Monkey & Bananas

Ariel had her 6 month well baby check up yesterday. She is 25 inches long and barely 16 lbs. Really, only 16 lbs? She dropped from being in the 50% for weight to the 38% (based on age). She should be weighing in closer to 18 lbs. So what happened?

Grazing.

It seems that Ariel was eating too frequently and just snacking all day. Her peds said she was "abusing" me. Great. Our homework is to go 3-4 hours between meals. The hope is that she'll eat more and start gaining a few more rolls. Everything else is on the up and up.

Last night, we started Ariel on her first solids, aside from cereal. We chose bananas left by grandma. We don't have much int he way of mashable baby food, so I was glad to have this on hand and not have to run to the store.

My mom bought us a baby food mill, so I washed the colorful and complicated apparatus and made Ariel's first baby food. After I got the hang of what the mill was supposed to do, it was so easy. But man what a learning curve. I didn't think I was that slow.

Ariel dug right in with the bananas, trying to take the spoon from Eric and feed herself. Dinner was a very frustrating battle for Daddy and baby. I am loathe to say that Ariel might be a sensitive child and a bit of a drama queen. Just like her mother. Wonderful.

Next food on the horizon: avocados. Maybe Ariel will share an avocado or two and Eric and I can have some guacamole. Ole!

First Bite

According to Ariel's pediatrician, we aren't supposed to start her on rice cereal until next week. That was fine, until we had "Night of the Ever-Waking Dead" (just in time for Halloween). Ariel woke up five times last night and ate 4 times out of the five. I'm not sure if her teeth are bothering her or if she was just a very hungry caterpillar, but in any case, no one got much sleep. This translated into a very grumpy little girl ( and a not-so-happy Mommy) this morning. I don't really know what to do, but I'd better figure it out soon or we're all going to be walking around like zombies.

We decided to give the rice cereal early. Ariel didn't seem to mind the soupy concoction in her mouth, but then she didn't seem to enjoy it either. The box directions say to make the cereal soupy, but wouldn't this make it more like breast milk? Where the texture? I think we'll make it a bit thicker tomorrow. Anyway, enjoy the pics and video as Ariel experiences her first bite of "solid" food.

My Humps

Eric and I have made the executive decision to make a lifestyle change. At least for the next month, we will be counting calories and watching our portion sizes. As an athlete, Eric's goal is to make sure he's eating enough and my goal, as a chubby little housewife, is to limit my caloric intake.

I have also signed a membership for Fitness 19 (a gym). It is 6 miles from the house but you can't beat the price at $20/mo. I took my baseline body measurements and they were a little frightening (I'll spare you the nightmares). I will do follow up measurement at 6 and 12 wks.

My workout goal is to do cardio 3 days/wk and weights 2 days/wk, with 1 visit to the scale at the beginning of each week. My first workout was today and I feel pretty good. Ask again in a couple hours and I might tell you a different story.

We'll keep you updated on our progress. At the end of 12 weeks, I hope to have shed 15-20 lbs. Wish us luck!