All Saints Party 2011

Each year beginning when John was 10 months old, we have attended a fantastic All Saints' party at church on the eve of the feast (October 31). This year we could not because the children are sick. They had scary-high fevers in the middle of the night Saturday and we spent Sunday morning at Urgent Care instead of at Mass. They are fine, but the doctor we saw said that this nonspecific virus is going around and tends to cause fever for about five days (during which we are contagious), then coughing for up to two weeks (during which we are not contagious). So, we had to skip out on the great party this year.

John's costume of St. Tekla of Ethiopia

St. Tekla's turban: I wanted it to look like a turban with the cloth wrapped around it, but I wanted it to have the convenience of being an actual hat that I could easily put on a four-year-old child's head and never have to re-wrap again. So, I sewed an interior hat of felt, wrapped the turban fabric around it, then sewed it into place.

Mary's costume of St. Tekla's lion

St. Tekla and his lion . . .

. . . and one of the ladybugs who flew into Noah's ark!

Thank you Carter's for Margaret's costume!

Since the kids were going to miss out on the party which they know and enjoy each year, and we had to stay indoors because of being contagious, I quickly whipped up our very own All Saints' party. The kids learned of it when they woke up from their afternoon nap and were very excited. At each "game station," the kids got candy for participating in the activity.

They wanted to decorate their pumpkins as lions. This was a simplified version of what I thought was an excellent idea John worked up: He wanted to carve a pumpkin with various lions, then get a statue of the prophet Daniel to place inside! I want to do that some year--it would be really cool!

John's lion (with Daddy's help)

Mary's lion (with no help)

I made a game of building a castle out of my stash of paper towels and toilet paper rolls. Above is the castle Mary built.

And this is the castle John built. About 10 seconds into working on his castle, he announced, "I have an idea! Why don't we play cannonball and throw these paper towels at each other!" Now, imagine the great enthusiasm and boyish energy in his voice and then the nervous cluck-cluck in my voice as I tried to find excuses for why that was a bad idea. Ultimately I decided to let him be a boy and have fun since he was stuck at home, missing a party, because of some icky fever, and I should just stop being so square. Daddy and John played a very energetic game of cannonball with my paper towels and I think my paper products are no worse for wear and can still be used.

The kids played Guess How Many Candies in the Jar . . .

. . . as well as Toss the Ball into the Basket.

The children played Guess the Saint, at which John was good and Mary got candies just for trying.

Margaret wanted in on the action too and here grabbed hold of John's bag of candy. (Several times now I've come into her bedroom and found her standing in her crib, hanging on to the bars for dear life because she doesn't know how to sit down again.)

All in all, a good night!

Happy at the Table

"Why yes, in fact, I do like ground beef."

Trying more solidified food rather than purees seems to be the trick! Margaret has really enjoyed feeding herself (no spoons in her face, thank you very much!) fried eggs, Os cereal, and ground beef. I mean, sure, she's getting about a half teaspoon of solids a day, but she's liking it.

Homemade Hot Cocoa

Two winters ago, a certain auntie who is close enough to me to express her true feelings without being rude let me know with not-very-hidden disregard what she thought when I pulled out a commercial brand hot cocoa to make for the kids coming in from sledding in the snow.

"Really? You use that?"

I explained that for as often as we make hot cocoa in the winter, I was not going to lug out all the ingredients necessary . . . despite how much high fructose corn syrup solids don't exactly "say" winter and joyful times around the kitchen table.

Even understanding my explanation, her opinion was still basically that no, no, no, that commercial chemical soup didn't belong in my house and we should all slow down just a little bit in life to make those things from scratch that can be made easily.

And, to go down a rabbit trail, so to speak that is an interesting question I ponder and experiment with often: Why exactly are we (as a culture) rushing so much? Am I using a lot of short cuts and convenience foods so my kids can spend more time dumped in front of the TV? Or so we can rush around from event to event, living a frenetic life? Isn't there some value in dropping activities that create an instant entertainment kind of life-view to do things together, kids at ankles, that are interesting and wholesome and slow? Like taking five minutes to make real hot cocoa? Is taking time to make hot cocoa a waste of time because the kids could be cramming in another "educational" video? And yet, sometimes we are sick or running on almost no sleep, and we just can't manage these things that require "extra" time. Finding the balance is what I seek.

How tickled I was to find a recipe for homemade cocoa mix using common ingredients I already keep in my pantry, so that I can spend the entire five minutes or less to whip up a batch that keeps well in a jar to use all winter! My review is that it doesn't taste as much like a sugar explosion as commercial cocoa mix, but it tastes real and good, albeit a bit different. My two-year-old liked it very much.

Cocoa
Source: "Make the Bread, Buy the Butter"

Makes 2-1/2 cups mix, enough for about 20 cups of cocoa. Cost: about half that of commercial cocoa mix.

1/2 cups dark brown sugar
1 cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt

1. Sift ingredients into a bowl. Keeps indefinitely in a lidded jar.

2. To make hot chocolate, use 2 tablespoons per cup of hot milk. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon vanilla.

Meal Planning Help

While all tastes of pureed food have resulted in facial expressions of confusion and disgust, being given a tray of diced fried egg resulted in her steadily feeding herself for several minutes (no gagging) and a happy facial expression.

Meal Planning Help

Chris suggested I try simplifying my meal planning during this season of motherhood. He said he'd be satisfied with less variety, more simplicity. (Perhaps this is his way of saying he'd be "satisfied" with fewer nights with a tearful, angry wife trying to get together a complicated meal while three children cause loud chaos and a kitchen-full of pots and pans result after the dinner, which took her 117 minutes to cook but takes all of 7 minutes to eat, and the kids would have been happier with mac & cheese with hot dogs anyway.) I'm thinking of taking him up on this offer of being satisfied with less!

So, ladies, I'd love it if you want to share any of your favorite, simple dinner meal plans. Your go-to meal! Ideally these would have some nutritional content and require only about 30 minutes of actual standing in the kitchen and preparing it. (Don't worry about the fact that I'm a vegetarian and I have one picky eater: I'm just looking for inspiration!) I'm trying to assemble about 14 meals based on basic ingredients (nothing esoteric I have to seek out) that I simply rotate through twice per month.

Room at the Inn Banquet 2011

On Thursday night we attended the annual fundraising banquet for Room at the Inn, a local maternity home. Our wonderful babysitter, who knows me pretty well by now, may have been right when said, "I'm not sure how many more years you're going to be able to go to this thing." Unspoken in that is because I'm one of those crazy mamas whose babies are all super clingy and don't take bottles and blah blah blah. All's fine and well with some babies (like Mary who flirted her way through the banquet she attended at 10 months old), but just wait till one of them can't settle for sleep in public . . .

I go out for a fancy date with my husband twice per year, which I shouldn't take for granted. That's twice more than a lot of people! What this fancy date looked like was this:

Get all dressed up. Oh, still have lots of baby weight to lose. Have, um, oh yes, one nice outfit I can chose to wear. Okay, I guess that frees me from agonizing over clothing decisions.

I hadn't owned pumps in about four years when I bought a pair last year and wore them one time before hobbling around in crippled pain, remembering why I don't wear them anymore. These are sensible pumps, with a thick heel that isn't very high. Well, I pulled them out of the box in which they reside at the back of the closet. Mary, almost three, grabbed them from me and turned them this way and that, asking of the heel: "Mama, what is this thing on these shoes?!" 'This thing' indeed is some bizarre contraption to make women unstable and somehow look prettier, I don't know. Anyway, I wore them.

And I wore the pocket sling I don't like because it looked a little more crisp with my outfit and my major, glaring accessory: the baby!

How was the food? Hhhhmmm, I can't really say. In between repeated dashes out of the room, I ate half my salad, a few bites of my vegetables, and a slice of cake, plus some sips of water. Dash, crying baby! Dash, crying baby!

Then poor Margaret really let loose. Nothing would soothe her and she would not fall asleep in my carrier. She was screaming so loudly that even though I was way down the hallway in the convention center, personnel closed the last remaining open door to the ballroom so my baby wouldn't disturb people. Even had the doors remained open, I couldn't have heard any of the speakers over the screaming in my ears. Finally I gave up all the pacing up and down the hallway in my clickety clack heels and just sat in a chair with my screaming baby in my lap. But, seriously, I didn't even feel that dejected. I just felt like a mom and that it was One of Those Nights. "I guess God wanted me to miss this one! I'm sure there's a spiritual lesson in this somewhere." I've come a long way!

I couldn't have left Margaret with a babysitter at home because we don't pay a sitter enough to hold a crying baby for five hours. I suppose in hindsight, the only sensible thing to do would have been skip out on the whole event this year. And when I reach a new level of sacrificial motherhood, I will do that. :)  God is working on me.

But . . . drum roll please . . . I desperately wanted to be there to see one of my favorite ministries, Be Not Afraid, win the Msgr. Wellein Award from RATI! What a well-deserved accolade! And now 1,500 pro-life people, probably most of whom had never heard of this ministry, know about Be Not Afraid and can spread the word that this kind of support exists. Babies will be saved and families will experience joy because the word is spreading.

Bonus Reading

If you're read this far (wow!), please enjoy this delightful and encouraging and incredibly true article: Why I Never Should Have Had Eight Children by Leila Miller.

First Carved Pumpkin

When I was walking out the door to my La Leche League monthly meeting, my kids' babysitter asked if she could carve one of the pumpkins with the kids. Why, yes! I thought this was perfect because I'd get a carved pumpkin out of it and I wouldn't have to deal with the mess . . . plus, as I suspected, the kids were not actually interested in doing it themselves, so the beloved babysitter did the work while John climbed the tree and Mary rode her bike.

The kids designed their carving patterns, but only John's was executed.

The final product! What fun!

Music Enters Our Home

We have a new-to-us piano that has been gifted to us! (Thank you and thank you, you know who you are!)

I am very excited as I have long wanted a piano in our home (even though I was never taught to play and don't know how). I really want music in our home. Above, the kids grabbed a story book because John wanted to "play the story." He began plinking keys in a way to try to put music to story.

Mary does not like the low notes.


My favorite lines of John's are: "Hhhhmmm. I wish this had a CD player." And, in response to Mary wanting to play "crazy sounds," John admonished her, "I don't want crazy sounds in my choir."

The new den layout

For those of you who play piano or are having your children take lessons, please share any information for me to research. I know almost nothing. Feel free to leave blog comments or email me privately: I'll be appreciative!

1. What method do you use? I know only of Suzuki. So there must be methods that are not Suzuki. I know that one criticism of Suzuki is that the students don't learn to read music, but I hear from Suzuki proponents that that is a ridiculous assertion. That's all I know.

2. What is your opinion of the age at which a child (boy versus girl?) starts taking lessons? I know that some teachers will not start teaching until something like seven or eight years old. Some start earlier. Pros? Cons?

3. What about an adult taking lessons? I'd really like to try my hand at it. I was told that some teachers won't teach adults because adults are busy and don't bother practicing.

4. What about lessons at a studio versus the teacher coming to the student's home? As a mother of little ones, and expecting more (debilitating) pregnancies to come (God willing!), it is my dream of dreams to have a teacher come to our home. I seriously do not need another reason to pack up all the kids and leave the house again every week. I know that in-home teachers cost more.

5. How to find a teacher? I understand that I can call the Registrar of Piano Teachers for our city and tell her my desires (my location, ages of people taking lessons, in-home versus in-studio) and she will give me a list of possible teachers.

Sitting on the Ground

Yesterday we were enjoying the exquisite fall weather in the back yard, with me reading a book and the kids climbing trees, when I set the baby down on the ground. Then I realized it was her first time ever sitting on the earth. 'Oh, that's a little milestone! I will take a picture!' Click.

Of course, ten seconds later was her first milestone of trying to eat a stick (see that stick in her right hand?). Following was my scooping out of her mouth leaves and sticks about 97 times in a row before I decided I would just hold her in my lap so I could enjoy my book rather than continue on with the baby sampling nature's bounty.

I thought it fascinating that every scoop of food Margaret has been fed leads to this facial expression, but she never once made a disconcerting face the 97 times she tasted dirt, leaves, sticks, and wood chips. Go figure.

Chris' Birthday 2011

Happy birthday to Chris! I am blessed by God that He "yoked" Chris and me together.

I was intrigued that Mary drew a family portrait for Daddy's birthday card: Her mommy on the left is in feminine shapes (circular head and circular facial features) while her daddy on the right is in the masculine triangular shape.

I was tickled to say that John wrote out his birthday card (with Mommy spelling for him), then decorated with a nautical scene using boat stickers and--for the first time--drawing water for the boats.

Chris was like a kid in a candy store with the antique Catholic Bible "I" gave him for his birthday. (See how I get to take credit when he was the one who stumbled across the Bible on eBay, said that he wanted it, and the money from our only income, which is his paycheck, is what paid for it?)

Later in the evening, we transformed what would have been a simple dinner-and-movie evening to a more fun celebration by having friends join us along with their three children almost the exact ages of our kids. After dinner and ice cream cake, the kids watched "Jungle Book" up in the bonus room while the adults watched "The Mission" in the den. Lots of fun was had by all!

And an update on Chris: He has returned to work this week after a month of for medical leave. On one hand, his recovery has been excellent and better than expected. That said, it is still a long road, with the fusion itself occuring quietly behind the scenes over the coming year (bones knit slowly), during which time Chris definitely has limitations that are easy for me to forget about. Thank you for all your support!

Sleeping on the Go

BABIES SLEEPING.

This topic causes much debate, consternation, frustration, fatigue, and sometimes despair. Three babies into parenthood and I wish I had answers . . . but I think maybe, just maybe, I'm starting to be less concerned with having those answers.

Lately I've been thinking much about babies napping. Margaret's naps are fairly unpredictable: whether she has one, two, or three naps in a day. Whether a nap lasts only 45 minutes or several hours. What time any given nap occurs. Where any given nap occurs (e.g., arms, sling, crib, bed, carpeted floor, car). The only things fairly consistent are when she wakes (between 5:00 and 6:00 a.m.) and when she goes to bed for the night (between 6:30 and 8:00 p.m. and which you know doesn't mean "sleeping through the night")--although I guess some mothers would think those windows or time are quite broad and not consistent at all!

Sometimes I wonder if Margaret's naps should be very consistent. Maybe I should devote much energy to getting her to take two age-appropriate naps at the same two times daily. That would certainly make it easier for me to know when she would be asleep. I wouldn't bother thinking she's tired, trying to get her to fall asleep, and discovering she's not really ready to nap. I wouldn't think I was going to have a block of time to do something without her, only to discover that she's awake and I can't do the activity.

On the other hand (and I think this is where I am leaning), Margaret's "flexibility" about napping (see my positive spin?) means flexibility for me and my family. She sleeps when she is tired wherever she needs to be.

How on earth would I function in my week with a baby on a schedule? For example, this week:

Monday: The house keepers were here during what should have been Margaret's morning nap, so I had nowhere I could lay her down quietly that the cleaners wouldn't eventually be in or near making noise. So I wore the baby in my wrap and she fell asleep silently while I was doing the kids' School Time. It wasn't a good, long nap, so she crashed very early (noon) for an afternoon nap in her crib. Probably this will mean she does not take another crib-nap today, she'll have to fall asleep very early tonight, and she'll wake up extra early in the morning (thus impacting her whole routine tomorrow).

Tuesday: In the morning, we are attending a homeschooling informational meeting for parents with preschoolers and Kindergarteners, so, again, Margaret won't get to take a morning crib-nap. In the afternoon we have a play date at home, so probably she will sleep well then.

Wednesday: This will probably be a pretty great day for naps because we plan to be home all day.

Thursday: This will probably be an absolutely awful day for sleep because I have to take Margaret to my LLL meeting all morning (where she might sleep in my sling or might be kept awake by the chaos) and then to a banquet at night (where she might sleep in my sling or might scream miserably as we pace the hallways). Let's hope Margaret was really well rested on Wednesday.

Friday: Again, this will probably be an awful day for her napping because we are signed up to "pray for babies" (40 Days for Life in all major cities near you!) in the morning--although riding in my sling, Margaret might just feel like we're taking a walk outdoors and sleep peacefully--and then in the afternoon have our home school co-op, where she'll be riding in my sling again amidst the sounds of children loudly playing.

Saturday: Who knows what that day holds.

Sunday: Sundays always mess up Margaret's naps because we have Mass in the morning, often followed by brunch. Then she falls asleep on the 15-minute car ride home, and arrives home to wake up instantly as we pull into the garage, thinking she is all refreshed when really she is no such thing.

So, really, I ask other experienced mothers: even if I put effort into making Margret's naps highly regular, then how could we live our life with its homeschoolers' routine? And with (we hope) more children in the future will come more activities that will interrupt a baby getting to stay home all the time and sleep. Is this why I see large families in which the babies and toddlers seem to fall asleep anytime, anywhere, even if a friendly stranger is holding them in the midst of a noisy church picnic?

Anyway, while sometimes I yearn for a baby who sleeps super regularly so I know what to expect and get my two-hour nap breaks throughout the day, I think I'm increasingly comfortable with not knowing and just going with the flow. What about you?

Be Not Afraid Conference 2011

For the last day and a half, I was blessed to attend the first annual conference for Be Not Afraid Charlotte. BNA is a ministry near and dear to my heart whose purpose is to support families who have chosen to carry to term after receiving a poor prenatal diagnosis. This conference was to be a "larger conversation" among the many workers in the vineyard who help BNA serve families. Participants were people such as: peer ministers, prayer sponsors, pro-life OBGYNs and other doctors, nursing students, priests, perinatal hospice volunteers, photographers (Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep), women who sew burial gowns, authors, Respect Life directors, other national-level pro-life workers in the Catholic hierarchy, and mothers of babies with disabilities. (We were honored to be in the company of several babies given diagnoses of "incompatible with life," but who are months old and are dearly loved by their families.) I think something like eight states were represented by about 100 attendees--one notable attendee being our very own bishop!

One of the talks given answered the question of, "But what can I do?" The reply is, "What do you do?" Are you a lawyer? Well, these clients often need legal representation. Are you a doctor? They need medical help. Are you a house cleaner? They are in crisis and need someone to clean their homes. Can you sew? Sew a burial gown. Do you have some money? Please donate it! Can you speak Spanish? BNA desperately needs translators. God can raise the dignity of any service and find use in any service offered honorably. Many in my station in life will say, understandably, 'What can I do? I have many little children. I have no big children yet to lighten my load. I work hard from dawn till dark and have no time. What can I possibly do?' Well, even someone in my station can pray. And prayer is real and it is necessary. God asks us to pray, even though he is omnipotent and knows what everyone wants and needs. So, even though my primary duties at this season of my life are within my home and to my family, I can paste up prayer reminders above my kitchen sink for the family to which I've been assigned. And I can remember to pray for them. I can offer up my difficulties for that family. BNA needs more sisters in Christ to pray!

Margaret was my companion--sometimes babbling, sometimes sleeping in my wrap, sometimes screaming as we walked the halls, and almost every minute on my hip.

My favorite display table was of the many kinds of "memory makers" for lost babies, most particularly the exquisite baptismal and burial gowns in varying sizes.

These sweet bracelets for a baby to wear during his or her brief life were so small, one would fit on my thumb.

I posed these booties and the following burial gown next to a business card to show the size.

Being able to dress one's beloved baby born still or with a life so brief in something breathtakingly beautiful that was sewn with love contributes greatly to recognizing the dignity and worthiness of that baby. (There are organizations who accept donated wedding dresses to turn into such burial gowns if anyone is interested in doing so.)

The talks given were as follows:

"A Catholic Response to Prenatal Diagnosis" Diagnosis"          

“Pastoral Care as a Ministry of Presence: Running In- Not Out”

"Missing Jedi"

"Journeying the Uncharted Path: Perinatal Hospice and Peer Support"

" It’s Amazing What You Can Do With a Little Company: The Healing Value of Apostolates of Friendship"

"Birth Planning When the Primary Diagnosis is...This Is a Baby"

"Healing Hearts and Making Memories Through Portraiture"

Parent Panel Discussion - "Memory Making for a Lifetime"

"What We Have Learned"

I found it so refreshing to step away from my normal duties for a brief time and focus on learning more about something about which I am passionate. There were humorous moments. For example, I tried my best to dress as professionally as I can within my current wardrobe, but apparently I cannot hide my "vibe." On the first afternoon, an OBGYN approached me (although I didn't know he was a doctor), introduced himself by his first name, and asked, "So, what is the birth climate like here in Charlotte?" I began telling him about specific OBs, how they've been driven out, what the climate is like, what the hospitals are like. Then I admitted that my last two were born at home. He smiled and said, "Well, yes, that is what I figured and it's why I asked you that question." As much as I was sort of flattered that he cared about my opinion, I was also chagrined that apparently I cannot help but ooze--a what?--hippie home birth mama vibe? And I was trying so hard to look professional! I really was a professional in my former life! I guess one can do only so much with a baby slung on one's hip and machine washable clothing.

I chuckled again the next morning when I was even more acutely aware of trying to look really well put together for the conference: 'I know! I'll wear one of my only dry clean-only skirts!' As I was walking out the door, holding Margaret on one hip and holding her two changes of just-in-case outfits in my hand, she spit up a big amount, coating my skirt plus her own outfit and her two extra outfits I was carrying! I didn't have time to change us or do anything, so just did that wipe-and-swipe thing, leaving behind a trail of curdled milk to dry and crust, and I thought, "Well, there goes the last chance I had of looking put together!" What is a girl to do, right?

On Thursday night, I even got to attend dinner out at a restaurant with about 25 folks from the conference. That's right, me, stay-at-home mama who leaves the house a couple days a week and rarely has any reason to drive after early afternoon . . . yes, I was out after dark and downtown at a hip restaurant no less! Margaret actually tolerated being out, although I asked for my check as soon as my food arrived so as to expedite things, knowing my time was precariously short. The last two spots at the table were next to two OBGYNs and I greatly enjoyed that they treated me with respect, spoke to me as someone with equal dignity, and valued my opinion and experience on birth matters even without any initials behind my name, and we "talked birthy stuff" all through dinner. (You know what takes faith? Deciding to be Catholic first and a doctor second, such that one will no longer prescribe contraception in one's practice, knowing that one will face serious professional repercussions. Please pray for an OBGYN in Winston-Salem, okay?)

I'm back to the home front, refreshed and ready to tackle the normal business of planning our calendar, organizing our home, washing laundry, cooking meals, cleaning, changing diapers, forming souls, meeting needs . . . in short: fulfilling my vocation where God has placed me for the timebeing, which is what pleases Him most.

(Anyone interested in reading more about carrying to term, I can recommend three books: My Child, My Gift; Waiting for Eli; and For the Love of Angela.)

Margaret at Seven Months Old

Hello again, loved ones! I'll be seven whole months old tomorrow, so I thought I'd let you know how I'm doing.

My mommy thinks I am a study in contrast: Usually I am quiet as a mouse and quite placid. In fact, it happens almost daily that mommy sets me down to play and I'm so quiet for so long that she forgets I am there and thinks I'm off napping somewhere. But when I'm unhappy, I scream. I scream a whole lot and I don't stop. Just ask the staff at mommy's dental office where she and I went yesterday: the entire office complex could tell just how loud and long I can scream!

I am sitting up on my own now (and can get there from lying prone), which gives me a whole new perspective. My mommy put away my play mat, little swing, and reclined bouncy seat because she says I'm too big of a girl to use them anymore!

 

I like to hang out with my brother and sister, who go to great lengths entertaining me. I don't mind at all how they move me and carry me around. Sometimes I hear mommy or daddy tell the big kids to be less rough, but then they see how I am calm and laughing and they realize that I'm really not as delicate as they think.



I am almost crawling! My big brother was almost six months old when he was creeping like this, but my big sister was exactly my age when she learned how to crawl.

One might think with all this playing and creeping about, I'd be sleeping more soundly than ever, but that just isn't so. My earlier behavior of liking to fall asleep alone and quickly after brief crying turned out to be a phase: now I'm just like my big sister and brother were, liking to be soothed to sleep at length. (And who wouldn't want that, right? Are you with me?) I am a girl who likes to watch the sunrise, so I am sure to wake up each day between 4:30 and 5:30 a.m. Mommy says she wishes I'd sleep later and she tries to manipulate me that way--but I think everyone who knows Mommy has to admit that, as much as we love her, she just really stinks at this "sleep training" aspect of motherhood. When I take naps, whether it is two or three in a day, whether they last 45 minutes (common) or several hours (rare): I am as capricious as the wind. Mommy tells me that I'm her third baby to (not) sleep in this manner, so I think it's safe to say that the common denominator is Mommy herself. But, as I said earlier, we all love her just the same.

I have two bottom teeth and have tried about a half dozen solid foods this month--none more than maybe a whole teaspoon at most. I really have very little interest, but I don't gag, so I guess as long as Mama doesn't make me eat too much, I'll keep placating her by trying the weird stuff. Some of the food flavors I've tolerated best are avocado, roasted winter vegetable soup, and spicy beef chili (just the liquidy sauce).

According to the doctor who I visited today, I weigh 18 lbs 6 oz (77th percentile) and am 27.75 inches long (91st percentile).  At my age, Big Sister Mary was a pound heavier and a little bit longer--but those numbers must not be much of a predictor of anything because Mary's percentiles for weight and height have steadily decreased from about 90th and 60th respectively to now 53d and 23d percentiles (since she had her big girl three-year-old well child check today too).

It is nice keeping in touch with you all, dear folk!