pooping

Since Hartley has started solids her poop hasn't been the sweet smelling mustard poops. :(

Sometimes they're green. Orange. Greenish-orange. Orangish-green.

Solid. Thick.

Is this too much?

Maybs.

"loving" on Anna Kate

We like her pooping, though. It's a good thing! It's like when we came home from the hospital after Hartley was born and we were thrilled whenever she peed. And when there wasn't any more meconium in her stools. The more she "went" the healthier she was doing. It meant she was nursing well and whatever jaundice she had was diminishing.

Anyway. Poop.

She's been making "pooping faces" lately.

She stops whatever she's doing and becomes still. Her face sometimes turns red. Today I saw her fist clinched. She holds her breath while she's.. forcing it.

Brows furrowed, fist clinched. Focused.

And then she continues playing.

beans and carrots

Hartley has been enjoying new foods a lot this week! I made pear sauce first, she's only had a little bit. We're trying to get her to eat more banana.. but for some reason she won't! I think it's because Grandmommie spoiled her with banana pudding last week..

I've also made green beans, carrots, and sweet potatoes. We've got a few weeks supply of food in the freezer and I'm excited to make more!

First time eating green beans. I like to call them "cream beans."

Just a kickin'! She also does this when she gets sweet tea..

Carrots for the first time. She eats like a cow.

She hasn't had any allergic reactions to her new menu yet, so we'll keep on expanding! We're going to try avocado and peaches next, I think.

I can't remember if I mentioned our recent Cry-It-Out (CIO) experiment. The nurse practitioner we saw at her well-check encouraged us to let her CIO during the night. She had been waking up 3 times during the night, being fussy and I would nurse her back to sleep (sometimes that wouldn't work). We know that she can make it through the night without nursing because she had been for about 2 months. I've read it takes about 3 days for it to work.. and last night was the fourth night. She slept from about 8:30pm to 6:20am. I'm hoping she will get back to her usual schedule (waking up AFTER 7am), but this is much better than waking up multiple times during the night. :)

And surprisingly her naps have lengthened. I shouldn't have to remind you of our 45-minute napper.. but she's been having consistent 1.5 hour naps. The morning one is the best! Her third nap is a short one, which possibly means we're nearing the time to drop it. I'll probably give her another month with 3 naps, at least.

I know as soon as I write about all the wonderful things Hartley is doing, she may quit behaving so well.. but I do want to remember how nice it is now.

Before we say goodbye, I want you to see this new bib I got Hartley. It's plastic coated so it will make cleaning up green beans much easier. It won't arrive for another 2 weeks, but I'm so excited. It was an Etsy purchase- I like the idea of buying handmade, personalized items, rather than store-bought. Plus- this is cuter and cheaper than the ones at Wal-mart.

rice cereal

We've been having a rough week due to teething and a growth spurt. Last night Hartley woke up 3 times. This is 3 times more than usual. While we were on vacation she started waking up once during the night. When we got home she went to twice a night. Needless to say, last night was not fun.

After some research, I decided to go ahead and start rice cereal. She's a week shy from being 6 months... so I think we did very well with her being exclusively breastfed for her first 6 months of life.

We actually attempted feeding her rice cereal a week before going on vacation. She didn't do very well, so we gave her a few weeks. She's been so interested in what we're eating, so I think she was ready. And hopefully this will extend her naps.. and nighttime sleep?? Because 30 minute naps and 3 hour stretches of sleep at night are so not fun. I got spoiled with her sleeping through the night..

Hartley has her 6 month checkup in less than 2 weeks, we'll probably expand her menu after talking with her pediatrician. I'm excited about making baby food for her. Marshall and I drove by his parents' pear trees the other day and it looks like there's going to be a lot this year (if nobody steals them like last year...). So we'll make pear sauce! And sweet potatoes, carrots, avocado, bananas.. any other suggestions?