New vegetable friends

I think we're turned the proverbial corner on vegetables!

It just goes to show that one has to constantly offer babies/toddlers different food choices and eventually they'll they'll try something new! A few weeks ago I whipped up a smorgasborg of vegetables: roasted cheddar cauliflower and crunchy "fried" green beans. I also put some broccoli on the roasting pan, but it began to burn before the other veggies were ready. I gave it to her anyway.

The only thing on the tray she ate (besides the little pb&j circles) was the sort-of-burnt roasted broccoli! Adding that to the roasted kale chips that she gobbles up and I thought we might be on to something.

This past week her new vegetable adventure was peeled and diced cucumber. Then while I was out on Mommy's day off, Daddy offered her diced fresh red pepper. Then she picked out an ear of corn at the farmer's market... which she ate fresh off the cob. One pleased parent right here!

I've tried some new recipes from my absolute favorite baby cooking blog, Weelicious. Sophie ate an entire meal of the Curry Rice that was packed with peas, carrots and potatoes (and subsequently wouldn't touch it the next day... oh well). Baby steps, but we're making progress!

Mother's Day, part deux

We had a great Mother's Day weekend with a surprise trek to Louisville, KY to visit with some family. This was my second year of being a mommy and getting in on the celebration - only made better by the fact that we announced we have another jellybean in the oven! Our due date is November 21, so we'll have another holiday birthday to add to the calendar.

We were also in Louisville in time for the Kentucky Derby. This was the only outfit in Sophie's closet with horses on it, and here she is running her own little derby (sans goggles, helmet and riding crop).

Sophie sure does love her little cousins in Kentucky, and I've got the pictures to prove it:

Sophie and cousin Kaelin.

Sophie sandwich! Hannah and Kaelin.

Impromptu Mother's Day pictures taken by hubby!

Obv, had a hard time picking a favorite!

My little love bug. Happy Mother's Day!

Easter recap

We're kind of having an amazing day. Is it too soon to say that? Am I going to jinx our afternoon? The day started with a bath and blowing bubbles in Sophie's room because of a early diaper explosion. Then she ate all but six bites of a breakfast quesadilla (have I professed my love for quesadillas yet?) that was packed full of red pepper, zuchinni, spinach and onion. We went to the gym for over an hour (there were tears when I left, but smiles when I came back!), story time at the library, had lunch,went for a quick walk and played "OW-SY" all before noon nap time!

This is all quite remarkable coming off the week/weekend that just passed. Sophie had a 2-hour tummy bug, Yaya got it, Dada got it, and Mommy had it the worst. I was completely out of commission for almost two days. Good thing we were in Florida with more people around to help take care of little stink. Before I got sick though we had an eventful trip! Here are some pictures of Sophie's first REAL beach outing at Pensacola Beach.

Getting brave!

Snack time (again!), the sun made her extra hungry!

Sophie's sweet friend Harper, in her fashionable Lilly suit!

Easter Sunday I was almost on my death bed, but I rallied to get through an Easter Egg hunt and some service music at church before we had to head home again. As much as I couldn't stomach anything more than Gatorade, I couldn't stomach the idea of missing her first Easter Egg hunt!

Getting started.

Eggs!

Gimme back my eggs!

She didn't quite grasp the concept of putting her eggs

in the basket. She insisted on holding them (which you could

guess results in not collecting many eggs!).

16 months!

Phew. 16 months. Really? I'm not kidding, where does the time go? And what a beautiful day to have a 16 month "birthday" here in the Carolinas.

What she's saying: Mama, Dada, ball, Maddy, doggies, outside, Bless You, bath, fish, bow, hair, brush teeth, hi/bye, sun, bear, pup-pup, and more I'm sure I can't think of right now. Today while getting ready for church she started saying "Awesome" which sounds a little like "awsh-oo" (which she learned from DJ Lance). **edited to add: "Happy Birthday, bubbles, all done." She says these alllllll the time; can't believe they skipped my mind.

What she's eating: less vegetables, more fruit. Can't wait for this phase to come full circle back to veggies!

What she's doing: Kindermusik, play dates, climbing and descending stairs, yelling, dancing, taking one solid 2-4 hour nap a day, sleeping from 7pm-7am, and just being a little ham - light of our lives!

Sophie smoothie

I feel like I start, and subsequently erase, so many posts about what Sophie is eating. Get excited folks because I'm not going to erase this one.

To date, we've cut out 90% of dairy from her diet (I allow 10% because of eating cheese quesadillas and grilled cheese sandwiches when we go to a restaurant... those are always winners). Well, those of you out there with kids know that dairy is a staple of every meal, so I have to get creative sometimes to make her a tasty snack. Enter: Sophie smoothie.

Sophie Smoothie

1/2 Cup organic silken tofu

1 Tablespoon honey

1/2 ripe banana

1/2 Cup chopped cantaloupe (frozen for extra chill/thickness)

1 Tablespoon organic ground flax seed

Blend all ingredients until desired texture. I added a few Tablespoons of rice milk to thin it out a little - that way it could be enjoyed with a straw! It tastes like a traditional yogurt smoothie!

An overnight with Seniorita Stinky Pants

Friday afternoon, Bryan, Seniorita Stinky Pants and I headed to Clemson, SC for Bryan's first half-marathon. I booked suites at two different hotels, unsure of which had the better setup for 7pm sleeping baby and parents that weren't yet ready to call it a night.

Luckily a childhood friend offered up her amazing, fully furnished 4 bedroom home that is on the market, while she and her family have relocated up north. What a perfect setup: Sophie had her own floor and a thousand toys for entertainment (and bonus, Bryan and I didn't have to put her to bed and stare at a hotel ceiling).

Bryan, aka Baby Daddy, doesn't get a lot of face time on my motherhood blog. Without him though, none of this fabulous mommy stuff would be possible. He is always up to some new challenge, new sport, new hobby, and I love how he keeps me on my toes! Hot off the press, his latest adventure was his first half-marathon. Bryan ran faster than he did in any training run, and surpassed his own expectations! I'm so proud of you, beb!

Here is my photo journal of the day:

Setting his watch at the start line.

In a dead sprint to the finish line!

Now that is a photo finish. Kisses from his sweet.

Collecting his awards for 2nd place in his age group!

Stinky Pants herself, in the Easter egg hunt.

We had a great overnight experience, largely in part to a generous friend. I'm so proud of Bryan for accomplishing yet another personal goal! Hope you had a great weekend, too.

Does the body good

After Sophie's one year well-baby visit, her Doctor suggested we try going dairy-free for 3 weeks to see if things would move, ah-hem, more smoothly in the #2 department. It worked. Hallelujah. My on-again, off-again love affair with Trader Joe's hit a bumpy patch as I scoured the shelves for dairy-free food options. Their "cheese alternative" might be lactose free, but most people that have a dairy sensitivity react to the milk protein, casein, not lactose. TJ's cheese alternative sure enough had casein in the ingredients :(

I consulted with another dear Doctor friend about Sophie's diet, and she is getting plenty of the good fats she needs even without having milk, cheese or yogurt included in her daily meals. The good fats that she eats come from flax seed, almond milk, peanut butter, sunflower seed butter, and regular organic butter/olive oil which I cook/bake with.

What about the calcium though? I found a list of the top 15 non-dairy calcium sources online. Gotta keep my baby healthy!

Sesame Seeds
A quarter cup of sesame seeds has 351 mg calcium.

**Spinach
A cup of boiled spinach has 245 mg.

Collard Greens
A cup of boiled collard greens has 266 mg.

Blackstrap Molasses
One tablespoon has about 137 mg.

Kelp
One cup of raw kelp has 136 mg.

Tahini
Two tablespoons of raw tahini (sesame seed butter) have 126 mg.

**Broccoli
Two cups of boiled broccoli have 124 mg.

Swiss Chard
One cup of boiled chard has 102 mg.

**Kale
One cup of boiled kale has 94 mg.

Brazil Nuts
Two ounces of Brazil nuts (12 nuts) have 90 mg.

Celery
Two cups of raw celery have 81 mg.

**Almonds
One ounce of almonds (23 nuts) has 75 mg.

Papaya
One medium papaya has 73 mg.

**Flax Seeds
Two tablespoons of flax seeds have 52 mg.

**Oranges
One medium orange has 52 mg.

**Sophie eats most of these willingly. Spinach - in a quesadilla with Tofuti and chicken.Oranges - easy. Flax seed - ground up it goes in tofu smoothies and waffles mostly. Almonds - she drinks 16oz of almond milk a day. Kale - she has been known to gobble up some kale chips. Broccoli - offer it, she'll turn up her nose. Puree it and put in spaghetti sauce, and it goes right down!