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Colin is finally big enough to sit in the shopping cart! We went to Costco and he seemed to enjoy the new experience. Until we passed by the Vitamix demo stand and I gave him a taste of a smoothie sample. Then he wanted more more more. He threw a fit when I didn't give him any more and I had to carry him in the Bjorn for the rest of the shopping trip.

Seven Month Update

This month was a fun one. I perfected sitting up, figured out how to crawl, and started solids!

Developments:
I'm officially mobile! It didn't take long for me to figure out how to crawl, although it's more like a scoot. Either way, I can now get to wherever I want pretty quickly, which is usually the dustiest, dirtiest corners of the house. Mommy spends a lot of time picking me up and re-positioning me. I've also gotten really good at moving from a sitting position to crawling and back again to sitting. Life is getting easier (at least for me)!

Eating:
Starting solids has been...extremely messy. As soon as I see the spoon coming near my face, all I want to do is grab it and I end up with a fistful of food. In addition to purees, we're also trying some baby-led weaning. At first I was given foods like whole bananas and baked sweet potato fries, but it turned out to be just as messy as spoon-feeding, if not more. So we started using this silicone feeder and I use it at practically every meal now. I love being able to feed myself, and Mommy and Daddy like that the food is kept contained. My first foods have included avocado, bananas, sweet potato, carrots, butternut squash, peaches, and pears, as well as Mum-mums. My favorites are bananas and carrots.

One downside to starting solids has been the constipation. Not that you want to hear about poop, but I used to have a bowel movement daily. Now I go four or five days without having one!

Sleep:
Not much progress since last month. I still have at least two night wakings which are quickly answered with a feeding so as not to wake Kaitlyn up. Mommy and Daddy moved me to the Pack n' Play in the den for a week with the intention of sleep training me. It worked for a couple of nights, but as soon as I moved back to the bedroom, I was waking up again.

My preferred sleeping position.

Activities:
I started Music Together classes this month at the Burlingame Rec Center. It's a mixed ages class (0-4 yrs), so Kaitlyn gets to come too. She loves being able to go to class with me and I really enjoy the stimulating environment. Most of the instruments go straight into my mouth, but I still like hearing and watching everything that goes on around me.

Big sis showing me how to play the drum.

Teeth:

Am I teething or am I not teething, who knows? We haven't seen any teeth yet, but I drool like crazy and gum everything I can get my hands on. I have a feeling we'll see one soon...

Disposition:

I'm a relatively happy baby and can put on a good show for strangers by flashing them with a huge grin. However I can also be very unpleasant when I don't have my way. There are times when I'm just plain fussy and want nothing but to be held by Mommy. This month I've also started to show signs of separation and stranger anxiety, and cry whenever Mommy leaves the room. Twice at the gym they've had to get Mommy mid-workout to come and get me because I was crying and screaming so loud I was scaring the other kids. Mommy felt bad so we haven't been going to the gym as often lately.

Likes: the TV remote, Mommy's iPhone, Brady, Mum-mums, hearing people whistle

Dislikes: the vacuum cleaner, being left alone, getting wiped down after meals

Webb Ranch

Our fall outings continued over the weekend at Webb Ranch in Portola Valley. Between pumpkin picking and apple picking, we can't seem to get enough of visiting farms. It is harvest season after all. In addition to a pumpkin patch, they had all of the usual kids' activities that one would expect at a farm.

First up, the train ride, or should I say empty plastic barrels on wheels drawn by a tractor?

There was also a hayride that turned out to be surprisingly fun. We thought it would just take us around the farm, but it took us to a cornfield and we were allowed to get off and pick (and taste) as much corn as we wanted.

Of course I had to go on the pony ride. 

Finally, I tried the WoW (Walk on Water) bubbles for the first time! I couldn't get myself to stand up inside, but I loved it! I couldn't stop talking about it afterward.

It was another successful farm day (and much warmer than the Half Moon Bay pumpkin farm)!

Pumpkin Time

For the fourth year in a row, we returned to Half Moon Bay to get our pumpkins. Even though it was sunny and in the 70's back home, it was overcast and chilly in HMB. And of course, Mommy had accidentally left my sweater at home. Luckily I was able to borrow hers. We didn't stay long, since it was so cold. Also, I pretty much picked out pumpkins for the entire family within the first fifteen minutes and threw them into the wheelbarrow. I wouldn't even let Mommy or Daddy trade them out for better ones. Lopsided or not, I don't discriminate.

We all know what Colin's thinking. He just wants to chew on that stem!

Mommy's Birthday

There's nothing more I like than to celebrate a birthday. Really, they are a HUGE deal to me. So when I learned that Mommy's birthday was coming up, I immediately started to prepare. I decorated homemade party hats and party blowers, wrapped presents, and collected items for her "surprise birthday party." I gathered everything into this big basket, covered it with a bed sheet and then "hid" the basket on the shelf, telling Mommy that it was a surprise and not to look inside.

After weeks of anticipation, Mommy's birthday finally came! At preschool, I made sure to tell all of my teachers it was her birthday, and drew her these pictures during class.

"The most beautiful picture ever." Rainbows for Mommy.

Mommy and Kaitlyn. The letters spell "Happy Birthday to Mommy."

When Daddy came home from work, I made Mommy go outside so I could set up her surprise birthday celebration, which consisted of taking everything out of the basket and laying it on the dinner table. Poh-poh and Goong-goong came over, and we had birthday cake. Then, Mommy opened her presents, which were random objects around the house that I had found and wrapped in plain paper. I think she liked them ("Oh, I was looking for that nail clipper everywhere!").

I made Mommy wear that tiara.

This is the book I chose for Mommy's birthday party. As in, she had to read the book aloud to me while we ate cake.

Blowing my homemade party blower while wearing my homemade hat.

Mommy was very touched by all the effort and thought I put into making her birthday special. After cake, Poh-poh and Goong-goong babysat while Mommy and Daddy went out for a quick sushi dinner. I got to stay up until they came home around 9pm, which made me really happy. I'd say her birthday celebration was a success this year!

Homemade Apple Pie

Mmm...homemade apple pie. After our apple picking trip, I couldn't help but make one (or three). It turns out my parents have a pretty good apple tree in their backyard as well (which made them wonder why would we drive another hour away to pick apples somewhere else?), so we've had a steady supply of apples the past few weeks. Here are two recipes that I've tried. Both came out fantastic, but you really can't go wrong with apple pie, no matter what recipe you use.

Apple Pie by Grandma Ople: This takes an extra step as you have to cook the filling before pouring it over the apples. It's basically like making your own caramel sauce, which is delicious! I could just make the filling itself and dip raw apple slices in it. I cheated on the crust in the picture above and used a store-bought Pillsbury crust. It looked good but really didn't taste that great (the crust, that is). Make your own crust!



Apple Pie by Smitten Kitchen: The filling was simple and quick. The crust was simple and not-so-quick, but worth the extra effort. I omitted the lemon juice and zest (most of the comments said it was unnecessary) and probably could have used less allspice. I wanted to be all farm-to-table and use whatever apples I had on hand, but ended up going to the store and adding in some granny smiths, which retain a firm texture even after being cooked (the fujis I used in the previous two pies got too soft). No wonder all recipes tell you to use granny smiths.

Really the biggest pain about making an apple pie is peeling all those apples! But if you have a really good peeler (not like the dull vegetable peeler from the 1970's that my mom still uses, ahem), it's not so bad. Kaitlyn enjoys helping to make them too. We could easily just pour the apple slices directly from the bowl onto the pie crust, but she insists on arranging each slice one by one, which keeps her busy for awhile. As long as it makes her happy.

Yum! Don't forget the vanilla ice cream!

This Year's Preschool Photo

I'm loving the genuine smile this year. Turns out the photographer asked her to say "hot dog" right before the picture.

Alyssa's Birthday Party

We went to Alyssa's fourth birthday party and guess who was there? I've been to many Frozen themed birthday parties this year, but this was the only one where Elsa showed up. Did you know she is Asian?? There were just a few girls so we got lots of one on one time with Elsa. She also did face-painting, made balloon animals, told us a story and, of course, we sang and danced to Let it Go. It was a great time!

Mommy called me a mouse and Daddy called me a cat and I got mad. I'm a rabbit!

Let it GOOOO....