Taste Bud Tease

After just over six solid months of solely breastfeeding, Kate finally got her first taste of solid food.  That solid food happened to be rice cereal mixed with a touch of breast milk.

Brian and I had our camera rolling, completely and totally expecting some sort of reaction.  Kate surprised us both by acting like she had been eating solids her whole life.  There was barely even a grimace!  We supposed that could do with the fact that rice cereal tastes even blander than plain breastmilk...

I swear this girl is reading What to Expect Your First Year as a Baby because she is so completely perfect!  Grimace or not!

One thing that Brian and I both realized with our little foody experiment is that we definitely need to go get some big girl food dishes.  Up until now we have not needed any dishes whatsoever, so when we went to give Kate some rice cereal we realized that we didn't have anything to feed her with.  Fortunately, Target is right down the road, so Brian came back with some colorful and perfect spoons that we used!  (We'll get some bowls next shopping trip.)

And just when we thought we were getting the hang of this whole parenting thing something changes...

...Solid foods are an entirely new ballgame.  A realm that we are both unfamiliar with, but it is a very exciting transition!  It's time to start introducing Kate to the so many delicious foods out there!

Let the games begin!

Tub Time

We heart tub time!

Yes, we do!

We heart tub time!

How about you?!

Oh Em Gee!

Cutest! Baby! Ever!

We ♥ you!

Homework

When I picked Kate up from "school" on Friday, her teachers sent us home with a blank piece of poster board and directions to "decorate" and "include family pictures".

(Is it sad that I was a little disappointed to have homework to help with already??  I mean, Kate is not even 6 months old yet, people.)

Having an artsy fartsy side, I sometimes love having a blank slate for me to do what I will with.  Having an OCD side, I sometimes love having someone tell me exactly what they need/want/what I need to do, etc.

This weekend, not expecting homework, I would've preferred a clearer direction.  That blank piece of poster board seemed a bit too daunting especially since there were several other things that I had (and still have) on my list to do that I have yet to accomplish.  (Case and point: updating this blog.)  But, alas, that was not the case.

I stared at that blank piece of poster board.  That blank piece of poster board stared back at me.  I thought and thought.  It stared and stared. When finally the idea clicked.

Kate and I went to Michael's in search of paint and ended up bringing home a $3.00 Crayola watercolor set.

I figured we should stick with non-toxic, kid-friendly arts &
crafts for now.

When we got home, Kate sat in my lap while I painted a perfectly round, yellow sun with red and orange rays beaming from it.  (Yes, I said OCD.)

After all, Kate is the light of our life!

We also sent some pictures to be printed of the family and Brian picked them up.  Then, we got to taping said photos on the bright, not blank anymore poster board, colored her name in with Crayola markers and voilà - Kate's first homework was officially done!

Our very first homework!

Brian turned Kate's homework in first thing Monday morning and apparently the teachers were all quite impressed!  It is now the very first poster board hanging on the wall.  We are setting the bar high and already setting Kate up to be an overachiever.  Yes, that is a-ok with me since I may or may not be a bit of an overachiever...

Note: Kate, Sweetheart, I love you dearly, but please understand that Mommy and Daddy will not, I repeat, will not be doing your homework forever.

Toys vs. Toes

Who needs toys when you've got toes?!

Not Kate!

Mommy's Little Helper

During any given day there are various tasks that need to be done in order to prepare for the next day.  Any one of the following (most of the time all) need to be done: wash bottles, sterilize bottles, wash pump supplies, sterilize pump supplies, prepare bottles for tomorrow, and/or wash all toys that have piled up by the sink.  (Those are the toys that need to be washed - say, if they fall on the floor in a public place, they immediately go to the sink pile.)

Before Kate was able to sit on her own she would sit in her exersaucer or bumbo or do some tummy time on the floor on her floor mat tiles.  She always felt so far away and I always felt bad having to do those kind of chores instead of being able to play.  After all, there are only a couple of hours between getting home and going to bed that we have together Monday through Friday.  

I have actually tried to leave all of the washing and sterilizing for after Kate went to bed, but at that point I was so tired that the last thing that I needed was a list of things that needed to be done by tomorrow.

Since Kate is now able to sit up on her own, it is way more fun for both of us to make a cozy little spot on the left side of the sink for her so that she can help and be close.  Plus, it gives us the opportunity to talk talk and catch up on our days!  She has not yet reached for the water like she does in the tub, but I know that is only a matter of time.  For now, I pile a few toys on the edge of the counter and she hangs out with me while I wash and wash away.

It is a wonderful compromise between washing when Kate is awake and not washing until Kate is asleep.  This way, Kate not only learns about chores, but she also gets some pre-bath water play, and I still get to have her close!

It's seriously a perfect spot, expecially with the padded
towels on the bottom of the sink! 
(Yes, added for safety.)

I pick toys up off the floor approximately
28 times during our washing, but it is well
worth it having Kate next to me!

After all, she is Mommy's little helper!

Nearly Ninety

Today was our first day of sunshine and temperatures in the upper 80's!  It was a beautiful day and as soon as we were all off of work and home from school we went outside.  Kate and I went on our first successful run.  (I say successful because we tried to run last week but I didn't realize I would have to put air in the jogging stroller tires, so they were flat, and I didn't realize I would be running directly into the sun, so we turned completely around, and I didn't realize the extremely strong wind would be blowing in the opposite direction every way we turned, so we threw the towel in.)

While Kate and I were running, Brian mowed the lawn for the very first time this year and Jack enjoyed the soaring temps as well.  After all, we live in Ohio, and tomorrow there is a cold front coming through that is going to knock 40 degrees off of the temperatures we saw today...

Such is Spring.

Speaking of, seeing all of the budding flowers and trees reminds me that this is Kate's first Spring.  This is the first time that she has ever seen tulips, daffodils, cherry trees!  The first time she has experienced a thunderstorm.  The first time she has felt temperatures in the 80's!  Looking at the world as if this is the very first time you have seen it is truly a unique experience.

And there are so many more amazing things to learn and experience!

Kate, post run.  This run was so smooth that it
put her to sleep!

Brian is very proud of his lawn!

When Jack's tail is blurry you know he is happy!

When Kate woke up, we headed to the back to play ball.
(Also, this is post run, so please excuse the...
unkempt-ness.)

Refridgerator Art

At Kate's school, the teachers and kids do arts and crafts several times a week.  They do a lot of holiday/time of year related crafts.  We literally got three painted hearts that Kate made for Valentine's Day and a painted shamrock for St. Patty's Day.  They display the artwork all over the room so the kids get to enjoy their very own masterpieces which also decorate and provide vibrant, bright, and ever changing wall art.

Hearts.

Shamrock...that may or may not have ripped when I
let Kate hold on to it...

I love that the school Kate attends is so hands on with the children and teaching and holidays.  I really do, but I have a very hard time throwing these lovely pieces of art away.  If I keep them all, Kate is going to end up with 37 bins of artwork before she's in middle school.  And, let's get real, technically she's not really doing the art work.  You get what I'm saying?

Still, it is a big dilemma for me that I have yet to solve.  So, in the meantime, I try to display Kate's lovely pieces of art (that aren't too outdated) on our fridge.  (And by outdated I mean the Valentine's Day hearts that we got mid-March and the shamrock that we got early-April.)

This is our very first piece!

Yeah, it's a first edition.

I can guarantee you that Kate's art will be posted on our fridge, throughout our house, and even in our work spaces for many, many years to come!

We are going to need a lot of bins...

PS: Kate is officially sitting up!!!

PPS: I use "school" and "daycare" interchangeably but "school" is a lot easier for me.  While I am not with Kate during the day, I tell myself that she is in school - learning, socializing, playing.  Daycare just sounds so bland and boring, and where we are sending Kate is anything but that.  Sometimes it makes not being with her during the day easier...sometimes.

Who's Your Bunny?

For Kate's very first Easter my Mom, Scott, and James drove down from Canada and Amy flew into to town from Maryland and we celebrated the holiday together with Brian's family.

As usual, the time spent together was just too short, but it was so wonderful to see everyone.  We spent Saturday doing a little shopping at Easton, dyeing Easter eggs, preparing a feast of munchies for the Ohio State basketball game, and helping the Easter bunnies prepare little Easter surprises for all of the guests at the Hendricks Household.

On Sunday, we headed over to Brian's Aunt's to dine on the food that was prepared to feed a small army and enjoy the holiday together!

The Easter bunny set the bar extremely high for Kate this year!  Her basket was so chock full of fun stuff that I have no clue how it will be topped next year.  (This is a silent call for help.  Anyone?)

Click here for more Easter shenanigans!

And Happy Easter!