Poolside

We hung out at the pool most of today and swam, played volleyball, and grilled out. Ugh...too much sun for me, but I think Piper had fun and I don't think she got burnt like Erick an I did. She loved the watermelon and ate probably 3/4 of the baby melon we got at the store. And, she actually ate a hotdog tonight as well. Not that a hotdog is an accomplishment or anything, but she tried something new. I could tell she was perplexed by the name though. I told her it was a hotdog, and she knows not to eat anything that is hot or she might get burned. But it wasn't hot and I know she was confused. I think she thought she was eating dog too. :)

First Ice Cream Cone

We stopped at Ritters today and enjoyed some ice cream (actually frozen custard). Piper did a really good job with her cone and was great about wiping her mouth every couple bites or so. She would not eat the cone part though and told me it was yucky. Maybe next time.

Making Pizza

Piper loves to help me in the kitchen. This time we were making a pizza. She helped put all the toppings on, with my help of course. I had hoped that it would entice her to eat it as well, but she had other plans. No pizza for her. Maybe next time.

Yum, Pickles!

I love this smile on her face. It's pure delight. She really enjoyed the pickle I gave her to eat.

Ooey, Gooey, Oobleck

I did this activity with my first graders last Friday, so I thought Piper would enjoy playing with it too. Knowing that she loves to get messy, I knew this would be right up her alley. I did not add the food coloring to her mixture, and it was a little thin at first, but eventually it was the perfect consistency. If you have never done oobleck before, you have to try it to understand how very cool it is. I use it to teach about solids and liquids in the classroom, although it is actually neither one. It is a non-Newtonian substance (feel free to Google that if you really want to know more)

Oobleck is based on a Dr. Seuss book called Bartholomew and the Oobleck. In the book it was really bad if you ate the oobleck, but our oobleck was made out of cornstarch and water, and was harmless. I thought it wouldn't taste very good and Piper would keep it out of her mouth, but not my child! She decided it must be dinner and tasted it every chance she could.

Here is the recipe if you are inspired to get messy yourself.

Oobleck Recipe

2 cups of corn starch, 3 drops of green food coloring, enough water to make a thick mixture (about the texture of pancake batter) I usually measure equal amounts of water and corn starch, but mix water in slowly.

Eating Habits

This post is dedicated to the unique eating habits of my funky munky. Her favorite foods still include fruits and vegetables thankfully. She loves green beans, potatoes, corn (plain or on the cob), mandarin oranges, bananas, blueberries, peas, watermelon, and probably others I'm not thinking of right now. Milk is still pretty easy to get her to drink, although she prefers chocolate over white, thanks Daddy! She is not fond of hard cheese surprisingly enough. However, if it is a dip she will eat it. In fact she'll eat anything if you give her something to dip it in. Lemons in ketchup, YUM! This drive me nuts as I can't stand it when my food touches.

Other dairy foods that she likes to eat are yogurt and cottage cheese, although this one depends on her mood. She likes her morning oatmeal, eggs, pancakes, waffles, bacon (sometimes), and especially donuts. We can thank Grandpa for that one. Are we noticing a pattern yet? Everyone else feeds her junk and mean mommy won't ever let her have anything fun.

Truthfully she is not too much of a picky eater, and does eat pretty healthy foods most of the time. The occasional junk isn't going to hurt overall, but I'm not planning on introducing certain items until I have to, like soda or candy. Contrary to popular belief, even if that fruit punch or Hi-C is 100% vitamin C, it's still pure sugar and she doesn't need it. I'd rather she drink water.

She's still not a big fan of meat. She will eat chicken once in a while, and does the occasional chicken nugget. But overall meat just isn't her thing right now.

She loves pudding and cookies, although we try to limit her to lower sugar ones like vanilla wafers and newtons. Loves her Cheerios and hates Kix. Devours macaroni and cheese. If she could make her own favorite meal, what would she have? Probably mac and cheese, chocolate milk, and maybe green beans. But first she'd have to dip the beans in the cheese. Throw in some corn on the cob, and she'd be in heaven.

Playdoh Fun

We played with playdoh last night again. I still have to watch her like a hawk, or she ends up with it in her mouth. What is is about playdoh that is so enticing? At any rate, she had fun stamping the dough with this new toy I bought for her. It has three different stamp shapes, and a roller that makes a zigzag design cut in the dough. Each time we get to play with it a little longer, but my rule is once she tries to eat it, we put it up. She has gotten better at not putting most things in her mouth, but play doh is just too yummy to resist I guess.

Say Goodbye to the Highchair

I'm such a big girl now that I can sit at the table and eat. There's no need for my highchair now, although I am still very messy. I enjoyed eating my eggs, blueberry pancakes and mexican chorizo. Yum! I even have a new set of utensils which make it easier to stab things with my fork since the tines are metal and not plastic like my others.

First Time Feeding Herself

We went out to eat at Ponderosa Wednesday night since we were on the south side. I don't know if there are even any close by on the north side of town. This was the first time we had let her try eating by herself with silverware. I had tried before, but she didn't seem to have any interest in holding them. We were pleasantly surprised to see how eagerly she took to using a spoon. She made quite a mess but managed to feed herself pretty well.

Note that this was not the best video since it was taken on my phone, but at least I documented it.