Change, Travel and lots of Food

Katherine, you have experienced your first plane ride (and yes, your second one too). I am so proud of you - we just got back from our trip to Las Vegas and you are a wonderful travel companion. We were traveling for a week - your dad, your grandma, you and me... what an experience. I have to admit, I was a bit worried about how you would enjoy the plane ride (after all, we have all been on flights where there has been a small child which was crying for much of the trip regardless of how hard the parents tried to calm them). I kept telling myself ahead of the trip, that no matter what happens it will be ok and that if you chose to cry for the duration of the flight, it would be simply our turn to get the looks and “polite” comments - and so we went to the aiport on the travel day, armed with lots of toys and extra food (somewhere I had read that it may help offering you a bottle during take-off). I began panicking a bit when there was no pre-boarding time allowed on this flight (oh, how should we do this with a baby and a senior??), but once at our seats, the flight attendants were amazing and giving us a few extra tips how to hold you during take off etc. Just before we were ready to take off, I looked at you and you were having a great time, looking out the little windows, fascinated with all that was going on outside the plane. I hugged you tight and felt your head heavy on my shoulders - you had closed your eyes and were sound asleep before we had even left the ground. The steady humming of the plane seemed to be very calming for you as you stayed asleep for most of the plane ride. The smile you had on your face when we got off the plane in Las Vegas reminded me that I should not worry so much about you; you love life and new experiences - they don't scare you, they make you smile.

During our stay in Las Vegas you had plenty of opportunties to experience things you have never seen before - the city is filled with lights, sounds and it’s full of life. We were ready to experience this trip "baby-friendly", keeping reasonable bed-times in mind for you, having brought kitchen tools with us to puree food for you, all so you would feel comfortable with your surroundings. Again, you reminded me that I should not worry so much about you - you were there to enjoy the vacation as well, turning into a bit of a night owl as we were staying out later in the evening, taking naps in your comfortable stroller as you felt like it. I was surprised how you slept so well in the middle of the noise and bright lights, but when you make up your mind to do something, not much holds you back. You enjoyed our trips to the white tigers, dolphins and on another day to the shark reef. You embraced the heat during the days, even when we took you on a short hike (ok, you had the luxury to be carried) in the Valley of Fire in the middle of a sunny, scorching day.

But most of all you surprised me with how much you changed when it came to food. Forget pureed food, buffets are your new favorite!! I quickly realized that you wanted to eat when we were eating (and yes, we were eating a lot - the buffets in this city are simply amazing and we enjoyed the times sitting down, relaxing a bit in between all the sightseeing , having great conversations). You are big enough now to sit in high chairs at the table with us and not offering you food while we were eating was cleary agitating you. So I began walking up and down the buffet lines looking for suitable food items for you - and I found a wide variety of items that seemed not too spicy and "mashable". As I got back to the table after my first stroll, I saw the excitement in your eyes and a big smile on your face. Instead of mashing up everything in your bowl, we began feeding you little bits of rice, broccoli, meat and fruit and you embraced the "finger food" - your transition to regular, solid food was made. Simple; change; just like that. For the remainder of the trip you ate buffet style when you weren't enjoying a bottle (of formula, just to clarify) and it was a lot of fun to learn about your likes and dislikes of food items (I love that you love green veggies and fresh fruit for now... but I'm sure you'll venture into trying ice cream and cake on another trip when you're big enough to choose food yourself).

You are teaching me that embracing change is propelling us forward in life. As adults we are sometimes challenged by change - it takes us out of our comfort zone. But for you change is happening in leaps and bounds every moment of every day. There is no fear that life will be different by the end of the day - it just happens; and you adapt with a smile on your face and look at me as if inviting me to come along for the ride. It's not up to me to say when you begin eating more solid food, it's not up to any baby development book to tell you when your next milestone moment happens - you are confidently making your own choices. I am proud of you and grateful for the time we have together.

Personality, Preferences and Goats

Katherine, you have a new person to love in your life. Your grandmother is visiting for a month from Germany and you are getting to know her. She’s spending lots of time spoiling you, cuddling with you and teaching you German of course. We are enjoying the time we get to spend together and I love watching you two interact. She’s reading to you and you giggle at her and have taught her well that when you raise your arms she’ll pick you up. She is learning about your personality, your likes and dislikes and you are learning that she loves you very much.

Oh, and the moment has come, you have outgrown your carseat. About a week ago, when I was dressing you in the morning, I thought to myself that your clothing seemed rather short… and so I called Mark to measure how long you were (yes, you rarely lie still, so it takes two of us to do that) and sure enough, it was time to go car seat shopping.

On to the internet I went, researching how to go about finding the perfect car seat for you. After lots of tips on safety etc., I read the best line of advice: seat your baby in the seats in the store. That made a lot of sense to me as you are usually helping to pick out your books and toys, so why not your car seat. As Mark, you, Grandma and I went to a few different stores and sat you in seat after seat, it became quickly evident that you are more than qualified to choose your own seat and your selection system was very clearly communicated: wide smile for “yes” and screeching cry for “no”. But the coolest thing was that the “yes” selection was the same seat in two different stores – you clearly made your choice.

A couple of days ago we went to the IPE with Mark and grandma for a day of fun and to show you all the animals (and yes, you were sitting in your newly installed car seat on the drive). With lots of people and lots of animals, there was so much to see for you. But your favourite were the goats. At first I noticed that when we walked through the area where the different animals were shown – the goats really caught your attention. Later in the day I took you into the petting zoo area so you could see lots of animals close-up (yes, you even touched a Wallaby), and more than any other animal, the little baby goats running around put a big smile on your face.

You are teaching me to trust your choices and to respect your opinions. No matter how young or old we are, our opinions matter and what we have to say is important. Even though you don’t have what we define as “real words” to use yet, the “words” you are using are real to you and you use them to communicate, combined with your facial and body expressions, and your tone of voice. You are a perfect example that we need to listen to more than just the words that are spoken to really understand a person. You are teaching me to be a better listener.