Nap Time with Mommy

Andrina and I just got up from a nap together. She slept in my bed and I laid there with her. It was so wonderful. She slept like a little angel and I got to lay next to her and watch her. And listen to her suck on her fingers. And cuddle her. At one point she took her fingers out of her mouth and I caught the scent of apples on her breath from lunch today. For the past few days I've been aching for Andrina to sleep in our bed but it's so much better for her to sleep in her crib. She sleeps GREAT in her crib and babies need consistency. But I figured that one nap in our bed was fine and would not deter her from sleeping in her crib on a regular basis. And I'm too much of an active sleeper for co-sleeping. Unless I'm really tired I roll from one side to the other a few times before falling asleep. So I could not fall asleep with Andrina this afternoon but that was fine with me. I enjoyed the hour of just being with her while she napped. I'm so glad that I got to do that.

Apples for Andrina

Andrina got to try a new baby food today: apples! I mixed it into her rice cereal with bananas and she loved it! I didn't get a picture this time though. She ate two big meals of solids today. She had rice cereal with apples and bananas mixed into it and a side of green beans and a side of sweet potatoes at both solid food meals. She ate so well! She finished it all and I am so happy she got such nutritious meals today. And she is also doing better overall with eating solid foods too. When we first started, it took her half an hour to eat. Now it only takes her 15 to 20 minutes to eat a meal of solids. She is definately used to eating baby food now. Yea!

Love Is In The Air

Isn't baby laughter just one of the best things in life? I LOVE it when Andrina laughs. And I'll keep doing anything to keep her laughing. Making noises while kissing her belly almost always makes her laugh, so tonight I did that during and after her diaper and clothes change. She had some great laughs while I was holding her up in the air kissing her belly. So I made Tom take some pictures. Enjoy:

Sweet Potatoes for My Sweetie

So far Andrina has had cereal, bananas, carrots, and green beans for solid foods. She has liked and eaten them all (well, cereal with bananas as a dish). Today we tried a new vegetable: sweet potatoes. And she loved them! Here's a cute picture of her with her two empty bowls:

Mommies and Babies

Yesterday Andrina and I went out with Becca and Ryan again. This is not new, the four of us go out together a lot. But not so much lately with winter and our awful cold weather. We went shopping and had Andrina's six month old portraits taken, ate lunch, visited Auntie Reenie at work and then played with the babies at Becca's house. It was a wonderful day, except I forgot my camera again and did not get any pictures of Andrina and Ryan "playing" together. Becca has some from a few weeks ago. I'm going to try to post them soon.

Andrina and I also had a very nice evening together, just the two of us. We had to go home at about 5:00 because she was really tired and did not have a good nap yet. Tom had gone out so Andrina and I got to spend the evening together after her nap. We cuddled and played. I did lots of different things to make her laugh and I just had such a wonderful time with my baby. She is so sweet and easy going. No pictures this time, just lots more memories.

Some Solid Success

What started out as a bad day concerning solid foods turned out to be a great day for them. So far, Andrina has eaten rice cereal and carrots. Today I decided that I would try bananas but I'd mix it in with Andrina's rice cereal to make the cereal more appealing to her since she was not loving it. Well, I was so excited this morning preparing her meal of cereal mixed with bananas and a small side of carrotts but was disappointed in the end. Andrina was just not in a great mood this morning. I don't think she was ready for anything except milk (which she did have 2 ounces of milk before I tried the solids). It was before her first nap of the day and she became very cranky when I tried to feed her the cereal with bananas. She appeared to like the taste of it but was just too cranky to deal with eating it. After all, she's only been eating solid food for a week now. And when I tried to feed her a bite of carrots, she started crying! She was not ready for solid food that early in the day. So I gave up and had to thow it out and console Andrina (and put her down for a nap too). I made a mental note to myself not to feed her solids until after her first nap of the day, for quite some time, like we had done before. But I was still surprised that she didn't want the cereal with bananas. I tried it and it was good for baby food, much better than cereal by itself. I thought babies were supposed to love bananas...

Well, I tried again tonight and waited until after Andrina's second nap of the day. And guess what? She loved the cereal with bananas! Not only did she open her mouth for the spoon but she even leaned into the spoon as I was bringing it towards her mouth! It was so adorable. She even made a few "mmm" noises. And she ate the entire bowl of it! So far she has not finished a whole bowl of cereal (and I don't force her to finish it either). After she ate half the bowl of cereal with bananas, I reluctantly gave her a spoonful of carrots. She made a face at first but did not turn away. She ate another bite of carrots too, willingly. So in the end, she ate her entire helpings of cereal with bananas and carrots that I prepared for her. She didn't love the carrots like the cereal with bananas but she continued to open her mouth up for them, even if a lot of it ended up on her bib. And her face. And her high chair tray. And her clothes. You get the idea. And after the solids she also had one ounce of milk too. Here's some pictures of our first GREAT solid food session:

Rice cereal tastes SO much better with bananas mixed into it!

Look how happy I am!

"Mmmm!"

Look Mom, I finished the whole bowl!

Hey, what's this? This isn't that yummy banana stuff...

But it's not too bad!
I'm still happy and eating it!

Time to play while Mommy gets to clean up all that food that got everywhere!

Stephen J. Cannell Book Signing

I got to go to a book signing tonight while Tommy stayed home with Andrina (wow, I got to do something I like, for myself, that does not involve my baby-I still have a full life, yea!). One of my favorite authors, Stephen J. Cannell, was in town for a book signing because his newest novel, "Three Shirt Deal" was released yesterday and he was here for speaking and signing.

Mr. Cannell spoke for about 45 minutes about his severe dyslexia and his writing and producing career for television (he created about 40 TV shows) and his novels. Not only do I enjoy his books and TV shows, he's also a great speaker and story teller. He also answered people's questions (I didn't ask any), signed books and took pictures. He took a picture with me, signed his new novel for me and he even signed my two "Renegade" DVDs for me (not only did he create and write that show, but he also played "the bad guy" --Dutch Dixon). He was very nice, and told me about the three actors who played the main characters and how much he enjoyed acting on the show too. I had a great time and I'm looking forward to reading his new book. Here's some pictures:

Me with Stephen J. Cannell

My signed copies of "Three Shirt Deal" (made out to me)

and my signed "Renegade" DVDs

It was so nice being able to go to a book signing again. I've only been to one other one-Anne Rice when "Tale of the Body Thief" came out in 1992. I love to read. Ever since I was a little girl I've always been reading something. I didn't get to read many novels while I was in grad school but since I've finished my dissertation I've been reading non-stop. As soon as I finish one book, I start another. Appropriately, I'm currently reading a Cannell novel as I've read all of Kathy Reich's and Anne Rice's books. And Mr. Cannell also mentioned that he's written the next novel in this series, it's coming out next winter and he has another novel being released this summer. I'm so happy I'm not going to run out of books any time soon! (Oh, a hint for other moms out there, I keep the book I'm reading in the car with me when I'm out with Andrina, so if she falls asleep she can finish her nap in the car instead of me waking her up by taking her out of the car when we get home. I simply pull over into a parking lot and read while she's asleep if we're on our way home).