a teething baby's breakfast

Dane is eating less and less pureed baby food and wanting more and more "people food". :) He loves putting those two little teeth in action. With tooth #3 trying to break through, he enjoyed munching on his first whole strawberry. 

I earned another nomination in the Mom of the Year category with this teeth. I wish I didn't spend the whole first day he's teething wondering why in the WORLD he's so cranky. Just like the last time, it was late that afternoon before I noticed a little white line on his upper gums. Duh! That's why he's been a pill all day. Poor thing. 

The few days are the hardest. This time he seemed to get relief from munching on frozen washcloths and teething rings and cold fruit. I try to only give Tylenol if nothing else is working. We save it for right before bed so he can get good rest. The corner has finally come through the skin and he's feeling much better. 


I saw this on pinterest the other day and laughed out loud. Truer words have never been spoken. 

Cards Fan

Around here we have to clarify that we are St. Louis Cards fans NOT Louisville Cards fans! :)

For Dane's first birthday we are headed to STL to watch the Cards take on the LA Dodgers. Dane's great-papa, the man he is named for and shares a birthday with, was the world's biggest Dodgers fan from way back in their Brooklyn days. It seemed fitting that they'd be playing the Cards on such a special day. 

We're doing a baseball-themed party that is going to be so much fun! I've gone pinterest-crazy pinning all sorts of recipes, ideas and decor. A friend is making us a supercool invitation and we wanted to be sure to include a photo of the birthday boy dressed in his STL best. :)

Not wanting to wear the hat!

 OH, those teeth. He's one drooly baby lately.

 more interested in the hat than having his picture taken...

 ...probably because he was a little sleepy.

Finally! A winner!

water baby

So far, the $8 pool from the dollar store has been the best purchase of the summer. Dane gets to spend some time splashing around and momma gets to get a little sun on her embarrassingly white legs.

begging

the sharing around here is getting pretty ridiculous...

Elphie is shameless in her pursuits.

 Dane is happy to oblige.

 Pathetic.

 The precious enabler.

future investigator

I love watching Dane learn, and right now it seems like he learns something new every day. I think we have an engineer or architect on our hands. He loves seeing how things work and figuring out what goes where. I could watch him play for hours... and sometimes do. :) 

In the yard, he is fascinated by the grass-- the texture between his toes and how it feels in his hands.

 Apparently, it's even a good snack!

 Elphie plays with us too. She loves to bathe in the sunshine. She's also a good little shepherd, keeping her back to us and watching for trouble.

 Investigating again, this time the rug in his bedroom.

 We are working on tooth #3, and I assume #4 as well but it hasn't popped through yet.

 That's a teething face. I don't know why he holds his mouth like that-- maybe it feels better.

 Jabbering while he plays alone.

 Take that, tooth!

 I can alllllllmost reach....

 wait a minute...

 Never mind, this one's closer. :)

 Do all boys love balls? It must be in their genes.

 This child knows when the camera's out... such a ham. :)

pinspiration

At first glance that title kinda looks like perspiration. HA!

Have you been bitten by the pinterest bug? It got me good, as people around my neck of the woods would say.

I will readily admit to wasting A LOT of time scrolling through endless pins, I have put some of what I've seen on there into practice. I've added a few recipes to my cooking repertoire. In fact, I didn't realize how many things I've made until I started putting this post together! Here are a few that we've loved so far. 

This copycat recipe for Zax's sauce was pretty spot on. I've made it a couple times and I think it's better after it's been in the fridge for a day or so.

Speaking of sauces, this ranch dressing recipe is amazing. There's some in my fridge right now. I love greek yogurt and keep it in the fridge pretty much all the time. Fun fact: did you know the plain kind can treat diaper rash? I have a natural/green living post coming soon. :)

I've tried this recipe with pork and chicken. I even made it for my brother-in-law and sister-in-law and they seemed to enjoy it too. :) We eat a lot of chicken so anything to liven it up is good. I didn't make the honey garlic sauce the recipe calls for. In fact, I served it with the homemade Zax sauce instead. Very yummy.

My mouth just watered looking at this picture. I made a pan of these breakfast bars and ate them in one day. No, I'm not kidding. Peanut butter and banana does me in. :)

This pasta dish sounded so good. When it came time to make it I didn't have many of the ingredients so mine consisted of avocado, olive oil, salt and pepper and grated parmesan. It was good. Even my hubby who doesn't like avocado ate it up. I think I will keep this in the side dish rotation. Avocados have great nutritional value and I seem to always buy more than we can eat and look for something to do with them before they go bad.

 This has become my go-to morning breakfast. Four ingredients. In the blender. Done. Easy for the mama of nearly-mobile almost-ten month old. I always add ice or some water to thin it out because it is THICK. Extra milk might work too. I like to use ice because it gives it a good texture and chills it. Again with the banana and peanut butter...

If you'd like to see the other yummy things we're eating, check out my pins here.

Now, I'm off to get a snack. :)