Sunday, February 26, 2012

Over the hills and through the mountains, to CDA we go!

We took our first mini family vacation to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho this weekend. 
We met up with my Aunt Bridget, Uncle Marc and my cousins (Mackenzie and Riley).  They drove from Montana to attend one of their gymnastics competitions.  We have been talking about meeting them there for a few years now and finally made it happen!  We thought it'd be the perfect opportunity to introduce Emmeline to her first "road trip".  We love mini adventures!  It was so good to get away and to see them!  Can't wait to see them again this summer!!!!  The girls had so much fun playing with Emmeline.  They even babysat her for 20 minutes so we could run to Target without her (our first time leaving her).  She did great.
We left early in the morning on Friday (we both took the day off) and headed east.  It was a 4.5 hour drive (just over 5 hours with a couple of stops).  Emmeline did surprisingly well in the car!  We sang songs and read books while daddy drove through the mountains.  She also napped for about an hour of the drive. I also kept her busy with one of her favorite foods, a BANANA!

We stayed at the Coeur d'Alene Resort


We got really lucky because when we arrived, they upgraded us to a better room.  Floor to ceiling windows of the lake, marina and mountains?!?!  Yes please.
Did they know this was our first outting post-baby?!?!

The top window opened up for a fresh, crisp breeze and a gorgeous view!!!  I had to remind Aaron not to pull a "Michael Jackson" here (remember that?).



Playing with cousin Mackenzie






Aaron ran to the car to get the rest of our bags when we got there...he took a long time (turns out he ran to the store)...look what he snuck into the room...notice that he snuck it in IN MY BREASTPUMP SUPPLY BAG!  Only Aaron...
He said he didn't want to pay for an overpriced hotel beer when he could get a whole 6 pack for the same price! ha  Who says you can't still party like a rockstar after having a baby?!!?!



Heading out for dinner at FIRE, a local gourmet pizza joint.


She took the best nap she's ever taken in the hotel room!  Vacation suits her well. ;)




Pool time!  She wasn't sure what to think about the pool (and all the noisy swimmers).  She loves bathtime so we thought we'd show her a much larger "bath" and let her kick and splash around.  I think it was a bit overwhelming to her.  But, she looks OH SO CUTE in her new pink swimsuit. :)

















Being silly!





HOME SWEET HOME.  Nice and tired after a fun weekend with family!

Can't wait for our next adventure!  She is so much fun to travel with.  It is exciting to see the world through those beautiful little eyes.

Beans, Beans the magical fruit!

Okay, so we haven't technically tried beans yet (Aaron did give her a bite of a mashed one at a restaurant but she spit it out)...but, we are officially starting solid foods now!!  So far, it has been really fun (and MESSY) to watch Emmeline discover different tastes and textures.  We just love letting her explore the foods that we are eating.
We usually put her in the bumbo seat (on top of the kitchen island) while we are preparing meals. I like to think of it as she has a front row seat to the best cooking show ever! ha, ha.  She enjoys watching us (who am I kidding, it's mostly daddy) prepare and cook dinner.  We explain to her what we are doing and she listens and watches very intently.  We bake, steam and/or mash her portion.
She then joins us in her highchair at the dinner table where we eat and talk as a family.
I just finished reading a really great book about the Baby Led Weaning approach to introducing the world of food to your child.  We are using this method (with some purees/spoon feedings as well).  I like the idea of letting Emmeline "play" with her food in order to learn more about herself (fine motor skills/hand-eye coordination/being independent) and the world around her (shapes, colors, textures).  The important thing I learned is that they don't need the nutrition from food at this age, it is more about discovering what food is and how to eat it.  All they technically need is their mother's milk until age 1, but we are having fun introducing things little by little as she gradually weans herself.
Here is some info if you are curious about this method:
http://www.babyledweaning.com/
http://baby-led.com/

 So far she's tried organic banana, sweet potato, pear, apple, strawberry, avocado, peas, broccoli, egg (daddy gave her a tiny bite of his breakfast even though you're technically supposed to wait until they are one!), carrot and blueberries.  She now says "Mmmmmmmm" and gets really excited when she sees us eating.  It is so cute.

Mashed avocado beard!  Still cute.

YUM--sweet potato mash!


 Finger painting with avocado ;)

She stole this pizza crust off of my plate when I wasn't looking!!!  That's my girl!



Banana is one of her favorites (and something we have on hand almost every day).  She can now chomp down half of a banana (with a little help as it gets too slippery to pick up).  Who needs teeth when you have strong gums?!ha ha





Trying to figure out how to feed herself mashed peas...





Broccoli (this was my favorite to watch!)...
 Hey! These look like little trees.  I wonder what they taste like...







 Let me end this by saying, I really wish Oreo was like other dogs who eat food off of the floor.  It's going to be a messy journey...

BFF's

This is Emmeline's little buddy, Keegan.  He comes over to play with us 4 days a week.  They are learning so much from one another!  We have a double stroller now, so we try to go for walks when it is nice out.  We've had some really beautiful, sunny February days.  We walk through the neighborhood and go to the dog park.  They love looking at the trees, listening to the birds, talking to other people who walk by and taking trips to the local UPS store and grocery store (a mile up the road). People love babies!...try explaining to people "they were born on the same day, but they aren't both mine"...let's just say I get some interesting looks until I explain the situation further. ha!




They are really starting to interact (both physically and verbally).  They can sit up fairly independently now and enjoy reaching and grasping (and trying to eat) all of our cool toys (I've been finding some great deals at the local consignment shop.  Our latest find is a colorful interactive xylophone.  I give them daily music lessons! ha ha).  They smile and babble at one another, try to eat each other's toes and heads (Emmeline often has a matted wet spot on her head each day--ha!), pull each other's ears and fishhook each other's mouthes and steal toys away from one another.  The pediatrician said that they will have such a strong bond, almost like a sibling relationship.  Funny--I just found out that Matt and Marcy met when they were young too (like Aaron and I did).  We always joke about arranging a marriage! You never know...! As of right now, they are learning, playing and growing together!

I turned the loft into a little play area.  Now I just need to add a gate at the top of the stairs and plug the outlets and this will be the perfect area for them to explore once they begin crawling.  Let the fun begin! :)