March for Babies 2011

Isabella and I participated in the March for Babies last Saturday.  We arrived shortly after 8 am to turn in our donations since we were supposed to meet our team at 8:30 and the walk was to begin at 9.  Well, we had trouble locating our team because many were busy volunteering at the event and others were late.  Although the walk was advertised to start at 9 am they soon announced that it was starting at 9:30.  Isabella got a bit antsy sitting in the stroller, and I didn't want to leave the area since we were waiting for out teammates.  I also didn't want to put her down because there were so many people. 

Eventually, we found our teammates and the walk began.  Isabella did so well on the walk and at one point near the end she started singing.  People started to turn back and wave at her and she got a little shy and stopped for a while.

She only let me get one photo before the walk.  We're still waiting on the team photo to be posted.

A BIG thanks to everyone who sponsored us!  We more than doubled our goal!

Weekly Menus

I never got around to posting last week's, so I'll post what we ate and what is planned for this week.

Last week:
Sun- burgers
Mon- taco salad
Tue- meatloaf
Wed- leftovers
Thu- garlic and herb chicken
Fri- mac and cheese*
Sat- dinner out

This week:
Sun- baked ziti
Mon- lefotvers
Tue- chicken quesadillas
Wed- leftovers
Thu- french dip sandwiches*
Fri- pizza
Sat- spaghetti

Menu Monday

Sunday- Daddy was working and all Isabella wanted to eat was a banana.  Ah, toddlerhood.
Monday- sloppy joes + corn + sweet potato fried (Not my cup of teat, but it's easy and Isabella will be thrilled)
Tuesday- stuffed shells + garlic bread
Wednesday- leftovers
Thursday- quesadilla casserole + rice
Friday- seasoned chicken breast + crash hot potatoes + green beans
Saturday- burgers + baked beans + oven fries (didn't make it to the table last week)

Menu monday (Wednesday)

Sorry this is late.  I'm a slacker. 

Sunday- penne with meatballs + garlic bread
Monday- leftovers
Tuesday- garlic cheddar chicken* + mashed potatoes + green beans + dinner rolls (This was fantastic!)
Wednesday- Chicken nuggets + mac and cheese (It's just Isabella and I- no time to cook!)
Thursday- tacos + refried beans
Friday- burgers + oven fries + baked beans
Saturday- Montreal chicken + crash hot potatoes* + corn

20 Months Old

This is what happens when you pull out the camera

Cheese!

Age: 20 months
Weight: Not sure

Length: Not sure, but Clint and I agree that she seems taller all of a sudden.
Size: Again, not sure.
Hair:  Getting longer still.

Teeth: 16.  I think she might be working on her two-year molars.
Sleeping: She sleeps pretty well most nights.

Eating: Still loves bananas.  I've made her cut back a lot on cheese.  Variety is definitely key in getting her to eat well.

Movement: She's climbing more and more.  She's trying to jump, but winds up just bouncing most of the time.

Milestones: We've been letting her walk a bit in stores rather than always carrying her or making her ride in the cart.  She has to hold our hands of course.  She also started sleeping with a pillow.  I thought it might help 

"anchor" her so she isn't all over the place.  It seems to have helped a bit, but she still wiggles quite a bit.

Favorite toys/activities:  Loves her new foam letters for the bath.  She also found some plastic dinosaurs that my nephew, Jaden, used to play with and she thinks they're pretty cool.  She loves playing outside and pretending to talk on the phone.

Dislikes:  Coming in from playing outside, getting out of the bath, and having her hair washed.

Words/sounds:  I've completely lost track.  We hear new words everyday.

Car Seat Safety

You may or may not know that I'm pretty anal about car seat safety. I wiggle Isabella's car seat regularly to make sure it is secure and doesn't move more than an inch in any direction, I re-adjust the straps every time I buckle her in, and I always ensure that the chest clip is at armpit level.  I don't use additional car seat accessories and she never wears her bulky coat in the car seat.  She has also always been rear-facing and will remain so as long as her car seat allows (35 lbs and until her head is within an inch from the top of her seat). 

Children are proven to be safer when rear-facing.  Even adults would be safer rear-facing, but it's obviously not an option for us. The AAP recently revised it's recommendations on car seats to the following:

"The AAP advises parents to keep their toddlers in rear-facing car seats until age 2, or until they reach the maximum height and weight for their seat. It also advises that most children will need to ride in a belt-positioning booster seat until they have reached 4 feet 9 inches tall and are between 8 and 12 years of age."

I found a great, albeit sad, video on Youtube that demonstrates the difference in impact on rear-facing vs forward-facing seats.  I encourage all parents to watch it before switching their child to a forward-facing seat.



To read the full release from the AAP visit this link.

Menu Monday

I've been in the bad habit of choosing meal that take a lot of time to prep and have seriously slacked off.  You'll definitely see some repeats here.

Sun- chicken enchiladas + rice
Mon- lefotvers
Tue- PW's DR. Pepper shredded pork* + mac and cheese
Wed- leftovers
Thu- loaded baked potatoes + salad
Fri- chicken pot pie*
Sat- parm crusted chicken* + PW's pasta ai quattro formaggi*



*indicates new recipe