Solid Foods

Our pediatrician gave us the green light on solid foods...I'm not sure this is what he had in mind.  

Jacob absolutely loves to gnaw on his toes, fingers, and whatever else he can put in his mouth.

Frogs with crazy hearts

Since most of you don't know what I do...sometimes I even wonder what I am doing... I thought I would post a quick picture of my frogs.  This is a picture of one normal frog and one frog that I caused to have its heart and gut reversed.  These frogs are five days old. 

 I am studying how the left-right axis is determined and how even though you look symmetrical on the outside (two hands, two eyes, etc) you are not symmetrical on the inside.  Frogs are just easier to study this than humans.  So, what does this have to do with real life?  Well, there are a few human syndromes where the left-right axis is messed up internally.   The biggest one where all the organs are switched is called situs inversus, but you can also have instances where only the heart or gut is reversed.  Sometimes people are fine who have this condition, and other times it is a major cause of congenital heart defects.

High Chair

We finally decided that it was time to put Jacob in the high chair.   He really likes to be either sitting up or standing up so the high chair seemed like a good choice.  Hopefully this will convince him that it is OK to eat solid foods.  He really hasn't taken a liking to the rice cereal yet.  I think it is because he can't get the food in fast enough or he doesn't like the taste.  Have any of you tried rice cereal?  I did...I can't say that I would blame him if he doesn't like it.  I think it is funny that even though this high chair is equipped with about ten straps to hold Jacob in, he still manages to squirm enough to get 90% of the rice cereal somewhere other than his mouth. 

 

Sorry, most of the pictures I take of him are out of focus because he is moving so much.

Why do things always go wrong when Tony's out of town?

Tony has been in California (working...or at least he says he's working) since May 7 and won't be back until May 16.  While he's been gone the following things have happened to me and sweet baby Jacob:

-The air conditioner is broken.  Luckily, the weather hasn't been too hot but because it hasn't been hot, they can't fix it.  

-The power went out during the night and so then I couldn't sleep because I thought that I wouldn't wake up if Jacob did.  Of course, he didn't wake up but there was the possibility.

-Shannon Viner, our wonderful babysitter, was out of town making it hard for me to figure out daycare.  Luckily, my fantastic sister, Channdra, and Grandma Peterson have saved the day so that I can actually go to work.  I would have loved to stay home the whole time, but I also really need to get my research done so that I can eventually stay home.

-Jacob decided that sleep at night is optional.  Monday night our normally great sleeper woke up every two hours screaming.  I tried feeding him, rocking him, singing to him (that only made things worse), and finally just letting him sleep in the bed with me.  You know that as soon as Tony gets back Jacob will be a perfect sleeper again.

-Abby and Max decided that they don't need to sleep on their beds, but instead need to protect me from some unknown danger that is only around when Tony is not.  A few nights this week I have been awakened in the middle of the night to a low tone growl which is actually Max sleeping on the floor by my bed and having a growling dream.

Crazy stuff.  I will be so glad to have Tony Baloney back home!

Some Favorite Treats

My sister-in-law, Lisa, gave me the idea to post some of my favorite things.  Today's post will be about some of my favorite treats.  Keep in mind that these are treats I like to eat when I ignore all common sense about eating healthy.  I don't know if there is anything healthy about any of these treats....I guess that's what makes them treats.

Henry Weinhard makes THE BEST  Vanilla Cream and Orange Cream Sodas.  The Orange Cream tastes just like the orange dreamsicles that are so good.

Mother's Taffy flavored sandwich cookies are some of our favorites.  They are a little more expensive 

than other cookies, but you can often find them on sale.  Be sure not to buy expired cookies though because they taste horrible!

The Girl Scouts introduced a great new cookie flavor this year, Lemon creme.  Very lemony and we think this may be their best cookie yet (well, except for the thin mints).

Other favorites:

Haagen Dazs - Extra Rich Light Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

 M&Ms - Especially the peanut ones

 Harvest Cheddar Sun Chips  

Mountain (Dew) Baby?

The other night Jacob was extremely hungry and went a little crazy (as you can see) trying to drink Tony's Diet Mountain Dew.  Of course we didn't let him drink any, but it was funny to see how he recognizes bottles as food containers.  I wonder if his like for Mtn Dew is genetic.

We also went hiking in Neff's Canyon last weekend and had a great time being outside.  Unfortunately, we ran in to snow less than a mile up the canyon and really couldn't hike very safely any further.  Jacob seemed to enjoy the hike and kept cooing and making happy noises the whole way.  We can't wait to get up there again with our Mountain Baby.

Silver Beaver

We just wanted to congratulate my dad for getting the Boy Scouts of America Silver Beaver Award.  He received this award for his long term service and dedication to the Boy Scouts as well as other youth in Utah.  What a great example he and my mom are of always serving others and having a good time while doing it!  Congratulations Dad!