Leo likes pesto!

First finger foods!

Leo has shown all the readiness signs for finger foods. I give him puffs, but they get stuck to his palm and very rarely actually make it to his mouth. So we tried some steamed baby carrots today. I coated them in ground Cheerios to make them a little less slippery. I think he liked them, don't you?

Stuff Leo loves.

I am starting a "Things Leo Loves" list.

First on the list? Mauri.



I can be putting on an elaborate show, singing, dancing, tickling, whatever. I might get a chuckle out of Leo. But if you want a full-on belly laugh from our son, it's Mauri all the way. I think his first word might be "Mauri," or at least "doggy."

Next on the list: blueberries.



Leo has a lot of favorite foods. He is a real eater; I guess he comes by it honestly, huh? Blueberries top the list of fave fruits.

To be continued....I have some videos and it's much quicker to post them separately!

Reunited and it feels so good!

After a month apart, Leo and his girlfriend Ella (and their mommies!) were reunited at Sloan's Lake Park. We did 2 laps - 6 miles - around, and guess who forgot to put sunblock on? Oops. Oh well, at least I remembered to put it on Leo. Here are the babies in their big boy and girl strollers.

In other news, Leo got his bottom right tooth on June 28th and his bottom left tooth today, July 1st! They are barely visible (mostly because he blows raspberries and screams bloody murder if you try to look at them), but they are there!

He is a big fan of the following: yogurt, peaches, blueberries, apples, pears, mangoes, bananas, and sweet potatoes. He kinda likes squash, and after several tries I got him to like peas. Turkey is still a no-go.

Today - about an hour ago - he said "mama." He was in his high chair and I was in the kitchen getting him a teething "cookie," and when I walked back over to his high chair he looked at me and said "mama"! I couldn't get him to re-create it, but he did it.

Leo, post pears

He LOVES pears!

Pears!

After squash came pears! Here's Leo trying pears for the first time.

More squash!

It's so fun that Laura & Mike were in town and able to witness Leo's first (and very successful) taste of something other than cereal.

Squash!

Leo tried a solid other than cereal today - squash. I think it was a hit!

Leo enjoys his dinner

Satisfied customer

Leo, Thursday, post-cereal. Yes, my son hangs out shirtless. Yes I fed him shirtless. Yes I think this is cute, funny, and brings out the Italian in him.



Also, I realize I haven't done much to the blog other than add photos lately. I have been very busy, mostly in a good way, and the poor blog is often an afterthought.

Here's our life in a nutshell:

1. I'm looking for part-time Kindergarten jobs. I've had 3 interviews, been "runner-up" (which in this case, sad to say is 1st loser) and don't want the third job, but haven't officially heard back.

2. Me: 38 pounds down, 11 to go!

3. Vin: 17 pounds down!

4. A robin family has taken up residence (read: built a beautiful little nest) on our backyard lamp. Every time we go outside, the mama robin freaks out and leaves her eggs, sits on a roof or the fence and squawks at us until we leave. I want to get up on a ladder and take a picture of her gorgeous blue eggs, but I'm afraid of causing her to abandon her family.

And here he is finishing up the cereal!

Leo loves cereal

On Thursday, I basically got bored and decided to try Leo on cereal again. I had planned on trying again on his 5 month birthday, but I figured 4 days early wasn't a big deal. Well! I think he's ready. What do you think?

Cereal

At Leo's 4 month check up, the pediatrician gave us the green light to start him on rice cereal. We had noticed him following our food from our plates to our mouths while he sits with us at dinner time, and making chewing motions with his mouth while watching people eat, so we thought perhaps these were signs of readiness.

Needless to say, he gagged and spit the cereal out, so we'll be waiting a while longer.

I attended a baby food making party where I made purees of green beans, peas, squash and blueberries with my Beaba Babycook, and I am so excited to watch Leo experience new foods, but alas, he has other plans, I guess.