Brooke At Play

The class we have this morning has an open play part at the end. We (the teacher and the moms) put out a bunch of equipment, balls, toys, etc ... and the little ones get to do whatever they want.

Brooke started off with some blocks today. But then she found the sled that we played with last week. BUBBLES!!! At the very end of the class the teacher blows bubbles.

Brooke decided to chase them today. And then got tired of chasing them and decided to just relax and
absorb in their beauty.

Taking The Dog For a Walk

Today we took Wrigley out for a walk, and Brooke wanted to be in charge.

Wrigley was told to "stay", she didnt do it to spite Brooke :) Wrigley would have dragged Brooke all the way down the block if she had the opportunity. Instead, Wrigley sat and Brooke got to think she was walking her ... because SHE was walking with the leash while the dog sat still ;) I dont think it will be long before the two of them catch on to my trick

Zucchini Pancakes - Brooke Eats Something New!

Brooke has gotten very picky with food. Essentially, she no longer eats vegetables. She will not eat any pasta but mac & cheese, and wont even eat mac & cheese if the noodles are not elbow noodles. She generally wont eat meat outside of the occasional turkey meatball. She wont eat soup, of any kind. And she has cut out all vegetables besides corn, and occasionally a yellow squash. So, its getting hard to feed her.

What does she eat?
Fruit - almost ALL of it
Grilled Cheese
Oatmeal
And the occasional egg.

The other day she ate fish sticks, and I think now you can understand why that was so exciting. Well tonight she ate a zucchini pancake. YAY!

I bought "Golden Zucchini Pancakes" the other day primarily because the 1st ingredient was zucchini. Anything with a vegetable is worth a try ;)
The sodium is a bit high, but that happens a lot in frozen foods. Its not the best food for her (even has some saturated fat), but does include some vitamins and ... she eats it. Thats more than 1/2 the battle.

My goal is to make these myself next time - although she generally automatically rejects anything I make :(

She's Got Some Big Shoes To Fill

Brooke is all about trying on Mommy's shoes lately (and often my hat and "mittens"). Today she gave Daddy's shoes a whirl as well.

First she tried on Daddys shoes, but they were too big! Then she tried om Mommys shoes ... still too big! Looks like Brooke has a little bit of growing to do before she can fill Mom & Dad's shoes. Hopefully, she will never reach the day in which Daddy's shoe fits ;)

Happy Bites vs Ian's Fish Sticks

I mentioned yesterday that I had "fish bites" in the freezer already. I assumed they would be better for Brooke. I dont know why - guess because they are from a company called "Happy Bites" instead of a brand called "Ian's". Anyway, I decided to take a better look so I knew just what was going into her belly.

Since both of the nutrition labels give multiples in a serving, I broke it down to one unit (fish ball vs fish stick).

Ian's Fish Sticks

Calories: 38
Calories from fat: 10
Total fat g: 1.2
Sat fat g: .2
Cholesterol: 2mg
Sodium: 62
Carbohydrate: 4.8
Fiber: .2g
Protein: 2.2
Vitamin A: 0%
Vitamin C: .4%
Calcium: 1.6%
Iron: 3.2%
* % calculated based on 2,000 calorie diet

Happy Bites Fish Bites Calories: 33
Calories from fat: 11.6
Total fat g: 1.3
Sat fat g: .5
Cholesterol: 6.66mg
Sodium: 150mg
Carbohydrate: 3.33g
Fiber: .2g
Protein: 3.33
Vitamin A: 0%
Vitamin C: 2%
Calcium: .66%
Iron: 0%
* % calculated based on an age range given, "children 4-8". Im not sure how this compares to a 2,000 calorie diet. There was an option to calculate for kids 1-3, but I assumed the 4-8 range would be closer in comparison to the 2,000 calorie diet.

From just sodium content alone, Ian's is a clear winner. Good to know, since she seems to like those better anyway!

Practicing & Eating

She doesn't really have the hair yet, but Brooke has been practicing
wearing barettes so she is all ready when that big hair growth spurt
comes along ;)

On An Amazing News Front

Brooke ate fish sticks today!

I just randomly picked them up at Whole Foods this morning and figured we would give them a shot. She is a pretty picky eater, and definitely skeptical of new foods. But recently she has been eating some fish bites from Happy Bites, meaning maybe twice she ate 1/2 of a fish bite ;) Anyway, we gave it a shot today.

She ate her fish stick and yelled "more!". I waited until she finished all of her food and refilled her plate. This is what happened:

First, I filled up her plate. Strawberries, peaches, and fish sticks (in the spot with the dolphin).

Then I gave her the plate and she reached right away for the fish stick (you'll notice the barette has been removed and placed on her high chair tray, it never stays in long).

Second bite...another fish stick!

And finally, she swapped out her barette with the final piece of fish stick.

Brooke opted to eat three pieces of fish over peaches and strawberries!
Those must be some good fish sticks ;)

Summer Infant Video Monitor Leaves Us In A Lurch

Before Brooke was born I mentioned we bought a video monitor, a Summer Infant "Baby's Quiet Sounds Day and Night Color Flat Screen Video Monitor" just like the one here.

I'll admit we really liked this monitor. We like being able to see Brooke in addition to hear her. This has been especially important because she often wakes up and just plays her Gloworm (versus calling out or making any sort of noise). We cant hear her when she gets up because she is often so quiet! She also has had quite a few colds and hearing her coughing and crying is a little less stressful when we can see her on the monitor and know that she is allright.

Recently we have noticed that the monitor has gotten extremely sensitive. To the point where we actually cant move in bed without it reacting to our movement. One pillow refluff and I'm greeted with a screetch followed by the sound of static and feedback. It has been a bit irritating but we just got accustomed to limiting movement and keeping ourselves positioned in ways that make the monitor happy.

Well, today it died. The flat screen monitor will not turn on. We are very uncomfortable with not being able to see (or hear) Brooke. I'm not sure how I am going to sleep tonight without being able to hear the sound of her breathing next to me. In addition, Im not sure how I am going to know when she is up tomorrow morning!

I called the company and (of course) the told me they cover the product for a year. We purchased this product in Sept of 2008 - about a year-and-a-half ago. The customer service rep told me I could buy a new monitor, through them, at a "discount". Great. Since your first product broke after 15 months of usage I should get another one? Does that sound like the best solution to this problem?

Down The Stairs

Back in August (09) Brooke made it 2/3 of the way up a flight of stairs and a month later she finally completed the whole set. She has been really into going down the stairs lately, but is still easily distracted. She gets a few steps down and literally stands up, turns around, and tries to "walk" down (which she cannot do). Or she stops, and starts playing with the railings. Or picks at a piece of lint. Anyway, its been a bit of a pain working with her on the stairs because she wants to go up and down them so much but cannot focus during her task.

Today she was pretty determined ... and made it all the way down the flight of stairs! Yay!

New Boots!

Brooke was very lucky to get some winter hand-me-downs from her friend Paige. They included the coat and snowpants you nave seen pictured, and two pairs of boots. One pair of purple snow boots, and another more daily use kind of boot. The snow boots are awesome. The other ones are super cute, but dont zip up over her calves. Unfortunately she appears to have inherited the stocky legs that run on mommy's side of the family (mommy herself included).

So she got a new pair of boots and we took them for a spin in the snow today!

We got the boots from a site called babysteals.com, which offers awesome daily deals on great baby stuff. There is one product per day and if you can snatch it up quick enough its usually a pretty good savings. I saved 50% on the boots!

There's No Business Like Snow Business

Havent posted a video in a while. Here is one I took today, of Brooke trying to make her way around in the snow ... while wearing all of her winter gear, of course!

Fruity Quinoa Failed

She doesn't like it. I don't blame her ... I'm not a fan either.
Instead, she is having the leftover French toast for breakfast!

Yesterday Was A Deceptively Delicious Day

Yesterday morning I made Brooke the french toast with a butternut squash puree and decided to be even more adventurous and give her the couscous recipe, which includes both yellow squash and carrot puree. Why was I feeling so adventurous? Well, for about 2-3 days now she has been extremely agreeable with food. I wanted to jump on the opportunity!

I'll admit that I am not familiar with couscous at all. I have never made it myself before and only eaten it once or twice ... so I didnt know what was going to happen. But Brooke likes carbs, and I thought this might work ;)

There were a few things about the recipe I wasnt too fond of: the inclusion of margarine and the amt of salt and pepper. I added a bit less margarine than suggested and put in a dash of salt and pepper (versus the 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/4 tsp of pepper as suggested). It turned out a bit dry (which I believe is common with couscous anyway) but tasted pretty good. I actually had Brooke in my arms when I tasted it out of the pan and so I offered her the spoon to try. She hollered"MORE", so I gave her another bite. Again, "MORE!". This was a good sign, so I threw her into her high chair and we began our lunch.




I fed her some on the spoon and she wanted her own spoon. I gave it to her, but she couldnt keep the couscous on the spoon. It was spilling all over. Then she began trying to pick up the tiny pieces from her tray. I couldnt feed her fast enough! I put the bowl down in front of her and she started grabbing handfulls and shoving them into her mouth, and still couldnt get enough!



I'm gonna venture out and say that this was one of Brooke favorite meals ever. She loved it! I'm going to try different combinations of the recipe and try to figure out if margarine is really necessary. I also have read that Israeli couscous is larger and might be easier for Brooke to feed herself. I'll pick some up next time at the store!

I have a quinoa recipe (with fruit vs veggies) I have been sitting on for a few weeks and her love of the couscous made me a bit more confident in the possibility of her eating quinoa ... so we'll have that in a day or two. Yay!

"Deceptively Delicious" French Toast = Success

She initially rejected it ... Taking each piece off her plate and
putting it in her highchair. She ate her bananas, then went to the
French toast on her tray. One bite, she said "done" and began handing
all the pieces back to me.

I got her some more fruit and a (frozen) waffle, then slipped her some
more of the French toast. She ate it :).

Most if it got eaten by the dog, who seemed to like it a lot, but she
did eat some. We will give the leftovers a shot for breakfast tomorrow!