Our Little World

Throughout each day as Bailey and I experience our lives together in our small part of the world, I feel like I'm watching little miracles happen all the time--many times a couple in every hour. And I think to myself, "Wow, this kid is amazing! I should do something like document it or something." I hate my hand writing first of all, and writing takes too long for me so I have a hard time wanting to pull out my journal to write anything down. I also think to myself, no one wants to read about another little baby saying goo goo ga ga all day. Well, I've decided I don't care, and I'm going to document away and tell you of a couple little miracles that happened today.

Bailey has decided she wants to be put in the "picky eater" category so we have a small battle on our hands at least three times a day. Today, I had tried giving her everything I could think of and she wouldn't eat anything so I washed my hands of breakfast and called it quits for the morning. After breakfast, she was "helping" me load the dishwasher (but in order to help me load it, she first has to take everything out) and I just wanted to get the job done so I needed a distraction. Food! I thought. Well, there are two sure-fire things Bailey will eat--no matter what; grapes and oranges. Turns out I had grapes so I put a bunch on a small plate and set them on a little table that is just her height. When she was done, she, of course, threw the plate on the ground and commenced "helping" me load the dishwasher. I asked her to pick up the plate so we could put in the dishwasher. She cautiously walked from the dishwasher, to the table, and leaned down to pick up the plate, which she couldn't quite reach without letting go of the table. She figured as much, so she sat on the ground and crawled over to the plate, picked it up, and hefted it onto the table. Then she pulled herself up to the table, picked up the plate again, and handed it to me so I could put it in the dishwasher. Ta da! Do I have the smartest baby in the world or do I have the smartest baby in the world!?! I picked her up and gave her a big hug as we squealed together and practiced giving kisses on the cheeks.

Well, lunch time came around and what does lunch time mean?--eatin' time, right?... Well, Bailey didn't get the memo because she was not having it. I put her down from her high chair again having lost yet another meal-time battle and Omai and I decided we were going to play this game the Nana Graybill way--no snacks, treats, or anything in between for Bailey. About an hour later, she started to get fussy and my first thought was that she was tired, but then remembered she hadn't really had anything substantial to eat all day and decided to try my luck at feeding her some mashed potatoes and turkey. And ta da again, she downed probably 2 cups of potatoes and turkey with a little cheese mixed in. Now, this probably doesn't seem like anything, but remember that Bailey has decided to be a picky eater and everything I have tried giving her the last week she has adimately refused. I've even tried holding her down to force a bite of food into her mouth hoping that after one little taste she'll realize that food is a good thing and that she should eat it. I think a part of me is so worried that our next Dr.'s appointment will be similar to Bailey's 12-month appointment (me leaving in tears because the Dr. says my baby's malnourished) that I've realized I'm constantly trying to get her to eat--whatever she'll put in her mouth. I even had a dream/nightmare that Bailey barely gained a pound when we weighed her at the Dr.'s office weighing only 20.4 lbs. The Dr. was worried and questioned if I was feeding her. Ahhh... Breathe. She is finally growing out of her 9-month clothes so that must mean I'm doing something right. So today's turkey and potatoes with a little cheese on top is a little miracle in my small part of the world.

And just because I'm a visual person and like seeing pictures with my narratives, here are a few pictures I took of my little picky eater with a photo contest in mind entitled, "Yellow" (that I never entered).



And here's the shot I was patiently waiting for, yellow tongue and all...