Peas, please!

We tried our second solid food yesterday, peas. Anja really liked them. I pureed them a few weeks ago and froze them in an ice cube tray. But she ate 4 cubes yesterday, so maybe I need to freeze it in larger containers. It wasn't "too" messy, although I did find that sitting outside of her reach doesn't mean you are safe from food attack - she is pretty good at spitting and flinging bits of food. However, I do really like feeding her in the chair instead of the bouncy seat... at least this way she can't get her foot into her mouth while she's eating.

She looks so much older to me when she's sitting in her chair. Hard to believe how much she's developed in just 5 months.

We're trying not to be too pushy about food, we plan to introduce new foods gradually, as she finds it interesting. There is really no rush. Right now she seems more interested in the texture than anything:


We measured Anja at her 5 month birthday and she is exactly 15lbs and 26". That puts her at the 56th percentile for weight and the 90th percentile for height. Still long and thin. She eats all the time (see previous post about not sleeping through the night!) so she's growing well, she's just outgrowing clothes quickly because she's so long. I just bought a bunch of footie pj's a month ago so she would have some warm stuff for the winter. She's already outgrown some and the rest just barely fit now. Look at the cute outfit she was wearing Aug 27th - it's too small now! She's wearing the 6-9 month clothing right now, but won't be for much longer.


I am so so grateful for the great consignment shop we have in town for baby stuff. Everything I need is there. The one I like has fairly high quality stuff at really low prices. An expensive outfit might cost $3, but most are under $2. A few are under $1! We have a pretty large supply of baby stuff at the Volunteers of America store here, but they aren't organized so you are left to sift through literally thousands of clothes on racks of all sizes. We also have a high end "baby boutique" resale store here, but their stuff is pretty expensive.

It's hard to tell from pictures, but her hair is starting to grow. It looks really blond in all the pictures, but it's actually coming in as a really light brown.


I think it's funny that sometimes babies just laugh for no reason at all:


It's been interesting to see which baby items have been indispensable to us, and which we haven't really needed. One of the most important items for us has been our jogging stroller, the Baby Jogger brand. Last weekend we walked to a tailgate party on campus - 4 miles each way, and she was great in the stroller. It's a really cushy ride with big wheels and shocks and lots of padding inside. The sun shade is huge, and can be moved all the way down to her legs in front, so you can completely block her from the sun. Here she is after we got home (the picture is a little blurry but I didn't want to wake her up with the camera flash):


It's sometimes hard to take her places where she has to sit still, but I'm so glad that we can just take her for an 8 mile walk without worrying about how she'll do. Jay regularly takes her for runs in the stroller, too. I haven't been running with her, simply because running is hard enough for me right now without also pushing a stroller, but I think I'll be there soon.