You talking to me?

You know those babies...the ones you see in the grocery store and they're happy and smiling? The ones who start grinning from ear to ear the second anyone smiles at them? That ones who will happily "talk" to anyone that engages them? The ones who clap and squeal when someone acts silly?

Yeah.

Not my baby.

She's such a happy child but I think people think I'm lying when I say that because she will not communicate with a stranger in any way. B tells me that they were in a store just last weekend and a lady declared that she would make Sydney laugh. Bless her heart. There she was, prancing around like a circus monkey and she got nothing more than a blank stare from the child. Not even a hint of a smile. Sometimes people say, "Oh she looks so sad!" and I have to stop myself from telling them that she was perfectly happy before they came along. Lol. She's just not that into new people upon first meeting them and it takes some time for her to warm up. I'm starting to feel sorry for the people who insist on trying though. 

Here are a pics of her silly self:

I promise, she doesn't wear this onesie as often as you think. She just happens to be wearing it on picture days. I'm not sure why I felt the need to explain that. 

Grandy's Back!

Look at my hair!

Breakfast - The food of champions

My daughter never ceases to amaze me and I love how she literally goes from not knowing or not being willing to do something to just mastering it in one day. It feels like we made leap from pureed foods to real "people" food in a split second. While the babies of my friends were chowing down on english muffins and whole peas and corn, Sydney had no interest in stepping out of her gag free comfort zone.  Now that she has learned to control that reflex, she will eat most anything we put in front of her and has tried a lot of new stuff in the last few weeks. She has some strong favourites:

• Spaghetti and homemade meat sauce
• Tuna salad sandwiches (much to Daddy's dismay - he can barely stand the smell)
• Good old macaroni and cheese
• Fruit, especially apple chunks

We've had a good variety for lunch and dinner but I was starting to think she was getting tired of the usual egg and cheese omelet or oatmeal for breakfast. Then my friend Lisa mentioned these Pumpkin Banana Muffins she makes for her son and *cue heavenly chorus* we have a winner! They're quick and easy to make, yummy, healthy and they freeze well! Yes! The recipe makes 30 muffins and I have had to stop her from stuffing her face too fast and choking when I give them to her. 

I do add 1/2 a cup of oil to the batter because all that fiber tends to make them a bit dry and this makes them nice and moist. I figure, spread over 30 muffins, that isn't too bad. Besides, babies need fat for brain development. :D I think I'll also add raisins to my next batch, if only to annoy the 90% of my friends who hate raisins. I mean, who doesn't love raisins? Come on!

I'm still looking for more healthy meal ideas and if you have any to share, hit me up in the comments. I'm also looking for a super duper blog designer so if you know one or are one, let me know. Thanks!

Fun Fact Friday!!

• Sydney is the slowest eater in the world. The kid chews every bite at least 32 times and meal times are forever and a day around here. Experts say people who eat slowly recognize when they're full sooner, so I guess that's a good thing in the long run. She's also easily distracted when she eats and stops to chat and clap and be nosey everytime. 

• It is possible for a person 1/5th your size to eat their food and half yours too, even if they do it slowly.

• I've tried giving her other phones to play with besides mine but she's not the least bit interested. I need to find her a toy phone exactly like mine for her. She is fixated on it

• "The quickest way for a parent to get a child's attention, is to sit down and look comfortable." - Lane Olinghouse. I have no clue who Lane Olinghouse is but she (or he?) speaks  the truth!

• It's my baby sisters birthday - Tricia and Tasha. They're two years about and have the same birthday. They're like grown women now and so old, which just means I'm older. *sigh* Anyway, I went to the trouble of posting pics only because one of them requested it. Happy Birthday Aunties!!!

She sits and plays in her pack and play whenever I need to get something done, like vacuum ory you know, use the bathroom in peace. 

Neurologist Update

I've been meaning to post this  but keep forgetting.

We went for our visit with the neurologist a few weeks ago and he is very happy with Sydney's progress. I :heart: this doctor because he manages to be very thorough without being an alarmist and all our other specialists hold him in such high regard. He asks all the right questions and checks for all the right things but he doesn't get too hung up on the developmental charts and milestones.  I think it's good to be aware of risks but we've seen some specialists who border on disbelief when I repeat her medical history as if she's not her own person. 

He always says that the tendency is there to over diagnose or over treat preemies because they are at higher risk for problems. While that is true, he says he tries to remember that babies are so different and even full termers develop differently. Some walk at 9 months and others don't walk until 18 months even in the absence of neurological or other health related problems. He checks Sydney for all the things that she absolutely should be doing by now and doesn't stress over what she could be doing. 

While she was being examined he kept 'oohing' and 'ahhing' over every thing she did and kept saying she's doing even better than he expected for her age. With every good thing he said I cheered and said. "Yay" and my daughter did the same, with some clapping thrown in. He thought she was hilarious! Of course, seeing him laugh only encouraged her so she spent the rest of the appt squealing, "Yay!" 

Anyway he wants us to see him one more time and then he plans to discharge her. I suspect that he wants to see her walk before he sends her off into the world.  He said that he typical follows micro-preemies for close to 3 years but he's really happy with her. Considering how scary her neurological issues appeared after her birth, this is like the best news...ever. God is good. 

In other news you can use: Miss Thang has taken to giggling whenever any of us laugh. It doesn't matter what the subject is, if we're talking to her or not, or if we're just watching tv. She has no clue what's funny but it doesn't matter. If we laugh, she laughs. It's.so.cute!

Fun Fact Friday!

Sydney came home from the hospital one year ago, yesterday.

When Sydney is really tired she pulls on her hair - HARD. I mean really hard.

It was much easier to study before a certain person could turn pages and rip paper. 

 

If you continue to allow your child to play with your cell phone, YOU may get in trouble. It happens especially if you forget that said phone can call 911 even when it is locked. You may take the phone from your child only to find that is making an emergency call and then hang up before you think it is connected. You will know you're wrong when the Sheriff's Dep't calls you back in a minute to ask if you just called 911. Not that it has happened to me or anything. :wink:

Sydney likes salty things. Her favourite is her Daddy's face after a long day at work. Let the church say, "Ewwww!"

Happy Friday Y'all!

Wordless Wednesday