Table manners

Here is Joseph using his fork (and also playing with his food).  He wasn't as talkative as he was before I started the video, although I did get him to do his approximations of the signs for "girl" and "boy."  :)

More bananas

It's really neat to see how the signing has finally clicked for Joseph.  He is definitely using his signs to communicate with us.  Go, Joe!

More helping

And here is Malcolm helping his brother eat :)

Big brother helping

Michael and Malcolm both love to help feed Joseph his cereal.  Sometimes they spill a little more than the baby, but it's so sweet that I don't mind.  I didn't get this on the video tonight, but they're also teaching him the "more" sign by tapping his hands together (complete, in Malcolm's case, with a super-high-pitched, "You want MORE, Joey Joey??").  I'm happy they are such nice little helpers. :)

Life with a three-year-old

Tonight for dinner, we made pasta with ground turkey and peppers (red, yellow, green - from a frozen mix we like).  Michael has loved this combination in the past.  He was extremely cheerful as we prepared it and got his fork and drink ready ahead of time, waiting until everything cooled off and dinner was served ... whereupon he promptly announced that "I don't LIKE peppers, Mama!" and burst into tears.  This turned into a full-on meltdown at the table.  I told him I was sorry he was sad, but if he wanted to cry he couldn't do it at the table.  Finally I had to remove him to his room.  I didn't close the door, so he slammed it dramatically for me and flopped on his bed to wail for awhile.  After a few minutes, I went back to get him and told him he could have some crackers if he didn't want pasta.  He accepted this and came back to eat some crackers, while I took his bowl and said, "Wow, I love peppers, so I'll just eat your dinner."  After I ate all the peppers there was some pasta left so Michael asked if he could eat it.  I said fine.  He finished that and then said, "Oh, let me check the pot on the stove and see if there is any more.  Can I please have some pasta and peppers?  I LOVE peppers, Mama."

He ate an entire helping.

Another pasta encounter

I can do it myself

Somebody decided he doesn't want Mama to feed him at all anymore and he wants to "help" (he uses the sign very earnestly) by eating everything himself. Even if it's spaghetti.

Silly boy eating lunch

Turkey, fritada and birthday cake

This past weekend we were so happy to host, at one time or another, a total of six Blackwells, four Lawlers, two Garzas, Racines and Ortega sisters, and four Perezes, along with Lucas, Elizabeth and her daughters, Kelly, Paul and baby Abram. The families celebrated an early Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday afternoon, which was wonderful. Noni, Gloria and Mrs. Lawler hit up the local Hispanic grocery store and spent a lot of Friday cooking; my mom got all the tables, drinks, and place settings ready; and many of us got to go out to dinner for barbecue. On Saturday, Noni and Gloria made tostado (dry popped maize kernels), rice, fritada (fried pork), mote (some type of hominy) and turkey, all of which I thought was extremely yummy. (I ate all the rest of the tostado at work on Monday. So, so good.) Stefani and Chris brought cornflake potato casserole, Mrs. Lawler made cranberry sauce, Mike made mashed potatoes, and somehow we also had stuffing, gravy, sweet potatoes, and other good food that I wasn't sure who exactly prepared in all the kitchen busy-ness.

After dinner, Michael took a nap since he apparently didn't get the memo we were going to have his birthday cake then. But it worked out for the best -- he was in a great mood for his first, great taste of birthday cake. He didn't know what to make of everyone singing to him, but he was pretty game for eating cake. He did a great, messy job. And then he spent several hours on a sugar high crawling around the house like crazy, entertaining people and enjoying the new toys that people very generously gave him. Elizabeth got him a "Cars" riding toy which has a hinged compartment to put things in and plays rock music. It was very sweet :) In the evening things were a bit quieter -- many of us were trying to avoid the Notre Dame game, and there was visiting, a chance to see Chris and Stefani's wedding pictures that (finally!) came in, and time to listen to Gloria playing the piano which was very nice. Thank you to everyone for coming to our house to visit and celebrate. It was a wonderful weekend and we were so glad to see you!

Messy eater

I forgot to post a picture of Michael on the ten-month day (because of the not-fun time spent traveling to San Antonio and the fun time actually spent in San Antonio that day!), so here he is at ten-and-a-half months in another high chair shot :) He's getting really good at chewing, and in addition to just things like the grain puffs and slightly less pureed food, we've also been letting him practice eating bananas and avocado on his own. Normally he is a pretty neat eater if we're feeding him or he is drinking water from his sippy cup, but these fruits are definitely messier. It's pretty fun!

Comida para el principito

After using the vegetable steamer and having all the best intentions to use the food processor this week, it turns out we haven't used it once so far. Well, to clarify, Mike and I haven't used it -- instead, Elizabeth jumped right in and, beyond any of my expectations, has been making a great variety of meals for the baby during every day this week! The menu of new meals for the baby:

Monday - Chicken, carrots and potatoes.
Tuesday - Chicken, spinach, peas and potatoes.
Wednesday - Beef, orzo pasta, carrots and spinach.
Thursday - Chicken, acorn squash, potatoes and cheddar cheese. Also, separately, some avocado.

Now I bought a bunch of fresh and frozen vegetables and the avocados, orzo pasta, and couscous last Sunday, but I have never even heard of acorn squash before. Apparently Michael likes it! I've been feeding him seconds of everything in the evenings and he is loving all this new variety (apparently he prefers the potatoes and cheese tastes, though, and is not so hot on the beef and pasta). It seems like he is eating all the time. I'm very happy all the new foods are working out, and completely impressed by Elizabeth's enthusiasm :) Given the propensity of all the Ecuadorians I know to prepare excellent meals on a regular basis for people, however, maybe I shouldn't be surprised! And also shouldn't be surprised Michael likes it all -- he is part South American too, after all.

Another thing Michael has been up to this week is lots of reading. I got a couple of new board books and a collection of children's Bible stories in Spanish, to add to the regular books that we and Elizabeth read to him. He's very distractible but he does pay close attention to books for reasonable stretches if you sit with him and read to him. Of course the library is just a few miles away and we'll make good use of it, but it's nice to be building a little library of our own.

We are definitely feeling blessed with how sweet our nanny is and how wonderful a caregiver she is for Michael :)

New food

Work has been rough the last few weeks, culminating in having to unexpectedly stay pretty late at the office Thursday and Friday. I was so frustrated at only getting to see the baby for 30 minutes on Thursday and 20 minutes on Friday -- and then I had a day trip planned to Atlanta for yesterday too! The trip by itself would have been fine, but combined with the other two days I just missed my baby :( (So, so grateful that Michael the dad is here though -- he was so understanding and helpful with the job stuff, and of course is great with the baby :) So today we had a great time just hanging out the whole day! :) Took a walk and played in the morning, went swimming in the afternoon and went to Target in the evening to buy some vegetables and couscous (I know -- that was a first for me), among other things, to start making new types of food for Michael the baby to try out. Michael also took some pretty good naps today before church and before swimming.

Tonight we used the vegetable steamer that goes with our rice cooker to do peas and carrots. Michael has only had them pureed before. He worked very hard on picking up individual peas and pieces of carrots with his fingers and was pretty successful at chewing them even though he only has two teeth. He definitely liked the experience! (Although he also liked it when I just put peas on a spoon and fed him -- more efficient.) We got a food processor earlier this week and are going to use a book called "First Meals" that Mrs. Lawler gave us awhile back to start making different types of meals for the baby that will be safe to eat but still let him try out new textures. By kid #3 or 4, I'm sure this whole process won't seem so adventurous, but it's fun to be going through now. Elizabeth is looking forward to cooking some chicken and vegetable sopitas for the baby too.

(The picture doesn't go with the post -- it's from last week when the videos were taken -- but I forgot to post it then and I didn't get Michael eating peas tonight. So there you go :)

More, More, More!

On the 7 month anniversary of his birth, Michael Timothy Lawler III said (his version of) "more" in sign language!!

Fun day!

So basically this kid is just cute.

We went for a jog this morning. I gave him a bath since it was so humid outside (he was pretty sweaty...like me). After his bath he took a glorious two and a half hour nap, and then we had some fun. I parted LB's hair in a different spot after his bath, and was surprised that it remained parted after his nap.

It seemed as though LB was a little jealous as I ate my lunch, so I decided to give him some food of his own. He did a great job eating his pears, and we worked on the beginning stages of saying "more" in sign language :o)

He's really working on pulling himself up to a standing position, and often whines until you help him up to stand for a little while :o)

Enjoy the pictures!

Home for the weekend

Michael the Dad went to DC this weekend for his cousin's wedding. The whole Lawler clan is there and he is having fun. We are sorry the baby and I couldn't be there, but when we were looking at ticket prices at the beginning of the year it was just way too much for what we thought would work in this year's travel budget! Also, I wasn't sure when I was going back to work, how much work there would be, and how everything was going to go. So we did our Chicago trip and DC trip in March (plus a half dozen other trips too), and even though it turns out not to be too busy at work, I am glad to have some down time this weekend. Last weekend was the trip to South Bend for Amanda's graduation so this is the first quiet days I have at home with the baby since going back to work! But we do miss Dad and seeing everyone else. We are planning to go to another cousin's wedding just north in Pennsylvania in the fall so that should be nice.

Yesterday Michael the Baby and I took some walks around the neighborhood, did dishes and laundry, and hung out around the house. He doesn't babble as much as a few months ago, but he was all smiles :) I got him to sit in the sling in the next mode (where the baby is on your hip) and it worked out pretty well, although he does tend to lean all the way forward sometimes because he likes to look at what I'm doing, so I have to push him back to sit. In the afternoon we went back over to Aunt Amanda's new apartment, where Michael ate some envelopes and looked in the mirror again. We met Aunt T for dinner in Las Colinas at a great (new to me) Mexican place, Taco Diner. Like T says, it sounds kind of dumpy but is surprisingly good, fresh food. Me gusta. Michael liked the spoons and dancing to salsa music.

Today we are going to meet my friend and talk a walk with her and her very cute baby :) Grocery shopping might be on the list for later as well. So glad for weekends!

Tasty new food

I went to Target this morning to get more diapers since Michael doesn't seem big enough yet to be in the size 3's I had bought a carton of. Then on a whim, I decided to buy some baby food and try out what we talked about at the La Leche League meeting the other week. I bought some rice cereal, and a couple of jars of pears and peaches. When we got home I pulled out the high chair and sat Michael in it. He looked bewildered at first (as you see). I got just a half tablespoon of the baby food pears, and then used the baby spoon to get the food out of the tablespoon (so I could save the rest of the jar for another time). Michael seemed very confused at first when I fed him a bit of the pears but then he swallowed it and seemed to like it! He kept opening his mouth for more so I ended up giving him a whole tablespoon. Then I let him play with the baby spoon itself. Success!

Camera is fixed

So I had to take some pictures this morning, of course.  (Everyone should remind me to take this many pictures of my next children :)  Here is Michael chewing the teething ring and grabbing his foot (a new move since last week, still being perfected before he can eat his foot), and holding onto his supplement bottle by himself (he holds onto these with quite a grip now).  You should hear the little crazy/hysterical laugh he does when he realizes you're making a bottle for him.  He can barely wait to get his hands on it.

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