Dipping...

Over the course of the past week, we've discovered something new about Elizabeth... She LOVES to dip things in sauce! It doesn't matter if it's the green salsa from Pappasito's, Ketchup, BBQ sauce, or Ranch - she loves it all!

Last night, we had Chicken Ranch Tacos for dinner. Elizabeth kept pointing to our bottle of Ranch, so I finally dipped a little of her chicken in some ranch. Let me tell you, she went crazy! I put a little bit onto her plate and she was in heaven, dipping her chicken, chips, beans, and even fingers into the delicious stuff.

After she finished eating what was on her plate, she decided she wanted to finish the ranch off... So what did she do but lick her plate clean! It was too cute of a moment not to document with pictures!

So yummy!

I think I'll use my fingers...

This works soo much better!!

Time to eat: Nilla Wafers and Pumpkin Muffins

Yesterday, I was eating some Nilla wafers as a snack, and Elizabeth sure looked interested in them, so I gave her one... She LOVED it!! I had to take it away once it got too small (I didn't want her to choke), but she probably would've eaten several more!

What is this?

This is yummy!!

I'm gonna eat it all!

Mmm... good!

I also made pumpkin muffins yesterday evening. Normally, I put cranberries and walnuts in them, but decided that before I was going to add them, I'd first make a plain batch for Miss E. Let me tell you, the muffins were another hit! I think I'll be making more when I run out of these. It probably doesn't help that pumpkin muffins are one of mine and Alan's favorite fall time breakfasts (or snacks)! I have the recipe from my kindergarten teacher, which, in my opinion, is the best pumpkin muffin recipe! It could have to do with the fact that I absolutely adored my kindergarten teacher. :)

What's on my tray?

Stuffing my face

Licking my lips!

This is even better than Nilla wafers!!

Time to eat: sweet potato

Elizabeth hasn't been super interested in solids the past few days. So when I made her oatmeal this morning, I didn't make it quite as thin. As a result, she ate more than she ever has. Then, this evening, I decided to pull out some sweet potatoes. Boy, did Elizabeth LOVE them! She was leaning in to eat them and opening her mouth up for me to spoon them in. In fact, she even "fed" herself some. It was by far the messiest dinner, but totally worth it!

Yummy!

Feeding myself

So much fun!

Weren't you taught NOT to play with your food? ;)

So intent

My little "artist"

Oh, and she also figured out how to use a sippy cup tonight! My baby girl is growing up too fast!!

What's this?

You mean I can drink from this!?

Time to eat: butternut squash

Last night Elizabeth got to eat butternut squash for the first time. She seemed to really like it - in fact, Miss E likes it better than bananas... Crazy, huh? And another plus - it was super easy to make! All I had to do was roast the squash  (sans the seeds) and then puree it.

Blowing raspberries... we got squash everywhere!

All done!

*almost* empty bowl!!

Time to eat: banana

It's been a while since I've last blogged. How I've missed it! :) 

We went to Abilene this past weekend to celebrate the life of Alan's Grandmother. She will be greatly missed, but we know she is in a much better place! I'm so thankful that we were able to go down and be with family. It was a such a sweet time with everyone. Elizabeth enjoyed seeing her cousins, just as much as they enjoyed getting to hang out with her. I am so blessed to be  in the Letz family!

Now... on to eating... I bought Elizabeth some Earth's Best oatmeal to take to Abilene so I didn't have to spend forever making it while we were there. And, much to my surprise, Elizabeth actually likes it better! That will save me quite a bit of time daily! She is actually eating the entire bowl now. And, as of Monday, eating more than she is spitting out! Yay!

I bought a little mesh strainer thing to put food in so that Elizabeth could chew on it and experience what "real" food is. Yesterday, I put a chunk of banana in it for her to try. She really liked it! I think next time I'll put a couple smaller pieces instead of one piece, just to see how she does with that. Oh, and on a side note... For those of you that have used one, how do you clean the mesh part? Do I need to use a fresh one each time I give her food in it?

Onto the pictures...

Banana chunk

Give it to me!!

What is this?

Yummy!

Look at those rolls!

Love this baby girl!

Time to eat: avocado

Alan went to the grocery store without me Saturday morning (so Miss E could get a good nap in), and came home with a couple of avocados. So yesterday, I decided to try that with Elizabeth. I mashed up about 1/3 of the avocado with a fork and added some milk (about 1/2-3/4 oz) to make it to the desired consistency. She wasn't too sure about it, but she did manage to eat more avocado than she did oatmeal. I gave her the rest of the avocado today, and she did even better! She's still super messy and doesn't actually eat much, but like I've heard "food is for fun until you are one!" I am looking forward to when she can finish off a bowl, though. I know it might sound crazy, but I hate to waste any of my milk... I mean, it's not like I have over 1500oz in the freezer. Haha.

Looking at the bowl

Not so sure...

Let me have another taste!

All done! And headed for a bath!

Time to eat: oatmeal

Well, this morning marked the first experiment in making baby food! I had some steel cut oats that I was going to use for Elizabeth's oatmeal. It didn't work out quite as planned... First, the food processor TERRIFIED Elizabeth. I mean, uncontrollable, big crocodile tears streaming down her face accompanied by crying hard. Note to self... never do that without Dad present to take Elizabeth outside... I did feel loved, though. She was still crying with Alan comforting her, but as soon as we traded she calmed down. Not to say that Alan wasn't doing a good job, there's just something about Mom. :) So after Alan took her outside, I attempted to get the oats into a fine powder. Didn't work so well. I decided to go ahead and use them, but next time, I'll used rolled oats instead.

Excuse the no-makeup look...
At least Elizabeth looks cute!

First bite

Not too sure about this oatmeal

Hmm...

I'll help Mommy with the spoon!

Finished for the day

I had read to make it pretty runny for the first time, but all in all, I think she would like thicker oatmeal. I'm going to try again tomorrow with rolled oats. Hopefully I'll be able to get it to a better consistency.