First Solid Food!

Since Penelope did turn 6 months old last week, we thought we'd try some solid food. Our pediatrician suggested to begin her on vegetables, fruits and even proteins...no need for cereals. I bought some organic brown rice to make my own rice cereal, anyway (making your own rice cereal is sort of not worth it, as I have found out!) but we went with sweet potatoes for one major reason: we have LOTS of sweet potato around the house! Grizzly decided to develop food allergies so he is on a special diet of pinto beans and sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are on many lists of recommended first solid food so I thought, what the heck, let's try it! After all, Grizzly shouldn't have all the fun with sweet potatoes:

Talking to the potatoes

Here comes the airplane!

Yum!

I want the spoon, Mama!

She did like them, but as you can see in the picture above, I think she was mainly interested in playing with the spoon. She has also enjoyed bananas, so we'll continue with the sweet potatoes and bananas for now. I am in no huge hurry for her to eat solids and she is not really nutritionally in need of them until she is a year old or so. That is what "they" say this week, anyway...

To Penelope on Her 6-Month Birthday

Dear sweet Penelope:

Today, we celebrate your first six months on this earth and as our daughter. It is so remarkable how much you have grown and changed since you were born: as I write this, you have been smiling and laughing for at least three months, reaching for and grabbing your toys for over two months, cooing and talking for over three months, holding your head up for over three months, almost rolling over consistently for two months, and sitting up on your own for about a week! You have doubled your birthweight (and then some) and have grown in length almost 10 inches. You've tasted both bananas and sweet potatoes and seemed to enjoy both. You have let me sleep for more than a few five hour chunks at night. You seem to charm everyone you come into contact with, and even smile for a select (and lucky!) few! You pay particular attention to other babies and children and your dogs, Grizzly and Tara. In fact, you especially love to talk to Grizzly and Tara and even have begun to offer them your toys.

As you grow and change seemingly everyday, your birth becomes that much more of a miracle: with every new accomplishment or milestone, we remember the moment of your birth with that much more AWE. At that moment, we had no idea what you had in store for us! Here's a little trip down memory lane: what Dad and I were doing six months ago, today!

Laboring at Home

Laboring at the hospital, the first time

It's a girl!

We are your parents!

Kisses from Daddy!

Introducing: Penelope Marie!

Happy six months of life among us, Penelope!

Penelope's First "Camping" Trip!

We traveled to Sequoia National Park this past weekend to commune with nature and with Dan, Catherine, Tracy and Mike. We usually car camp with this bunch once a year or so, but decided a cabin might be better this year. So, we stayed in the Wishon Cabin at Camp Wishon. It was a spartan (and a tiny bit smelly) but really well-appointed for its remote location: we had running, very hot water, electricity and even heaters...although we didn't need use them. We had a full kitchen and shared yummy meals, including Dan and Catherine's bacon/sausage fest and Tracy and Mike's Frito Chili pies. YUM!

For the most part, Penelope really seemed to enjoy herself!
She shared laughs with everybody (including Uncle Bubba above) and slept surprisingly well (although I didn't because of the gigantic spiders in our room--I thought they were going to attack Penelope while we were sleeping).

The one major challenge was the car. She HATED being in the car! I didn't blame her...the road up to the Wishon Cabin was pretty windey (sp?) and then we decided to go visit the big trees and the road there was the WORST...even as the driver I got carsick. She screamed all the way back to the cabin from the big trees...ugh. Doug was in the backseat and sang to her the entire time...she finally fell asleep about 20 minutes away from the cabin. Poor kid...we can't figure out if it was the altitude (the big trees were at about 7000 feet and our cabin was at 3000 feet), the windy roads or exhaustion, or perhaps a mixture of all.

Penelope is on Doug's back in the Kelty pack, she actually looked really cute and comfortable. But, as you can see below, she ended up with Mama. She's still a young baby after all, needs to be closer to either Mommy or Daddy than the Kelty allows.

In all, we had a wonderful time visiting with Dan, Catherine, Tracy and Mike--it is always so so nice to see them. And I think we can call Penelope's first "camping" trip a success!