At Ben’s last doctor’s appointment, when he was around six months old, he weighed roughly sixteen pounds. As usual, his height and weight was small for his age, but that’s just part of the deal when you’re cursed with two short parents. Last week, we went in for his nine month checkup. They weighed him and measured him, and he had gained… nothing. He was still sixteen pounds, maybe a few ounces heavier, but that was it. I was definitely surprised — he feels heavier to me!
The doctor, after seeing the results and examining Ben, was confused. After all, Ben doesn’t look skinny or underweight. He asked how much he …
As every military spouse knows, spending the holidays — or any important days — together is not something that you should count on. Matt missed Thanksgiving, his birthday, Christmas, New Year’s, and Valentine’s Day last year, and almost missed Ben’s birth. This year, he missed Thanksgiving and his birthday. He won’t be here for Valentine’s Day, for our anniversary, for Ben’s first birthday, or the birth of our second son. When you have to miss all of these holidays, being able to spend one together is a rare blessing that you have to take advantage of.
We decided to have a relatively low-key day just lounging around the house in our …
The holidays are over and I feel like a stuffed turkey on Thanksgiving Day. Like so many others, our holidays revolve around fantastic food. We have the most decadent meals that we only make once a year, so no indulgence is spared.
Kevin is our gourmet chef around here and he makes the most delicious lobster bisque on Christmas Eve. We also have lobster tails with lemon butter and of course the best kind of crusty bread we can find. Then on Christmas he roasts Prime Rib and makes all the fattening sides to go along with it. At some point before Christmas, I make my traditional indian dinner of Lamb Korma and a buttery, aromatic rice and naan. Then there’s desserts: Cheesecake, …
I’m sure a lot of you are doing a double take right now. Thanksgiving isn’t for another month! Well, not in our household. This year, we celebrated Thanksgiving early! As Matt’s unit is gearing up for another deployment, we’re coming across lots and lots of predeployment training. And right around the corner is super-long training op number two, which means that Matt will be missing all of November. This, of course, means no Thanksgiving. Well, I didn’t want him to miss out on the holiday, so I decided to celebrate it early.
Every year in the past, we’ve always gone back home to Florida for Thanksgiving and Christmas. And frankly, it …
Recently, we had Ben’s six-month checkup at the WIC office, which included a visit to the nutritionist. And her advice? Start getting him adjusted to drinking from a sippy cup. Oh boy. So, I went on ahead to the store and got him his first sippy cup: a soft spout with handles that I hoped he would take easily.
Now, I didn’t think it would be too terribly difficult for him to make the transition. He learned to eat from a spoon extremely quickly, after all. And he’s learning to hold the bottle on his own, although I still have to help him keep it tilted up high enough. But of …
Another vegetable, that is.
Ben loves eating solid foods, provided it’s a food he actually likes. Every single fruit I’ve given him, he’s enjoyed. Peaches, pears, apples, cantaloupe, bananas: all a hit. But veggies? No way. He’s hated virtually every single vegetable I’ve given him, from carrots and sweet potatoes to avocados. The only vegetable he has liked so far has been squash. So I, in a rather brilliant moment of inspiration, mixed together the squash and the sweet potatoes, and he liked it! I gradually lessened the amount of squash, and eventually, he would eat the sweet potatoes on their own. He didn’t gobble them down like he does the squash and the fruits (when I can’t feed it to …
