First Tantrum....must be an instinct

Elle has never seen a tantrum, but she knows how to throw one! I took my cell phone away from her yesterday and she flung herself on the ground, face buried in hands and kicked her feet. She simultaneously screamed. Good work kid.

Swimming Swimming in the Swimming Pool

Elle is a water bug! She loves the swimming pool. She likes to be face down supported only under her belly. She likes her hands free to splash and she likes to put her face in the water. She LOVES to put her face in the water.

I make her wear a hat in the pool. I hope the other babies don't laugh at her but I want to protect her little scalp.

I also make her wear super sunblock. I tried to buy the Target baby sunblock and it burned our eyes and that sucked. Yes, I said sucked because it did. It was awful. After that I got worried about what kind of chemicals burn eyes...so I went to the Environmental Working Group's best sunscreen list. I found a sunscreen that did not have a lot of questionable chemicals and conveniently enough, it does not burn eyes! I bought UV Natural Baby on Amazon and have been very happy with it. It leaves a whitish residue on her head in her hair...but it does not drip, it stays on in the pool and it does not burn or make her gag. It was expensive. But this is one thing I will splurge on.

Sleeping is for babies

Elle is not a baby. She is a big girl. She does not want to sleep more than 3 hours at a time at night. This is no fun for mama. Mama getting crazy.

Elle ate 8 full oz of breastmilk/formula combo last night...and was up to eat again in only 3 hours!!!! She did not eat much in the middle of the night, but she ate.

Honest Kudos to the Simelac people...not a paid advertisement

I got Simelac formula from the hospital. As I lament regularly, I can no longer exclusively breast feed Elle. I was so open to formula on day one, but by month 5 I was so accostomed to whipping out a booba that I could not fathom doing anything else.

Because of the breast feeding, I had NO IDEA how much my kid ate at every nursing session. I could not have even guessed accurately. I could take a guess, but not accurately. Because of this, I did not know how much formula to make at night for Elle.

I called Simelac and asked. They were really nice. For a 7 to 9 month old, the average consumption is 7-8 oz of breast milk or formula 3-5 times a day...better bust out the big bottles Mama!

Beef...it's what's for dinner

It is hot hot hot this summer... Last night I cooked a brisket in the crock pot over night with tons of veggies. Sliced thin it is good for sandwiches, or just warm in the microwave is good eating also. It was also an opportunity to introduce beef to Elle's diet.

I cut a piece of beef without fat...threw it in the magic bullet for a spin (to chop the beef first because I figured it was tough) and then added some boiled carrots and apples and let her whirl...It was a bit thick...so I divided it into a few portions and added a little milk of the boobie to tonight's portion. She ate it. Mmmmm protein and iron!

She is getting a bigger appetitie. Tonight, even after meat, veggies, fruit and 10 cheerios...she still had about 8 oz of boobie milk/formula at bedtime! Monster baby is hungry!

The pediatrician said we could introduce anything in the meat family after her 6 month check up. I was a little slow getting them done...but we are going to start now. We do not eat much chicken in our house...and we buy beef by the quarter cow from a local farm...so Elle's diet may be a bit restricted for the time being! I am sure she will be introduced to chicken nuggets at a birthday party soon enough.

Not the picture of mental health

Elle is napping. She does not usually nap long, but today I skipped her morning nap because it was "graduation day" at moms & tots. Soooo cute! She got a certificate and presents!

Now to the sick part. I decided since she was napping I would try to wax my legs. I could just shave every day except I can't because it takes too long and I am super neurotic about leaving her alone while I am in the shower for an extended period. What if she cries? And I really can't bear to pull myself out of bed at 4 am to make sure Mr. Bishop is still home and she is still sleeping. So my choices are, be hairy or wax on the long nap day. I choose poorly. My leg hurts. I need a professional. So now I have one half of a leg that looks silky smooth and pocked with red blotches and one and a half legs that look like Sasquatch. Awesome.

The busier she gets...

The busier Elle gets, the harder it is for me to form a sentence! Eeepp...

She has started pulling her hair when she is tired. Is that weird?