ALL ABOUT EVA

6 months of age is amazing (7 months too. I’ve been meaning to write this post forever!). Eva’s personality is beginning to show and she is this happy, smiley, loving, little person. She sits and moves a little bit in her immediate area, but I’m not having to chase her down (yet). She is so easygoing. If a toy gets out of her reach she doesn’t get upset, she just finds something else to play with. She loves games and is beginning to make up a few of her own. We are having such a good time!

So after a little trial and error, I have determined that texture is highly important to Eva. Looks like I got the texture right with the prune puree I made. She loves it!

Today the most important man in Eva’s life turned 30. I know what you are thinking. I am a cougar! Eva adores her Dad like no other and they definitely complete each other. He, of course, thinks she is the most perfect thing on the planet.

For this important birthday, I decided to take Eva’s Dad to the dump. We went to the Albany Bulb, which used to be a dump, then a homeless camp and place for artists to create art using found objects, and now a park. We had a great time and saw a lot of interesting things. We did not make it to the hobo hot tub however.

I must also remember and thank Grammie, who, 30 years ago today, gave birth (which, as previously stated, is really hard!) to an amazing and wonderful man.

Eva’s Dad in his birthday suit and other pictures after the jump…. Read the rest of this entry »

Eva’s aunt, uncle and cousins got her this book entitled : The Vegetarian Mother’s Cookbook: Whole Foods to Nourish Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women and Their Families. We love this book! It lists the nutritional value for each meal, not only calories, fat, carbs and protein, but vitamins and minerals too. The recipes are easy to follow and the food tastes amazing. I just keep thinking up variations of each recipe. Some favorites at our house include: breakfast burritos, black bean and sweet potato enchiladas, and millet-veggie burgers. In fact, we make millet-veggie burgers at least once a week. Did you know there is a millet shortage in Africa?

Today Eva ate “solids” for the first time. I put solids in quotation marks because the rice cereal flakes (which look like fish food) combined with breast milk resulted in a pretty runny mess. After much debate between Eva’s Dad and myself about whether she was ready to eat solids or not, it has become pretty clear she is ready. Evidence she is ready: drooling significantly; sitting up; grabbing for food; imitating me when I chew (okay, this wasn’t on the list, but come on, this has to be a sign). The only sign she isn’t ready for foods is that she is lacking teeth. The most telling evidence that she is ready is the fact that she ate. And ate. And ate. And then sang a little song about how good it was.

Eva’s Dad feeds Eva first because there is a Vietnamese superstition that the baby will be the same type of eater as the first person to feed her. I am very picky, Eva’s Dad is a bit more adventurous. Guess who we want her to take after?

I apologize for the last three seconds. She was so cute, I became confused.

Going on a trip with Eva is so much more complicated than before Eva. Packing all of her stuff is incredibly time consuming and stressful. You don’t want to forget any key things because if you do, I don’t know what happens, but I know it’s bad. Plus, all of her stuff takes up pretty much the entire car. This past weekend we took a trip to Calistoga. I was consumed with worry at the last minute. We would forget something. She wouldn’t sleep in a new place. She would cry the whole time. She would get bitten by something. Turns out we did forget two key things: birthing ball and thermometer. We didn’t need to use either! Eva fell asleep easily, and stayed asleep for the most part. She didn’t get sick either. She had a great time! Turns out she is a traveler. Next trip: Papua New Guinea.

We also had dinner at this fantastic new restaurant in Napa: Ubuntu. It has received rave reviews and is rated as one of the best new restaurants in the country. We had a six course meal filled with things I had never heard of or imagined combining together! It was an amazing experience and I wholeheartedly recommend eating there at least once in your life.

Eva has discovered her hands! She really loves to stare at them and move them around. They fascinate her. Even if they are covered with mittens or shirt sleeves, she will still find them. Actually she’s been doing this for a while. I’ve been trying to get this photo for weeks! Every time I tried to get a photo, she would catch me. She still loves her mom more than her hands.

Eva is very tactile. She grabs everything. It is really funny when she holds onto the sides of the carseat because it looks like she is holding on for dear life. I am not that bad of a driver. One not so great thing is when Eva gets sleepy, or while sleeping, she grabs her hair and pulls on it. Hard. She also scratches everything. She is like a cat sharpening her claws. (I try and cut her nails all the time, I swear.) Eva also likes to grab onto her dad’s hair and sometimes bite it (gently). It reminds me of…

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Eva loves to look at herself. Sometimes if she is crying we’ll put her in front of a mirror and she’ll laugh at herself. Eva’s Dad read somewhere that babies don’t recognize themselves until they are 1 year old. That is so bizarre because she smiles a lot when looking at herself, but not so much at other babies.

She also loves to look at mom.

Update: I added these two videos. They are essentially the same, but I couldn’t choose between the two of them so here are both.

Eva loves trees. I often put her under a tree in the park so she can look up at the branches and leaves and feel the wind in her hair. She has such a good time. She loves to look up at trees when in her stroller or in the car. Driving through the forest near her northern California grandparents’ house is a favorite activity for her. She also likes to sit in the glider with us and watch the tops of trees blowing in the wind. It calms both her and I when either of us is feeling out of sorts.