Sophia is a picky eater. I know..8 1/2 months old and already picky. I have had a time getting her to eat any sort of meat or green vegetables. I did successfully get her to eat an avocado with banana over the weekend. However, isn't avocado a fruit? When trying to get her to eat something I put it to my mouth like I'm going to eat it and then say "YUM!". Sometimes this works with her but most times not. I have a smarty pants on my hands.
On Sunday afternoon I was sitting on the floor eating a cracker and I had her Gerber Puffs in hand so she could have a little snack. I handed her a puff and watched as she tried to figure out her pincher grip to get it into her mouth. When she was finally successful she looked at me and said "YUM!"!
Since joining Weight Watchers in early December, I've had to give up my Starbucks Cinnamon Dolce Latte. I still enjoy it about once a week in its nonfat version, but it's not the same! However, my daily coffee fix has now been made even yummier with this: 
My favorite flavor is Southern Butter Pecan. It's so delicious!
Now that I'm on Weight Watchers, I'm always on the lookout for healthy and easy recipes that my family will love. I came across this recipe at Annie's Eats and have to say it is absolutely delicious and SO easy!
Here it is for you to enjoy:
Black Bean Soup
2 cans black bean soup - drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup salsa (I use mild or medium)
1 teaspoon cumin
Throw all the ingredients into a food chopper and puree until smooth. Empty contents into saucepan and heat..about 20 minutes. Top with shredded cheese or sour cream and green onions.
Enjoy!
This week has been tough! On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday Sophia decided the second nap of the day only needed to be for 30 minutes. She would then be awake for nearly 5 hours until she went to bed. Yesterday she only took one nap. When it was time to go down for her second nap, she wouldn't have it. She fought and fought. I tried everything. I tried rocking her (which is what I ALWAYS do) and then I tried putting her down in her crib and then going in at 5 min. then 10 min., then 20 min., and so on...that went on forever until I just couldn't stand seeing her cry..just for the record, I personally am completely against letting her cry it out. Yesterday she was up for over 7 hours straight and when bedtime came and she finished her bottle she was out like a light and didn't wake up until after 6 this morning. Today has been a bit better..she's having her afternoon nap, but she's only about 10 minutes in so at this point anything could happen!
I'm wondering if she's trying to drop a nap or if this change in sleep patterns is due to the teething and/or the new skill of crawling and/or trying to stand up and/or separation anxiety. Days like yesterday make me wish children came with a manual. Why the sudden change? How could she go from needing two naps to suddenly NOT needing both of them? When I need sleep, I need the full 8 hours and then some. Of course this has not happened since having a baby which would explain why I'm always in a daze :)
On another note, today she had her gymnastics class and I found out that in 3 weeks (when she has her last class for this period) she gets a report card! HA! I can't imagine what on earth it will say but I think that's the cutest thing ever. Today she had to get her photo taken which will go on her report card. She was all smiles. It was the cutest thing. I'm anxious to see what her instructor has to say!
Sophia turned 8 months old yesterday! I can't believe that 8 months have gone by so fast. Where is the time going?
She's been trying to crawl for awhile now and though she hasn't mastered the official crawl she still manages to get herself all over the house by lifting up her body onto her hands and one knee and then swinging her butt around until she's sitting. It's the funniest thing I've seen.
The past two days have been pretty sketchy with the napping. I have no idea why all of a sudden she's decided that napping just isn't for her. I would think that with her being so active she would need more sleep now more than ever. I hope this is just a phase.
Along with the crawling she's cutting her other top tooth. This may be contributing to the no sleep situation that has just started.
As I type this I can hear the sweet girl snoring through her baby monitor. Poor thing just wore herself right out!
Growing up in the south I always thought you spelled ya'll like ya'll! It wasn't until I moved north (to Vancouver) that I learned that other people spell it as y'all. Frankly I think it's a southern word..isn't it?! So of course I'm going to stick with the spelling as ya'll :) How do you spell it?
At the end of March my year long maternity leave comes to an end. I am extremely sad about this. Jeff and I have always said we would NEVER put Sophia into daycare. Nothing against daycare it's just not the right place for our child. However, I do have to return to work. We have some big goals for '09..the biggest being that we plan to purchase a house in Hot Springs, AR in the fall. Our plan is to spend 6 months in Vancouver and 6 months in Hot Springs. As you can imagine, owning two homes in two different countries takes a lot of money! Before Sophia I was working full time with Jeff. I took care of the books, did some advertising for one of our clients at the time and did a lot of the odd jobs around the office. I intend to go back and help with the books, I just have no idea how I'm going to do it and keep Sophia at the same time. Since we need my full salary I've got to find a creative way to do that full time and be mommy. I've thought of working part time and then finding a way (from home) to make up the other half of my salary. I have a few thoughts bouncing around but nothing set in stone. Obviously, Jeff and I will need to discuss this matter more and I'll need to do some praying and soul searching.
I keep telling myself I'll eventually find the inspiration to do something with this blog. I have had it since 2007 and have YET to do anything with it...hopefully this will be the year that all changes! We have some big things happening in 2009 and I should be sure to document them all here.
Right now Sophia is teething (the two uppers) so it's been little sleep and lots of fuss. Poor girl. I've been trying the Hylands Teething Gel (it's homeopathic) but honestly I don't think it works..I don't think any of them work really. I did read good things about their teething tablets but I've yet to find them.
Hopefully she gets through this soon. I hate seeing her in pain.
Here she is showing off her new bottom teeth (would you look at that face!) that came in early December:
