11 Month Birthversary - Long Legs Edition

Soooooo it's been a whole month since I've posted anything.  #slacker

Today is Nicolette's 11 Month Birthversary and she celebrated by sleeping in until 8am!  She wasn't really feeling the photoshoot today and was a little serious in front of the camera so we just went with it.  As I was flipping back through the photos I couldn't believe how LONG her legs are!!!

Nicolette can wave "hi" and "bye" and can say, "Mama" "Dada" and "Doh" (which means dog - she literally says it pretty much any time she sees a dog) :).  She can put coins in her piggy bank and put things away in her purse.  She learned how to climb the stairs (oh joy!) and I have a hard time keeping her away from stairs anywhere we go. She can turn ANYTHING into a "walking toy" - her high chair, a book, a laundry basket, tupperware, you name it and she can stand for quite a while without holding on to anything. No independent steps yet though, which is fine with mama!
 

10 Month Birthversary!

Nicolette turned 10 months old on Sunday and I had to try to wrangle her up for another monthly photo shoot.  Lord have mercy that child is all over the place!  At 10 months old, Nicolette is full of energy and getting her to sit still even for a second is not easy!

She is a pro at crawling and loves to pull to standing.  She's testing her balance here and there but not standing on her own unsupported yet.  If you put her in her walker she takes off in a split second.  She's even good at rerouting when she bumps into things or reaches an impasse.  She'll also walk (quickly) when holding on to your fingers and loves her push toys.

Nicolette has not been the greatest eater, we struggle to get her to finish her meals but that will surely improve with time.

In addition to saying "mama" (which she's been saying for months), Nicolette also started saying "dada" yesterday and this past weekend I think she started trying to say "dog".  We're dog sitting for friends and she would look at him and point and each time I would say "DOG".  By Sunday she was pointing and saying "doh".  I'm assuming that this means dog and that my child is a genius.

Sweet Dreams!

So as many of you who follow my blog and my IRL (In Real Life) friends are well aware, Nicolette is an absolute dream baby.......... EXCEPT when it comes to bedtime.  We (and I should say I as the Italian travels frequently so bedtime ritual is on my list of to-do's) struggled profusely with frequent and incessant night wakings (you can read my original post here).

I asked Dr. Chris about it at one of Nicolette's check ups and we made the decision to cut out dairy and soy from my diet as she had excessive gas.  That was back in February and the doc did say that it could take 2-3 weeks or even more to see the results.  I can definitively say that we've definitely noticed a significant decrease in the gas...our little Tootie hardly ever toots anymore!  I have relaxed a little bit on the diet and don't freak out if something has butter or soy lecithin in it but I am pretty mindful and make sure not to order a grilled cheese, drink a glass of milk or eat yogurt or any of the obvious culprits.  This still works for us so Nicolette isn't too terribly sensitive but is sensitive enough to make a difference.  So sadly, I shall remain pretty much soy and dairy free for the duration of our breastfeeding relationship.

With that said, we were still struggling with night wakings by the time we got to Nicolette's 9 month check up so I asked Dr. Chris about it again.  I told him that I had heard that if she wasn't sleeping continuously for 8-9 hours uninterrupted by this age that her brain might not be developing properly.  He literally laughed at me...out loud laughed at me.  He said, "look at your baby...she is developing perfectly."  He said that the interrupted sleep is not ideal for mommy so that I needed to do whatever I felt I needed to in order to manage my own sanity.  He does not support CIO (Crying It Out) for longer than 30 second increments for a baby Nicolette's age so he offered 3 suggestions:

1. To make sure that her tummy is nice and full before bedtime
2. To try a cup of Epsom salts in her bath and to make sure that she soaks for at least 10 minutes each night
3. To feel free to feed Nicolette one time if she woke up in the middle of the night...he said that some babies DO need the extra calories and/or hydration in the middle of the night.  He said think about us grown ups...don't we sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and need a glass of water?  Same thing with a baby...why deny them that if it's what they need? 

So the control freak in me made the decision to make sure that she has a puree every night for dinner so that I know how much she's taking in.  We still play with avocado or peas or broccoli or whatever in addition to the puree but I felt the need to feed her the puree to make sure that her tummy is getting nice and full. With the Baby Led Weaning it's just  hard for me to gauge how much she's taking in.   

I left the doctor's office that afternoon and bought Epsom salts (4 bags of them) at Target and we started with our experiment that night.  I was skeptical but hopeful...we ran the bath, dissolved the salts and I set a timer on my phone (I don't know what has happened to my sense of time since I became a mom...10 minutes can feel like 2 minutes or 2 hours so I wanted to make sure that we hit at least 10 minutes).  I tried to keep bath time calm and rubbed her back, poured water on her and sang to her.  She got out and I dried her, rocked her and tried to massage her with her baby lotion (our baby massages are anything but relaxing...this child is a squirmy little wiggle worm and wants to be on the move...she has NO patience for anything that might be considered relaxing...even when she's exhausted...silly baby).  I nursed her, put her in her sleep sack turned on the noise machines (yes, that is not a typo it is supposed to be plural we use 2 sound machines in her room) and she was out in 2-3 minutes. SUCCESS!!!!  I quietly tiptoed out of the room and started to tidy up downstairs when 34 minutes later (yes I time her sleep too...I'm a Type A, obsessive compulsive mommy, remember?) I heard her crying...ARGH!!!!  I had such high hopes.  We went through several wake ups and around 11 I finally caved and brought her to bed with me.  

Fast forward to the next night.  I decided to try the salts again..repeated the same routine - full belly, warm bath, set the timer, rock, lotion, jammies, bed, noise machines, etc. and I tiptoed out of the room.  Wouldn't you know that the little stinker slept for 12 1/2 hours that night...straight through!!!!!  Holy Moses!!!!  I had to wake her up in the morning because we had plans but I couldn't believe it!  From that point on it's been smooth sailing.  We're going on 3 weeks of great sleep!  Maybe 3 or 4 times she has woken once in the middle of the night and I simply feed her and she goes right back down and stays asleep but most of the time she sleeps straight through. 

Look at those bright eyes after a full night's sleep!

This is LIFE CHANGING!  So either the salts are the miracle cure or the good Lord above had mercy on me and decided to bless me with the gift of sweet baby sleep at just the right time (I've had some unfortunate and stressful personal drama that crept up a few weeks ago and I honestly don't think I could have coped with the lack of sleep and this situation all at the same time). 

We did have one night this weekend where she was struggling with teething and I was paranoid and afraid to give her ibuprofen so that was a rough night with lots of wake ups.  But now I've tried to make peace with the ibuprofen and have given it to her once or twice when I KNOW that she's struggling with pain and she's sleeping like, as they say, a baby.

It's amazing that this night sleeping has totally straightened out her naps as well.  I used to struggle to get Nicolette down for a nap and could hardly ever get her to sleep more than 20-30 minutes.  Now that she's sleeping well at night, her naps are very regular and much longer.  She takes an hour to an hour and a half nap in the morning and a 30 minute to hour long nap in the afternoon with little to no effort on my part.  For example this morning I rocked her and nursed her and got her good and sleepy, then laid her in the crib.  She crawled around for about 5 minutes then laid down and went to sleep on her own...LIFE CHANGING I tell you, LIFE CHANGING!  I had always read that good daytime sleep begets good night time sleep but for us it was the exact opposite...we had to get the night time sleep straightened out in order to get good daytime sleep.  

So if you're struggling with baby sleep...give the bath salts a whirl and see if they're magic for you.  Remember that they didn't work the first night for us so try for a few nights and see if it helps. 

SWEET DREAMS!!!!     

My daughter

I don't know what's going on with me this week.  I've been a mushy, gushy, emotional mess.  I feel like life is moving in fast forward and I'm frantically looking for the remote so that I can press PAUSE.

Nicolette is now 9 months old (technically 9 and 1/2 months old but I refuse to acknowledge the extra weeks until we actually hit the next birthversary).  She is all over the place and loves showing off her latest tricks - pointing, waving and clapping.  

She is fiercely independent which makes me proud and sad all at the same time.

She is curious about everything - carefully inspecting every detail of whatever it happens to be that has captured her attention for the moment.  She loves to point at everything and loves to carefully inspect faces with her eyes and her hands.  She loves to stick her fingers in my mouth, in my eyes and yes, up my nose.  

She is focused - once she gets her mind and eyes set on something, she's focused intently on it until she's done.  She is not easily distracted.

She is strong...I watch her literally practice squats over and over again and I have a hard time holding her still if she wants to be on the move (i.e. when changing her diaper).  She's been crawling for 2 1/2 months and pulling to standing nearly as long.  She loves standing and walks with her push toys now.  I clap and say yay and am so proud but inside a little piece of me wants to cry.  I miss the tiny little bundle who would lay quietly in my arms for hours on end out of every day while I sang to her and stared at her and am all too aware that those days are long gone.    

She is happy.  She loves to be chased and she giggles endlessly when I nibble on her toes or on her fingers.  

She is content, she hardly every fusses about anything and almost never cries.  Even if it is well past time for her to have eaten, she usually doesn't make a peep.  She'll skip a morning or afternoon nap and never make a fuss about it.  I can't believe what an easy going nature she has!

She is sweet...even with her independent streak she still needs mama to rub her back or hold her hand as she falls asleep.  Our bedtime routine ends with me laying on the floor next to her crib with one hand in between the slats as we hold hands while she drifts off to sleep.  I will cherish the memory of this ritual forever.  

She is Nicolette, my daughter, my everything

...there is none like her and she is more than I deserve.  God has blessed me beyond my wildest dreams.  She is my heart and our little family is my whole world.

My Favorite Things (MSPI edition)

So I've been faithfully soy and dairy free for over 2 weeks now and as I mentioned in my last post (view it here) it is DEFINITELY helping alleviate Nicolette's upset tummy and night waking!  Eating soy and dairy free is not for the faint of heart (or for the picky eater).  I used to live on edamame for quick and easy meals or would grab some of the Fried Tofu from Whole Foods (sigh....I really do miss that tofu!).   I was surprised to learn that nearly every convenience food that you buy contains soy in some form.  Luckily I have researched and learned that soy lecithin and soybean oil do not irritate many of the babies with MSPI (Milk & Soy Protein Intolerance) so you don't have to be as careful with those items which does open the doors quite a bit.

Sidenote: it was enlightening (and frightening) to learn how much of our food contains soy in some shape or form.  I was reviewing the allergen list for the Olive Garden since we were planning to go there for lunch one day and EVERY ITEM ON THE MENU contained SOY!  This is particularly frightening because something like 99% of the soy in America is Genetically Modified (a GMO) - it's not even naturally growing soybeans - it's something some kook worked up in a lab...sheesh!  And we wonder why cancer rates, asthma, allergies and everything else are on the rise...we're not eating REAL foods anymore.  But that's a post for another day.  

Here are a few of my favorite Soy & Dairy Free foods:

So Delicious Soy & Dairy Free "Ice Cream"
Chocolate Brownie Almond and No Sugar Added Mint Chocolate Chip are my favorites so far.  I can't wait to try the ice cream sandwiches and some of the other flavors.  And the best thing is that the Italian (who usually eats any and all snack foods and sweets as soon as they enter the house) won't touch this stuff because it says coconut on it and he swears that he doesn't like coconut (even though I make his toast with coconut oil every morning)  :)

Trader Joe's Coconut Oil
I use this stuff as a straight up replacement for butter in nearly everything...cookies, brownies, as cooking oil, on toast, etc.  It's delicious and crazy good for you.  Trader Joe's has by far the best pricing on Coconut Oil ($5.99 per 16oz jar).  I also use Coconut Oil for a myriad of other purposes (diaper rash, dry skin, chapped lips - you can view a list of 101 Benefits of Coconut Oil HERE)

Snap Pea Crisps
I LOVE snacking on these!  Probably a little too much!  They're light and crispy and a yummy, easy to grab snack!

Pacific Organic Cashew Carrot Ginger Soup
This is my new favorite dinner along with a slice of organic wheat bread toasted with my organic coconut oil on it!  mmmmmmm, tasty!

I'm sorting through some new recipes from my friend Toby who just finished nearly an entire year Soy and Dairy free in order to breastfeed her son through his first birthday!  Looking forward to getting creative in the kitchen and hopefully loving some yummy soy and dairy free meals!  I'll share any fantastic recipes that I test!

Here is my Soy & Dairy Free Brownie Recipe to get you started:

Brownies
Yields 9-16 servings

1/2 c. Trader Joe's Organic Coconut Oil, melted
1 c. Granulated Sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 eggs

1/2 c. All Purpose Flour (I've also done a combo of 1/2 AP Flour and 1/2 Whole Wheat Pastry Flour)
1/3 c. Trader Joe's Cocoa
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Grease a 9"X9" Square pan (or line with parchment
• Stir together Coconut Oil, Sugar & Vanilla in a large mixing bowl
• Add eggs, beat well with spatula 
• Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt
• Gradually add the dry ingredients to the sugar mixture, beating well until blended
• Spread batter into a prepared pan (I grease my pan with coconut oil)
• Bake 25 minutes until sides pull away from the pan
• Cool COMPLETELY in pan or on wire rack
• Cut into 9 or 16 squares and ENJOY!

Night waking update

So a few weeks ago I wrote about our issues with night waking (you can read the original post here).  A few days later I took Nicolette to the pediatrician because I really felt that the gas was what has been waking her up this whole time.  He suggested that I start her on a probiotic called Bio Gaia and that I eliminate dairy and soy from my diet.  Many babies have a milk and/or soy protein intolerance (MSPI) which can cause painful gas and night waking.  The doctor said that it would take 2-3 weeks to eliminate my body and hers of the accumulated milk and soy proteins so not to expect immediate results.

I started the elimination diet and probiotic 2+ weeks ago and literally 1 week and 6 days after starting the new regimen I saw a change in Nicolette's gas and night time sleep pattern.  Previously Nicolette would fall asleep easily and then awaken approximately 30 minutes after being put down.  I'd rock and/or nurse her back to sleep and she would reawaken every 30-45 minutes over and over and over again until I gave in around 11 or midnight and brought her to bed with us.  Well, 1 week and 6 days after starting she slept for nearly an hour and a half and even woke up a little and put herself back to sleep (I was watching like a hawk on the video monitor).  When she woke up after an hour and a half I rocked/nursed her back to sleep and she slept for nearly 2 hours.  Same thing happened last night.  a 1 1/2 hour stretch, then a 2 hour stretch, then a 4 hour stretch.  At 2am when she woke up crying The Italian asked if he could please go get her and bring her to bed with us :) ... he's an even bigger softie than I am!!!!  As I type this she's in the midst of an hour long stretch (still going strong...fingers crossed!).

I know it may seem silly to celebrate 1 hour or 2 hour stretches of sleep but this really is a huge accomplishment for us!  Since she turned 4-4.5 months old I've had to spend 3, 4 sometimes 5-6 hours on a bedtime struggle routine before giving in and bringing her to bed with us.  While I feel guilty for not realizing that the gas was bothering her so much I'm grateful that we seemed to have identified the sleep disruptor and are on a path towards more peaceful nights for her.  Now I can tell that she's feeling better and starting to be able to sleep for longer stretches of time on her own.  I'm not expecting full night sleeping on her own any time soon but am so thankful that her tummy seems to be soothed enough to sleep for longer than 30-45 minutes at a time!  Honestly in a perfect world the Italian and I would be so happy for her just to sleep on her own from the time we put her to bed (6:30/7:00 until 11 or so when we go to bed and then she can come to bed and snuggle with us all she wants).

For those interested here is more information on MSPI from MSPI Mama's website (which you can view HERE)

Milk Soy Protein Intolerance

You may be asking yourself: What is MSPI? Well, it stands for Milk Soy Protein Intolerance.

Basically, it's when a person (usually an infant or small child) can't tolerate eating ANYTHING that has a milk or soy protein-derived ingredient. 

Symptoms

Reactions vary on a personal basis, however, common symptoms include: reflux; upset stomach; gas; runny, painful bowel movements; blood in the stool; congestion; a rough skin rash on the face, head and chest; colicky behavior; abnormal sleep patterns; refusal to eat or sometimes constantly eating and purging. Yes, it's a lot of fun!

*The only symptoms Nicolette ever displayed were abnormal sleep patterns and gas.  We just thought she was a gassy little girl and even jokingly called her "Tootie" 

Diagnosis

Unlike a food allergy, there really isn't any medical test that can be given to determine whether someone has a food intolerance. It's mainly diagnosed through the symptoms. Unfortunately, not all physicians are aware of MSPI, and the intolerance goes misdiagnosed leading to failure to thrive and even unnecessary medical intervention.

Treatment

If your baby has reflux, medication can sometimes help relieve some of the symptoms, but ultimately, you must remove all dairy and soy protein from the baby's food in order to see true improvement. If your baby is bottle-fed, usually switching to a dairy and soy-free formula will take care of the problem. But if your baby is breast-fed, the mother must remove all dairy and soy protein from her diet ... thus the reason for this website! Please seek the guidance of a knowledgeable physician if you experience any complications.

Outlook
Unfortunately, there is currently no cure for MSPI. Just time. Most children will grow out of the intolerance. Some as early as 1 year old or much later. (My son grew out of his MSPI when he was 3½ years old.) A few unlucky ones may never grow out of it. I can tell you from experience that maintaining the MSPI diet isn't exactly easy or fun, but it's definitely doable! It's worth a shot. Give it a try!

8 Month Birthversary (mommy's late with her pictures)

Nicolette turned 8 months old last week and mommy had a hard time with it.  Time is going much to quickly!

Nicolette's 7th month was a busy one, she started saying "mama",  got her first tooth and started crawling (BOTH on February 6th, one day after her 7 month birthversary!)  So I've been busy chasing my little peanut around!

Here are a few pictures from our 8 month photoshoot...(sorry for being a little photo crazy...I can't help myself!

The official photo

Standing up now in the glider...that's safe, right?   

"I'm gonna get you Elli!"

Debating her escape

Curtains are fun!

And I love this series of photos where she spots mommy and comes crawling over as fast as she can.  Melts my heart!

Look at that sweet toof!

"Hi Mommy!"  I got you!!!!"

Mommy's view...beautiful!

Soooooo happy!

When did she get to be such a big girl?????

sniff, sniff

Never say Never

Oh being a mother has brought such wonderful, new experiences my way.  There are quite a few things I "never" thought I would do before sweet Nicolette:

1. Lick my finger and use it to wipe something off of my baby's face (do it daily now)
2. Use my sleeve (or bare hand) to wipe snot from my baby's nose when I don't have a tissue handy
3. Drive around aimlessly or sit in parking lots (or our garage) with a sleeping baby in the car
4. Bring my baby into bed with us to sleep on a "regular basis" (but only if you consider every night a regular basis) 
5. Thoroughly examine poopy diapers (Is that avocado?  I think I see sweet potatoes!)
6. Anxiously and excitedly await aforementioned poopy diapers
7. Suck snot out of my baby's nose with my mouth (not as gross as it sounds...check out www.nosefrida.com - it totally works and is way better than the bulb syringe.  I highly recommend it!)
8. Squirt breastmilk up my baby's nose (don't laugh - it honestly helps with congestion/runny nose)
9. Pray for my baby to sleep and then sit around wishing she was awake so that we could play
10. Pray for my baby to sleep and then spend her entire nap time flipping through pictures and videos of her on my phone
11. Be the mom who is late for everything (I used to be known for being 15 minutes or even more EARLY for EVERYTHING...now I'm struggling to get places 15 minutes late!)

I'm sure there will be more and more to add to this list as the days, months and years pass and I'll love every minute of it!  

Night waking...

Ok, so I know I've been a totally absentee "blogger".  To be perfectly honest, we've been struggling with sleep in the Randazzo house and I will only allow myself on the computer if/when Nicolette is asleep.

I don't know what happened to my Sleeping Beauty.  Up until Nicolette was 5 months old she would fall asleep, whenever, wherever and stay asleep for what seemed like forever!  Then things suddenly changed...I would put her down in her crib at bedtime and she would stay asleep for maybe an hour or hour and a half and then she would pop up.  I'd see her little head popped up at the monitor and her trying to push onto all fours to crawl around while crying.  So I'd go back upstairs try to comfort her in the crib (did not work at putting her back to sleep ONE SINGLE TIME over the past 2 months) and I'd end up picking her up, rocking and/or nursing her back to sleep and we'd repeat this cycle over and over either until morning or until I gave up and brought her to bed with me.  (More often than not the latter of the two is how it honestly ended).  I had maybe two nights total over the last 2 1/2 months where she would sleep 5-7 hours without waking.

In the midst of all of this of course I was internet researching and I decided that it must be developmental.  A lot of babies have milestone related night waking.  They get so excited about a new "trick" (i.e. pushing up to all fours, crawling, babbling, etc) that they wake up in the night hours to "practice".  The way she immediately popped up onto all fours I was sure she was waking up to practice pre-crawling and crawling.  Well, milestone related night waking surely cannot last 2 1/2 months NON-STOP right???

Once or twice (against my every gut feeling) I decided to try to do some "sleep training".  I'd stand by the crib and pat Nicolette's back when she would cry and try to calm her down.  This was not successful, not one single time.  I'd wait and try to soothe her but she quickly works herself up into an absolute frenzy...gasping for air sobbing, shrieking frenzy.  I could not deal!  There was one night where I slept on the floor of the nursery and out of sheer exhaustion I did let her cry herself to sleep.  Two days later she had a little tooth popping through and I felt horrible that my baby was in pain that night and I didn't just bring her to bed with us like my gut was telling me to :(

So we're back to co-sleeping but now I'm wondering if there's a bigger issue.  Nicolette earned her nickname "Tootie" early on for good reason...my girl has gas and can rip some big ones.  It doesn't seem to bother her at all during the day (never has) she's happy, smiley, content....just toots and keeps doing whatever she's doing.  This past week I started sitting in the nursery with her more while she's sleeping and I've noticed that she usually toots shortly after waking up and crying so I wonder this whole time, has gas been causing her to wake up????  She'll usually scream/cry, wake up, roll around, toot, then be wide awake crying for a while.  It breaks my heart because I can see that she's in pain, I'll try to bicycle her legs to release the gas and she tightens up stiff as a board making it impossible to move her little legs.  When she's in bed with us she still wakes up, toots and whimpers a little bit but since I'm right here and able to comfort her within seconds she's much quicker to settle down and then doesn't suck in all that extra air from crying and the gas doesn't seem to be as bad as when she's on her own in the crib.

I of course examined her diet to see if there's a culprit...I've switched from Baby Led Weaning to Purees and back and also done a combo and it doesn't seem to change the gas situation so that made me begin to question MY diet.

I have several friends whose babies have dairy and/or soy sensitivities and they've either had to A) give up breastfeeding or B) totally eliminate dairy and soy from their diets to make breastfeeding work.

When Nicolette was a teeny, tiny baby she didn't show any of the classic signs of a dairy/soy sensitivity (i.e. arching back while eating, constant crying, lots of spitting up, vomiting, etc.)  In fact, Nicolette hardly ever spit up, has never vomited and really doesn't cry during the day time at all.  Up until she was 5 months old, night time wasn't really an issue either...then again we were co-sleeping all the time and she would wake several times, fuss a bit and I would easily feed her and she'd be back asleep before ever completely waking up.  Recently I've been reading that night waking can be a sign in older babies of a dairy/soy intolerance.  I don't know if this is what's causing our night waking and gas issues but I'm definitely willing to give it a shot so today was the first day that I consciously went dairy and soy free.

Now this is no easy task for this cheese loving girl.  But at least the dairy is pretty easily identifiable and therefore easier to cut out.  Soy on the other hand is tricky...it is in almost EVERYTHING in some shape or form.  I had the hardest time finding soup today that had no dairy or soy.  You'd think that simple tomato soup would have a short ingredient list...not so.  You really have to read labels so closely and you'll be surprised that it seems like 90% of packaged foods do contain some form of soy.  I've read that it can take anywhere from 3 days to 3 weeks for your body to cycle out all of the dairy and soy that's built up so we'll test this out for a month or so and see how it goes.  If you have any yummy soy/dairy free recipes to share with me please do so!  Edamame was my go to snack/meal and I will miss it so!!!!

Sweet dreams!

7 Months Old!!!! (and crawling, kind of)

Yesterday was Nicolette's 7 month Birthversary!  Pictures were next to impossible because this girl is ready to CRAWL.  As soon as I set her down she pulls forward onto all fours (pretty dangerous in the glider I usually take her pictures in each month).  And it was hard to get a smile because she was irritated that I wasn't letting her pull forward on to her tummy.  She's such a big girl!

At 7 months old Nicolette is starting to crawl, loves avocados, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, acorn squash, oatmeal fingers (with flax and chia), scrambled egg yolk, and steamed kale.  She wasn't totally wild about green beans, didn't hate them though.  And she wasn't too excited about banana either (we were surprised on that one and will have to try more fruits this month).  She loves blowing raspberries and is making more consonant sounds and babbling.  Her favorite word to say is "agua"....who knew that Nicolette would already be bilingual?  ;-)

February will be a fun month!  Nicolette has a few birthday parties to go to this month...she's quite the socialite!  And I'm off to chase this baby who is scooching around the house...bye!!!!