spiderman...spiderman...

I found some pj's at Wal-Mart on sale for $1.50 so I snatched up a couple sets for Charlie. Daniel and I just got a big kick out of Charlie in his spiderman pj's. I had to take a picture...

big kid recipes and baby food making

I came across a couple of really good recipes in the last week that I wanted to share:

Country Salisbury Steak
prep: 10 min. total: 35 min.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb. extra lean ground beef
1 pkg. (6 oz.) Stove Top Stuffing Mix for Chicken
1 1/2 cups water, divided
3/4 cup chopped onions
1 pkg. (8 oz.) fresh mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup barbecue sauce

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix meat, stuffing mix, 1 1/4 cup of the water and the onions until well blended. Shape into six 1/2-inch-thick oval patties. Place on 15x10x1-inch baking pan.

Bake 25 min. or until cooked through (160 degrees F).

Meanwhile, spray large nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Add mushrooms; cook on medium-high heat 5 min. or until lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Add barbecue sauce and remaining 1/4 cup water. Reduce heat to low; simmer 1 to 2 min. or until sauce is heated through. Serve over the patties.

Makes 6 servings.

Taco Bake
prep: 15 min. total: 35 min.

Ingredients:
1 pkg. (14 oz.) Kraft Deluxe Macaroni and Cheese dinner
1 lb. ground beef
1 pkg. (1 1/4 oz.) Taco Seasoning Mix
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1 cup Thick N Chunky Salsa

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Prepare mac and cheese as directed on pkg. While macaroni is cooking, brown meat; drain. Add taco seasoning mix and water to meat; simmer 5 min.

Stir sour cream into prepared mac and cheese. Spoon half of the mac and cheese into 8-inch square or 9-inch round baking dish; top with layers of the meat mixture, 1 cup of the cheese and remaining mac and cheese mixture. Cover.

Bake 15 min. Top with salsa and remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Bake, uncovered, an additional 5 min. or until cheese is melted.

For extra crunch, top with 1/2 cup coarsely crushed tortilla chips along with the salsa and cheese. (This is good topped with lettuce and tomatoes as well.)

Makes 6 servings, 1 cup each.


I've also ventured into the world of making my own baby food for Charlie. One...it's much cheaper. Two...it gives Charlie alot more variety. I mean, have you ever seen a Gerber jar of avocadoes? Well, Charlie gobbled one up the other day! I can also buy organic and give him fresh produce. It's quite time consuming so far but I'm sure once I get a good stockpile, it will just be maintaining the supply. So far, it's working out well. For any other moms interested, I found a great website for this...

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/

new car seat

We bought Charlie a new car seat. Gone are the days of lugging him around in the infant carrier. I'm happy to see it go but am kind of sad for a couple of reasons. One...no more letting Charlie finish his nap even when we aren't in the car anymore. Two...and most heart-wrenching...my little boy is growing up. He is in a big boy car seat now that he'll use until he's about 5 years old. I took this today on our usual trip to Wal-Mart:

On another note, I think I've mentioned Charlie's love for cups before. Here's a cute video with my cup.

New Year's beach trip!

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, Charlie and I spent New Year's in Destin. We had a great time with family as I'm sure they enjoyed having Charlie around. Charlie and I didn't get out much since it was freezing! I did manage to get him out on the beach one day and had my uncle take some pictures. Don't mistake the sand for snow. It's easy to do since Charlie is dressed for snow.

Charlie took his first trip to the Bass Pro Shop with Grandpa! They enjoyed watching the fish. Charlie also got his first Bass Pro Shop t-shirt...

Here are more pictures from our trip:

Eating time

I've been trying to get Charlie to progress into a little more solid food. I just switched to the stage 3 foods, which have more "chunks" in them. He hasn't really liked them too much so far. Yesterday, I let him try some puffed cereal. (And for my mom and mother-in-law, yes, I tried a small piece of it before giving him the whole thing) :) The videos below are of that adventure. Today, I was eating my lunch on the couch with Charlie beside me, playing with his new favorite book. He became very interested in my chicken fingers. I fought it for a while but finally decided to see how he would do if I just gave him a tiny piece. He really liked it and continued to eat many bites. He also ate a few bites of bread so it looks like we're making progress. It hasn't connected in his brain yet that the things on his tray are food to eat. He just plays with anything that I place in front of him. And, consequently, most of it ends up on the floor. So, Khaki is eating good and stalks us the whole time Charlie is in his high chair. Oh joy...

1st attempt:



2nd attempt:




SUCCESS!!

Charlie's first snow

We got snow here in Kennesaw yesterday. It was really quite beautiful. Since this doesn't happen very often, I had to take pictures! It snowed about an inch and it actually stuck! We had to go to church so we didn't get to really play in it but wanted to make sure Charlie got to experience it so when we got home, we took him out into the yard. Daniel tried to get Khaki's picture in the snow too, but she kept squinting because the rain was getting in her eyes. Oh well. Here are our pictures...

my new 'do

I got tired of Charlie pulling my hair and I got tired of the new hair showing along my hairline so...I went and got a new 'do. Tell me what you think...

8 months old

On Friday, January 4, 2008, Charlie turned 8 months old. It's strange to think that he is closer to one year old than just born. He's still growing like a weed. He weighs around 20 pounds or more already. Daniel and I discussed going this weekend to buy him a new car seat since the infant carrier he is in only goes to 22 pounds.

Charlie is sitting up well now and is learning to push with his feet if he is lying on his belly. Daniel noticed tonight that Charlie can pull himself forward with his arms and slide on his belly. I noticed today that he is trying to push with his feet but just can't seem to dig in enough to push his weight. I'm sure it won't take much longer though and he'll be on the move. I've tried to start putting him on the floor alot more so that he'll have the opportunity to learn to crawl. We sit alot on the couch and play in his basket of toys or he is in my lap. He's starting to get more strength in his legs and can stand a little too.

Charlie is babbling more and more everyday. I heard a little bit of a "ba ba ba" sound today but that's about it for the consonant sounds. It's mostly still just "ah" sounds. There are some "wa wa wa" sounds too though. I get so used to listening to him talk that I forget to pay attention to the sounds he's actually making. And, of course, I'm going "ma ma ma" and "da da da" alot now. I've started doing some sign language with him. I'm trying to incorporate all the signs I know into my conversations with him during the day. These are things like milk, eat, more, change (diaper or clothes), play, book, mama, dada. The basics. I'll work some more in as soon as I find the time to learn more.

Charlie is eating well. He nurses about 4 times a day at 3 1/2 to 4 hour intervals. He eats a mid morning snack of fruit. Lunch and dinner consists of rice cereal and a vegetable. He has begun to eat a little off my plate and loves to drink out of my cup. This has posed a new challenge for dinner time. We've tried to start eating at the table more so that he can sit in his high chair while we eat. He just gets so excited if Daniel or I lift our glass to take a swallow. He follows it with his eyes to your mouth and then back to the table. He smiles and starts to kick when you lift your cup and then the smile disappears when you set it down. It really can break your heart. I'm still trying to get him to drink out of a sippy cup but with no luck. If I hold the cup he'll drink some, but he mainly just wants to chew on it.

Charlie hasn't had any teeth cut through yet but it shouldn't be much longer. You can see the front two on the bottom just below the gumline. He's been showing some signs that his gums are hurting him more than just his usual gnawing and drooling.

Charlie is still in his "all I want is mama" phase. I guess this is to be expected since he is with me 24/7. However, I'm starting to have "non-separation frustration". He just won't let me put him down much and I definitely can't step out of his sight for one second, even when Daniel is around. Daniel is getting really good at distracting him so I can disappear and get a little break. But, one of the ladies at church made a comment tonight as I was talking about this very thing. She told me to enjoy it now because they don't stay this little for long and soon he'll be running around not wanting you to hold him. That gave me a new outlook on it. I love the fact that Charlie knows me and loves me and only wants me but it can get exhausting sometimes. These feelings, however, disappear when he snuggles into my neck or gives me what I call a "Charlie kiss". He is definitely a snuggle bunny. Just fyi, here's what a "Charlie kiss" looks like...

Well, that's an update on the life of this 8 month old. Sorry it's a long one but the thoughts just kept flowing and I want to remember as much of this as I can. Here are a couple of pictures I took today to remember him being 8 months old...

Charlie's hair is also beginning to fill in. It's starting to curl and is really cute. I tried to get a close-up...

I also have taken to just sitting and watching Charlie play. It's really cool to me to sit and think about how much he has grown and developed while watching all the things he can do while he plays. Maybe you'll enjoy it too...

Christmas for the Wards

Well, we survived Charlie's first Christmas. We all had a great time visiting family and friends, exchanging gifts, and just enjoying the season. Charlie, of course, only being 7 1/2 months old, really didn't know what was going on. He enjoyed the wrapping paper, bows, and ribbons. Forget gifts! Just give him some paper to tear up. He got some great gifts though, as did Daniel and me. We made the trip to Elba the Saturday before Christmas and stayed until a couple of days after. We then made the trek to TN to visit my grandmother for a few days (with a stop in ATL to drop off gifts of course...that poor car...it was packed to the max). Charlie and I then made the LONG journey back to Elba and then on to Destin, FL, with my mom and dad. Daniel headed back to Kennesaw and back to work after New Year's. My aunt and uncle had a house in Destin for the week so a bunch of my family headed down to enjoy a much needed vacation there. I'll post more on that trip later. But, that is why I am just now getting around to posting. I got home a couple of days ago and I am exhausted! Whew! Just PLEASE don't make me get back in a car anytime soon! Charlie did surprisingly well. Hopefully, things will be back to normal in a couple of days. I'll post more on our beach trip and Charlie turning 8 months old in the next day or two. In the meantime, here is a slide show of pictures from Christmas...