Sneaky ...

Ok, I have to admit, I am becoming a bit obsessed with this Deceptively Delicious mission. I am sneaking pureed veggies and fruits into EVERYTHING!!! And the family knows no difference! So I ask, is yellow squash in oatmeal over the line? I sampled it and you know what, it worked!!! Plus for an added bonus the cubes cooled down the oatmeal pronto.
On a semi-related note, Julia is eating everything under the sun these days. She only has 2 teeth but eats like she has a mouth full of them. She likes meat, cheese, veggies, grains and fruits. Eats yogurt well but has to space it out or she will end up vomitting. She is down to nursing 2 times per day and seems very content with that. I am done pumping ... Woohoo!!!! And I can not believe she is 10 months old tomorrow. This year has gone by so quickly.
Other Julia notes:

• First Word - mama



• Words that followed - baba, rara, emma, nenene, da (not quite dada yet but she's getting there) and loud (we swear she said this the other day but we'll see if she says it again!)
• Standing all by herself
• Crawling
• Pulling up to things
• Walking holding our hands
• Rolling a ball
• Clapping
• Laughing at her sister
• Recognizes herself in the mirror and gets shy about it
• Loves her kitty

Amazing ...

Deceptively Delicious ... lives up to its name. Sara invited me and the girls over for a scrumptious and nutritious dinner. I am always looking for great ways to eat a balaced meal so when she shared her new cookbook the other day and invited us over for a tasting, I could not pass this up. It was amazing. The turkey meatball soup was sweet and savory, and very filling. She also had a healhty spinach salad and to top off the meal -- chocolate chip cookies made with chick peas!!!! Yup you read that correctly, chick peas. But they were absolutely delish and you could not tell there were any beans in them. So I am now adding this to my wishlist ;). Thank you Sara, you never cease to amaze me in how you can balance motherhood and friendship with such grace.

On another amazing note, little Miss Emma is quite the reader. She has memorized entire books! Tonight at bed time she read the entire Chicka Chicka Boom Boom book and recalled the correct story line from each page. I know she can not really read but does a 2 1/2 year old really have that good of recall memory to have the story correct on the exact page? She's something I tell ya.

I have a question related to breastfeeding, so for those of you reading who do not want any more BF'ing content this is your cue ...

How much milk is enough for a 9 month old? I have looked in a few books and online but haven't gotten a clear answer. Julia has her check up next week but in the mean time I am curious. She has cut down to only 2 solid nursing sessions a day (morning and before bath time), I am pumping at work but lately she's only drinking 2-3 ounces of that milk while at daycare. She does drink water through out the day (probably 4-6 ounces) and is truly on a full 3 meals per day. It just seems like she went from a baby to a table eater overnight. Now that she has diced table food it's also getting hard to give her the pureed stuff. She does eat yogurt each day and some shredded cheese every few days but I'm just worried she may not be getting enough with out more breast feeding sessions ... any thoughts?