Cracking me up!

I still have a lot to write about the visit with all the cousins!! But, I had to tell you that Aria is cracking me up today!! She has been silly all day! Her clown hair is very fitting today (in fact, the hair around her head is getting longer and longer.... and the rest of the hair on her head isn't! Oh dear... ) She is good at entertaining herself, which is a good thing. She plays with her toys and gets into everything (good thing we've baby proofed the downstairs!). We've officially turned off the TV, and only listen to music now. Every once in awhile I will put on Sesame Street but, not every day.

Today we went on errands over lunch. Aria loves taking rides in the car. She is still rear facing in the car in her new carseat, and looks into a big mirror. She makes faces at herself and plays and laughs. Today she was pinching her nose, blowing out and then laughing and laughing. Then she'd do it again. She thought it was hilarious (so did I). Then, she was wiggling all around (as much as she can in a carseat), and then grabbing her feet. She kept sucking on her big toe and then laughing at herself. She was doing this in the drive-through at the bank, and the person in the car next to us was laughing so hard. It really was funny. As we drove away I hear her making all sorts of noise back there, and I look into the mirror (to see into her mirror) and she was trying to get her knee in her mouth. She did succeed. Then she started to kiss her knee. She was having all sorts of fun.

At the store, she kept doing the sign for "eat" and "drink". I guess I shouldn't have taken her to the store when she was hungry! She was being a big flirt at the store, and waving and smiling and saying hi to everyone. She is usually friendly... but today she was just silly friendly.

She used to give hugs and kisses when we asked, but, as of last week, it all changed. Now, when someone asks for a kiss or hug, she vehemently shakes her head NO. And if you try to give her a kiss, she will put her hand out to stop you. Somestimes you're lucky and she puckers up and gives you a big smooch. She almost always gives daddy and Grampa kisses and hugs, though. Oh, and Zig... he gets kisses, too.

Today she said (signed) Please and Thank You a lot. She asked for food when she was hungry, and drinks when she was thirsty. She no longer says Cheese. When I ask if she wants Cheese, she says Please...

One sign Aria hasn't done is "help". I will ask her if she wants my help (and then do the sign), and she shakes her head NO, and tries to do it herself. She is already a "I want to do it myself!" girl. Oh boy! I think we're in big trouble!

The next signs I'm working on with her are Stop and Go. I was showing her stop and go at the store in the cart. She tried to do "go". I think she'll learn that one quickly because she likes to "go"!!

We got to see the newest addition to our friend-family today. Her name is Lauren, and she is soooo beautiful (delicate features) and so alert! The look on her face... it's hard to describe, but it's as though you can see her taking it all in, and learning about her surroundings. I wonder what she is thinking when she is looking around like that. She is so tiny (she is only 15 days old!). It's very hard to believe Aria was that tiny 1 year ago! Lauren and Aria are 1 year and 2 days apart.

We went to dinner with our great friends Jenn, Chris and lil' Mia. I think Aria said Mia 2 times today. I don't know if she learned it from people calling me Mia, or from all the times she's been around her friend Mia. I am not even sure she meant to say Mia.... we'll see if she keeps it up. Aria had a breakdown at the restaurant from being so tired. She fell asleep in my arms at dinner.

Baby Mia already knows how to say All Done in sign language and she is only 8 months old! She's been doing it for about a month now, too. Ummm...can we say baby genius? She also pants when she sees a dog, or a picture of a dog and quacks when she sees a duck - at 8 months old! By the time she is a year, she will be reciting Shakespeare.

I made a Mung Bean Casserole 2 days ago. Aria loved it - I mean REALLY loved it. So, if you are looking for something new and interesting to make yourself or feed your baby, let me know and I'll send you the recipe. It's really good for you and I was surprised at how yummy it was!! I'd never even heard of a Mung bean before.

Yummy healthy desserts

Berry Cobbler“crust”

3 cups pecans

1 vanilla bean scraped

¾ tsp of sea salt

¾ cup of dates

*** throw in the food processor – I pull out about ¾ cup to sprinkle on top.

“syrup”

¾ cups of dates

3 tbsp of coconut oil

½ Vanilla bean (I usually just use the bean I just scraped because Vanilla beans are expensive, and I am cheap)

¾ cup of water

***throw in the food processor

Filling

I like to use 1 carton of blueberries, 1 carton of raspberries, and 1 carton strawberries, but I have also used 3 mangos.



Press the crust into the bottom of pan, mix the syrup and fruit, dump on top of the crust, and sprinkle remaining mixture on top.



Pineapple “Donut Holes”

1¾ cup of raw almonds

2 cups of dehydrated pineapples (I use the “Just Pineapple” from Central Market – no added sugars)

2 cups of dates (pitted, duh)

½ tsp of sea salt

1/3 cup of coconut (optional if you like it)



Throw it all in the food processor until a little sticky, then use ice cream scoop or hand to form “donut holes”