Philosophies on winter and the beginning of a new phase

I never thought in a million years I would type what I'm about to type: I'm loving this time of year. The late  winter, almost spring time when everything is dreary and grey. Traditionally, this time of year makes me cringe. Sure, there's Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day and March madness and all...but you can't really get out and do anything substantial (unless you have a freak year when it's averaging 70 degrees like last year).


Winter Wonderland...and construction zone.

This year, it's all changed. Instead of the weather being miserable and bleak, it's cozy. I find myself up early on weekend mornings with a warm cup of coffee watching my daughter quietly play with her toys instead of trying to fly through a long list of chores and activities that must be done. We snuggle up on the couch and read books and roll around on the ground playing for most of the morning. This calm, peacefulness is such a welcome change.

I really can't believe I've never noticed the silver lining to this time of year before. I really enjoy the changing seasons in the Midwest. They are usually so dramatically different from one another; each unique and fun in there own way. Somehow, I've always written this part of the winter off. It's peaceful, slow, calm...I feel like it's a time to reflect on how the year has been going so far and where I want it to go in the future. Why the change of heart? I, of course, want to attribute it to baby Kate and to motherhood. So much of me has changed, I shouldn't be surprised at all. Just one more pleasant surprise that being a mom has brought me.

And guess what else has been happening around our house? This!....



Seriously...she threw that dish like a discus right after this picture was snapped...avocado everywhere!



We've been noticing Kate's increasing interest in watching us eat and grabbing for food on our plates (not that I think she knows it's food...she grabs for everything, of course). We've tried spoon feeding her some baby oatmeal a couple times and last night we moved forward with some avocado smushed up with a little formula. Needless to say she's not a huge fan of being spoon fed. She makes a "yucky" face every time the spoon goes in! So, I decided to just let her play with bigger chunks of avocado and she loved tolerated it. I picked a book called, 'Baby Led Weaning' to help up transition from the all milk diet to "some solids whenever she seems interested" diet.

See mom, I can do this by myself.

 Baby led weaning is essentially letting a child, around 6 months in age, begin to explore and try foods by feeding themselves. They are given appropriately sized and cooked foods that they can pick up with their fingers and eat. This means no baby cereal or purees or spoon feeding - at all...like, ever! I don't think that I will be following the Baby Led Weaning book to a tee, but I like the idea of letting a child explore and make food choices on their own. There are so many issues with food and our relationship with food in this country, I just want to make sure we get off on a great start. Plus, it's been shown that kids that are allowed to handle and eat their own foods from the very beginning can be more adventurous, less picky eaters. Here's hoping!