Chez Mui Richard

So I took my first crack at making homemade baby food this past Sunday.  Went to the grocery store and saw some nice yams and bought the smallest one I could get my hands on.  Also got some extra green beans for baby Chloe.  Debated between roasting the yam in the oven or steaming it and decided against having my oven on for 45 minutes at 400 degrees when it is bloody 85 degrees outside and some crazy NYC summer humidity. So steaming is the way we went.  And then debated between the blender and the food processor.  Trial and error dictated that the food processor was the way to go since all the puree just got stuck at the bottom of the blender.  Needless to say, you can imagine what my kitchen looked like an hour later with various pots and pans strewn across the place.  =0)

Other than that, everything turned out great!  We all tried the puree and it was decent; pretty much what I think you’d get from a can of baby food.  Dumped it into my ice trays and into the freezer they went.  Note to self, must remember that I only have two ice trays for the baby and so I should not be overzealous and gung ho and make a ton of stuff for her because, hello, all of it won’t fit in the ice trays!

Daddy took some pictures earlier today of baby Chloe enjoying her green beans.  I don’t know what’s funnier: her silly face as she happily eats her veggies or the green mess all over her chin.  Or maybe it’s the look of adventure she gives me when she’s watching me prepare dinner.  I don’t know how Daddy got the mushroom and broccoli in her hands, but look at that face!  And that drool!  This little girl is just too much fun to be around.

Some new pictures from the weekend … and yes, that is Miss Chloe standing up all by herself leaning against the sofa as Grandpa watches from a safe distance, she has got such strong legs!  Scratch crawling, we’ll go straight to walking!

My latest favorite picture of Chloe is this black and white photo taken of her sitting in her car seat. She is such a wonderful baby, I really cannot complain, she’s so peaceful and always at ease; and I think it comes through in the photos of her. She is so photogenic I swear, definitely did not get that from her mama. Those thigh rolls, though, yup, those are definitely from me! HAHA

And the fun with solid foods begins. We’ll start with two weeks of Old-Fashioned Quaker Oats and then veggies and then fruits. Baby Chloe seems to be taking to the new texture pretty well, no trouble swallowing the mix which is good. I like the last picture best – if I had to put a thought bubble on that one, it would read “ma, what is this goop?”.

Happy five months to baby Chloe! No doctor’s visit this month so no measurements to share. She is definitely growing like a weed though, we can tell that she’s standing higher in her jumper lately – we might have to remove one of the books we put underneath her feet pretty soon!

Check out baby Chloe’s new sneakers, courtesy of Sab and her daughter Lara. We are so thankful to both of them for all of Lara’s awesome hand-me-downs, even if they are pink! Actually, I have decided that if Chloe grows up loving the color pink, I will give ALL the credit to Sab. Thank you again Sab, I’m totally overwhelmed by your thoughtfulness and generosity and we’ll be sure to document her in all the great outfits!

Auntie Helene and Uncle Andre came to visit from France to see baby Chloe and brought with them two great new outfits! And the kids decided to drop by as well to watch the World Cup finals with us and hang out with baby Chloe.

Wishing everyone a happy July 4th!  Chloe celebrated the day in this red, white and blue get-up.  It was a very rainy day so we couldn’t go outside to take the picture.  She loves to stand on the kitchen island granite because it’s nice and cool and her bare feet stick to the surface and she doesn’t slide.  She’s so strong, I don’t even have to hold her weight up much when she is standing.  Before you know it, she’ll be running us ragged around the house!