Elle eats for free at Ikea!

We went to Ikea this afternoon to window shop for furniture. When we walked past the kids section at Ikea, Elle's eyes lit up with her mouth wide open in disbelief when she saw tons of stuffed animals that were hung up on the wall!!! Lol. It was too funny.

As we walked past the food court, I saw the sign that said kids eat for free this weekend! It was getting close to dinner time so we thought, we might as well take advantage :-). We ordered Elle mac & cheese with vegetables and a salad for Daddy Jarbs and I to share. We have never really eaten at Ikea before (I just normally get their $1 frozen yogurt) but I may say, their food taste pretty decent! The mac and cheese was yummy (yeah, it was for Elle but I had to try it :-P) and the salad was good too. Now, I have to pay attention as to what other restaurants give free meals for kids :-). I also found out that there is a play area for kids in their food court. We have to keep this in mind next time we visit and when Elle is a little bit bigger.

This was taken while in the car. Elle LOVES mommy's sunglasses. She never wants to wear her own kiddie sunglasses but gets excited when I have her wear mine! lol. This reminds me of when I was a little kid. I loved my mom's huge sunglasses too and even have a few photos wearing it.

Yummy mac and cheese!



Mommy Jarbs' birthday dinner

Here are some photos taken last Sunday when we went out for my birthday dinner. Hurricane Irene was gone by Sunday afternoon so we went out for a nice dinner at Sequoia in Georgetown. The weather was very nice so we made sure to get outside sitting. For the first time, we were able to order from the kids menu! Elle got mac and cheese which I thought was yummy!

After dinner, we walked along the Georgetown waterfront. Elle enjoyed watching the ducks swim in the Potomac River. She got excited and shrieked when the ducks swam close to us lol.

Elle eats mac & cheese! (video)

Daddy Jarbs made homemade mac and cheese for Elle the other day. Here's Elle trying to feed herself. Half of the food went to her mouth and the other half on the floor :-). She now insists on feeding herself vs Mommy spoon-feeding her. I thought I could get away without having to use the splash mat that I got as a gift during my baby shower. Now, I am having seconds thoughts and may have to use it soon!

Here she is drinking from her big girl sippy cup. I did not realize until a friend pointed out this week that the 10 oz sippy cup that Elle has been using is for toddlers! :-) Now, I just need to teach her how to drink using straws!

Elle loves eating!

Elle had her 9-month well check-up last Friday. Everything went well. There were no issues and Elle is healthy and growing as she should. Well, the good news is, the doctor gave us the green light to give Elle table food. She told us that it is okay to give her the same food that we eat granted that we do not have any history of food allergy in the family. Prior to the doc's visit, I was already giving her food that are a bit chunkier and have a slightly different texture than the purees so she will get used to chewing/eating them. She has tried cottage cheese with fruit, soft tofu with broccoli or beans, watermelon and bananas cut up into little pieces. I have also given her Marie biscuit which my mom brought from the Philippines. My mom said this was the same biscuit that she used to give us when we were little. I broke the biscuit into little pieces and gave them to Elle. Surprisingly, she did not have any problems eating them. I do watch her very closely whenever I introduce new food and make sure she does not choke. Also, I always have her sippy cup with water on hand.

At first, I was kinda hesitant to have her graduate from eating purees for fear of choking. However, since the doc said it's okay as long as we cut the food into tiny little pieces (Cheerio size) and slightly overcook the veggies (so it's soft), then we're good. Well, this past weekend, we gave Elle sweet potato pancakes (with no syrup) and she loved them :-). I cut it up into tiny little pieces and had her pick up each piece from my hand and feed it to herself. Daddy Jarbs made mac and cheese last night which we'll have her try soon :-). We want to expose Elle to a variety of flavors and textures as much as possible. Hopefully, she does not grow up to be a picky eater and *knock on wood* does not develop any food allergies. Right now, that is not a problem though as she eats everything we give her and has not had any allergic reaction. I still want to be on the conservative side though and slowly introduce new food/flavors. I am excited that she can now eat more yummy food. I am looking forward to the time when we can order her a healthy kids meal when we are out in the restaurant. Daddy Jarbs and I both agree that she does not need to know that Mc Donalds exist :-).

Elle likes avocado!

We stopped giving Elle solids for a couple of weeks since we've had several issues with diarrhea, rashes, teething, etc. Now that she is all well, she's back to trying out new food! This week we gave her organic carrots which she really did not care for that much. I stopped giving it to her after a couple of days since we noticed her right eye started becoming red and puffy. We are not entirely sure if it's due to carrots since it can be also due to her allergies or the tail end of her conjunctivities. We'll try the carrots again after a week or so. 

Last Saturday, we gave her organic avocados for breakfast and she liked it! I just mashed the avocados and added a little of breastmilk from my freezer stash.

Yum!

After she was done eating, I had her "play" with the leftover avocado.  I wanted her to explore, touch the food and attempt to feed herself. Well, this is what end result looked like. Good thing the high chair was very easy to clean!