eloise {month nine}

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{lion: jellycat via nordstrom // dress: Old Navy // moccasins: Freshly Picked}

{month nine} this seems like such a big milestone. I think it is because she is so much closer to being one than she is to zero… how did that happen?

this month’s post is pretty much all about eating! {these days I feel like all I do is prep food & clean-up the kitchen, & repeat!}

eloise is still eating (& enjoying) three meals a day (in addition to milk six times a day!). unlike her parents, eloise is a very leisurely eater often spending her entire wake time between naps eating. she is really starting to master feeding herself, but it is still messy enough that I strip her down to her diaper during mealtimes. in the mornings eloise has more fruits on her plate & by her dinner she has almost all veggies. this is mostly a time thing for me since slicing up fruit takes less time than roasting veggies!

I have gotten in a good habit of prepping food ahead of time so most of it is ready to go during the week. so if produce is ripe (apples, pears, avocado, mangoes, kiwi) I will (peel it &) chop it up, & then give about a quarter or half to eloise for that meal & then save the rest for later in the day. for veggies that I roast or cook (zucchini, yams, squash, broccoli, cauliflower, bell pepper) I will slice it (in rounds or sticks) & put it in a container in the fridge until dinnertime; then I put a few pieces on a pan, drizzle with olive oil or coconut oil, & roast them in the toaster oven. I have been using these small OXO plastic storage containers & these Glasslock ones

I do my best to give eloise a variety of foods, though I often feel like she is eating the same thing over & over. when I am at the store I peruse the entire produce section & pretty much buy one of each organic piece of produce. I have also been finding a lot more frozen organic fruits & veggies at either Whole Foods or PCC (a local natural foods market) which helps with cost & spoiling; blueberries & butternut squash are my new favorite frozen foods to serve. we are still limiting a few foods (strawberries, tomatoes) and wheat, gluten, & sugar, but did give eloise a whole egg (she had only previously had egg yolk) & while she didn’t love it, she didn’t have any allergic reaction either. phew!

though I have been mindful of trying to flavor eloise’s food (mostly purees) one of my mom friends introduced me to this great seasoning called Spike Seasoning (Salt Free) that we have been using on lots of eloise’s food to give it good taste without any added salt. I found it at my local Whole Foods, but you can find it online as well. it is a mixture of 30+ spices & flavors, & tastes really good. aaron & I have been enjoying it on our food as well. I add it to eggs, roasted veggies, meat (sliced no salt turkey from the Whole Foods deli), etc.

eloise is still nursing five times during the day, though her early AM feeding (between 4 & 6 am) is short-lived & I plan on weaning her from it in the coming weeks. in the past eloise has loved to nurse & would do so pretty much any time. these days, however, there are far too many fun things to look at & play with so getting eloise to sit still long enough to nurse seems like an often impossible feat. it is easiest when we are at home alone in her nursery since as soon as anyone (aaron, sadie, etc.) is in the room, she is disinterested. she will look around & grab for anything she can get her hands on; if I can get her attention, she will often resume nursing, but getting her attention is tricky! I have started nursing her immediately after getting her up from a nap when she is the most interested in nursing. then I let her play for a few minutes & change her diaper & then give it another try. I worry a bit that she isn’t getting enough milk even though she can get the same amount of milk now (or more) in much less time. sometimes when she has had a short nursing session she will get fussy later on & will want to nurse again (though this is rare); if not, I trust that she is getting enough.

eloise has been mastering her army crawl these days. she is all over the place & so quickly! the past week or so though she has started getting up on her hands & knees & rocking back & forth (without fussing!). crawling (for real) is imminent!

{weight} 20.5 lbs

{hair} dark reddish brown.

{teeth} bottom two teeth & four top teeth.

{eyes} dark brown.

{clothes}  9 month, 6 to 12 month, or 12 month.

{diapers} full-time cloth {bum genius freetime, pocket, & elemental} & honest company size 3 diapers at night with a bum genius diaper cover.

{feeding} during the day, 3 hour cycles. when e gets a bottle, she will take 4 oz & at bedtime it is a 6 oz bottle (though she often only drinks 5 oz).

{likes} books, anything she isn’t supposed to have, toys that squeak, singing & music, Sadie.

{dislikes} getting her face wiped off (after eating), not being able to play with her spoon at mealtime, having food stuck to her hand.

{nicknames} Bug{s}, Love Bug, E, Wheezy, Kiddo, Little Love, Bugaboo, Thumper (this is a recent Grammie one since eloise always taps her foot!).

happy nine months eloise!

M

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