48 Weeks Old

Posts are getting farther and farther apart as my mind is more and more blown with how awesome my daughter is.
   Here we are having a grand old time... I think.

This makes me think of all those times I was tickle tortured growing up and leaves me wondering if I'm horribly scarring my daughter.  But she doesn't seem to mind so far.  And it's pretty fun for me, too so I think I'll keep doing it.  It will probably stop being cool at some point.  Like if I'm still doing it when she's 16 that might be kind of weird.
   Here we are at dinner.  She loves squash!

   She just turned 11 months old and we love that she is feeding herself.  It won't be long before she's scooping the food up on her spoon all by herself.  I might be bragging a little bit.  Ok, I'm bragging a lot.  
   I think I'd be an ass if I weren't bragging.

32 Weeks Old

VB has developed the skills of a chipmunk.  Last night for dinner we feasted on split pea soup, Italian bread and hummus with vegetables.  The vegetables included red peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers finishing with watermelon for dessert.

   We distinctly remember her first eating the pepper, then tomato and finishing with the watermelon.  I guess she was into the red foods.  But as we began cleaning her up, we noticed a small piece of red pepper wedged between her cheek and gums.  She somehow managed to store that little piece of pepper while eating tomato AND watermelon.  mmmm... such interesting food combinations.

This is not that meal.  This is a different, much cleaner meal. 

    Watching her eat sometimes breaks my heart.  And not just because she's growing up.  Ok, well that's a big part of it.  It's thrilling to watch her figure stuff out.  But there's something else that breaks my heart.  And this is the part that makes me an ass for the week.  

   Sometimes my wife will put something in front of VB that is really, REALLY tasty.  Like a quarter eaten grilled cheese sandwich or the aforementioned Italian bread.  And I know that the majority of this will end up on the floor, and I even think to myself, that's too good to end up on the floor.  I should just.... and I take it.  

   Yes, I take food from my baby.  But only when she's almost finished and I'm SURE she's not going to eat it!  That's okay, right?

   Well, I did that yesterday for lunch.  A slice of Italian bread was left on her tray.  When my wife went to get a wash cloth to clean up, I snatched the bread and popped it in my mouth and was instantly rewarded with one of the more disgusting textures I've ever tasted. I neglected to realize that my daughter had spilled water all over her tray soaking everything on it.  I guess I got what I deserved.  I think she may even have planned it.

   I can already tell she's going to be smarter than me.

31 Weeks Old

If I'm not an ass, it's completely by accident.  My wife is mostly driving the parent train in this family. I'm not saying that I'm not doing anything.  But most of the time I'm willing to try whatever she wants.  Fortunately, my wife is brilliant and makes great choices when it comes to raising our daughter.
   But if things had been left up to me, our lives would be so completely different.  Because I'm the kind of person who will go along for the ride, I would have also been fine with a hospital birth.  I would never have heard of phrases like Baby Led Weaning, Elimination Communication or Co-sleeping.  I'd be spooning purees into my daughter's mouth, suffering through hour long cry-it-out sessions and Von Bebe would probably be in diapers until she's 15.  (Like she'll need another reason to hate me by then)
   And I would be less happy than I am now.
Here's my daughter growing up very fast showing us how she eats corn on the cob and jicama.

And here she is on her potty with C-3PeeO. (I couldn't resist)

I never would have thought of potty training VB so early.  Even if it's not actually 'potty training', at least she's getting used to the idea  and we're actually saving some diaper changes.
   So if I'm not an ass in fatherhood, I have mostly my wife to thank.

26 Weeks Old

We have started Von Bebe on solid foods.  It's been about 2 weeks now and she is doing great.  As you can see, we are giving her portions of exactly what we are eating.  I don't see a need to spend extra money purchasing highly processed puree products when she seems quite happy with our food.  And lest you think she's not getting any of it down, feel free to check her diapers.  She is definitely consuming at least some of it.
   Seen here we are all enjoying breakfast while on vacation about a week ago.  Frankly, it's 4 and a half minutes of mostly inane footage.  I would only expect Von Bebe's most hard core fans to watch the clip in its entirety... And witness the joy of what our mealtimes have become.

      It took us 3 or 4 days to figure out that stripping her down to her diaper makes for the easiest clean up.  Bibs are for sissies anyway.  Things managed to stay fairly clean for this meal.  Be lucky you did not witness the re-fried beans debacle a few days ago.  Head-to-toe.  Spilling her water didn't help, either.