A Round of Applause!!!

I would like to commend my daughter, Juniper on a very successful day!
Today she:

• ate and loved rice cereal mixed with peas. I told my doctor that she shows an interest in eating food, but doesn't seem to like the taste of the rice cereal. I believed that she likely found it bland after the various flavors she discovered through breast milk. He recommended mixing in a little bit of pureed veggies with the rice cereal. So, I put together her new high chair (hurray!), and placed Juniper in it while I fixed her cereal. She had so much fun smearing her hands across the tray and watching me from a decent height. I think she also really enjoyed sitting up (I've tried to put her in one of those Bumbo chairs several times but she hates it!) I mixed some cereal with breast milk and peas, bibbed the baby and sat down to try it out. She was not immediately accepting to the spoon. I guess she has recalled being scorned by it's previous bland food. But, when I got a little into her mouth, she of course made that baby "Ick! This is a new flavor!" face, but then began grabbing for the spoon making "Mmmm" noises. Hey, Mikey! She likes it! She ate like a pro - big spoonfuls! When I would let her play with the spoon she knew exactly what to do with it. The rubber end goes in the mouth. Smart girl! She was tired and began sucking her thumb, but would then remove it in order to receive more spoonfuls. I cannot believe she ate so well! My baby is a genius. When her head began to droop onto the tray, I wiped her up and put her to bed . . . which brings me to the next great thing she has been doing today.

• She has been going to sleep so well once I lay her down! Sometimes I have been laying her down when I am more ready for her to go to sleep than she is, but she just conks out. I turn on her fan and a CD and place her in her bed. She fusses a little while she can still see me, but as soon as I am out of sight her thumb goes in her mouth. Even if she doesn't go straight to sleep she at least gets quiet and she is asleep within 3-5minutes. I know that babies' sleeping habits go through many changes. I feel like Juniper is a different sleeper every 2 weeks or so. Therefore, I am cherishing this phase for every blissful second of peace it is worth!

• She has been much more content to play on her own. She enjoys her play mat or play saucer for 15-20minutes at a time. Today I even flipped on a kid's educational show (similar to Baby Einsteins) and she had a blast watching it. She was flailing her arms in response to the characters and talking back to them. As much as my sanity would love to just plop her down in front of a video several times a day, my conscience won't let me. It is just good to know that when I am at my wit's end it is an option. 

This is not a very well structured or thought through post, but I just wanted to get a few of these milestones down while I have a moment to myself. The purpose of this blog began as an electronic baby book as I am terrible at filling in the precious one that is collecting dust on my night stand. I would hate to ever lose these memories. I figure one good fire could destroy her baby book but the internet will likely last forever, ever, ever, ever (echo effect.)