10 months and cruising

Oh... we are about to have our hands full if they weren't already!!  Elizabeth has just started to cruise efficiently this last week. 



Elizabeth cruising at 10 months old from Nathan Marvelle on Vimeo.

How I find recipes to try

Going with the idea that my food should look tasty, I have taken to looking at Google images to find the recipes that I want to cook.  I spot a picture that looks good - then go to the website to see if the recipe is doable.  Another website I've stumbled upon is called Taste Spotting.  I love the pictures!  I've used this to find a recipe for savory bread pudding with swiss chard and sweet potatoes...  Just type in the item that you have and up comes a bunch of pictures with links to recipes.  Yummy!  

Babies of the 80's

 

 

My mom saved a few of my outfits from when I was a baby, and when I get bored I dress Elizabeth up in them and take her picture.  

Most of the outfits are completely unpractical - for instance the pink sleeper only has buttons up the back with no access to the legs and diaper region.  I can only imagine that being a very unplesant and time consuming middle of the night for my mom. However, the design of the little greenish/blue onesey should be duplicated for modern times.  The flap that goes around her bottom comes up and snaps on her belly.  There are multiple places you can snap it meaning she can wear as she gets longer.  Unfortunately, it is not the cutest of the bunch, so she doesn't wear it too often.  The top outfit makes her look like she should be out on the prairie. I just love that hat. But she didn't - I have several pictures of her trying to take it off, however it is a good design and she couldn't get it to budge!

We have a few more outfits to get her into and I'll make sure to take a photo.  Good thing they are baby outfits, because I can just hear her now saying "mom this is ridiculous!"  I have to admit they are pretty ridiculous, but they're pretty darn cute too!

Cooking...

"Sun" dried tomatoes

We sliced up some tomatoes and baked them on a cookie cooling rack at 250* for ~ 3 hours.  This produced shriveled little tomatoes that tasted amazing - as if we had doused them in some kind of dressing. Our inspiration came from this recipe. 

While I am really looking forward to fall taking hold here (why is it still mid 90s today?), I am not looking forward to the end of tomato season. 

Growth chart idea

I have been looking for ideas for a growth chart for Elizabeth.  I want to record her height on something for a visual of how fast she is growing, but knowing that we are not going to be in this house forever I wanted something that we could take with us.  I also didn't want something too gaudy or too cutsey that would not be appropriate for when she gets older.  After doing a thorough internet search I came upon this.

I bought a 6 foot board from home depot and painted it white.  I plan on recording her height with a line date and then close to here birthday every year have her put her hand print in alternating colors. It fits all my criteria; I just love this idea! 

Nine months old

Today Elizabeth had her nine month appointment with Dr. Salter.  She weighed in at an even 18lbs and she is 26.5 inches tall.  She is hugging the 25th percentile curve for all her measurements. 

From what we can tell and from what the doctor said, she seems to be developing right on track.   She is pulling up on everything and crawls like a champ.  She has 3 teeth - all on the bottom.   And she is still a very happy baby.  Well, except when she doesn't get her way... she hates having her diaper changed, not eating what we are eating, having things taken away from her (especially things that she should not have like the dog's water bowl or paper that will inevitably go right in her mouth), and initially being put in her car seat.  She doesn't have stranger anxiety which we have read could kick in during this month.  We are hoping that it never does.  She is still a great sleeper but her bed time is creeping earlier and earlier.  We would prefer to have her go to bed a little later so we could go out and do things, but these days she prefers to go to bed around 8:15, and we will probably be pushing that more towards 8 in the next few weeks as she is getting grumpy during those last 15 minutes if we are not doing something to entertain her.  I remember when she used to go to bed at 10:30 and we asked the doctor when she would start going to bed earlier.  Now we know.  She still takes 2 to 3 naps during the day at 45min to 1.5 hours each.

All and all she is great!