30-8ish. She usually needs more milk at 10pm or so, but other than that, she's generally sleeping well again. I'm relieved to be getting some much needed rest!

Oh, one more thing: at dinner time, we're teaching her more signs, including: "more", "all done/finished", "eat", "please", and "thank you". And, every time she takes a bite of food, I clap my hands and say "yay!" and she lights up and giggles/smiles. It's so cute.