31 Weeks

On Friday, Isla figured out how to suck her toes! Funny thing about it though is that she only does it when she's not wearing pants. Weird.

I'm pretty sure Isla is teething. She was a major drooler between 3-4 months and then pretty much dried up. All of a sudden this week she is back to completely saturating her burp cloth, chewing on everything (including her toes) and acting a bit off during the day, particularly last Saturday. I keep giving her cold things to chew on and she loves it.

Isla has sort of quit eating on the days that I work. She used to take 12-20 oz while I was gone but now she's lucky to get even 10 oz in. Of course, she's eating some solids too but hasn't been very interested in those when I am away either (Maybe teething issues again? Or I'd like to think she misses me since so far it seems as if she could care less whether or not I leave her which sorta bums me out---watch me eat my words later!) Thankfully she nurses really well before I leave and again when I come home so hopefully it all evens out.

Isla has been showing that she has a stubborn side this week. Oh dear. How can such a mellow child also be SOOOOO opinionated? She definitely lets us know when she doesn't like the fact that she is on our lap or alone on the floor or not being held etc. This picture sort of summarizes her up as right before she was smiling sweetly and then as soon as the camera clicked, she did this:

I started adding (gasp) cumin and chili powder to some of Isla's foods. Surprise surprise, she still gobbles them up. I was reading someone's hypothesis somewhere that always giving babies bland foods when introducing solids may be what leads to kids who only like plain foods later (i.e. crackers, white bread, grilled cheese etc). I'm sure there is no science behind it but hey, it's worth a try! I mean, in Mexico, babies get meat with chilies and in Indian, they get curry!

In addition to cumin and chili powder, Isla also has been eating pears and her first meat--beef! I sauteed up some beef and onions, added apples and sweet potatoes (and a dash of cumin and chili powder) and simmered it before making it into puree. She didn't really eat it the first day (nor did she eat anything else--teething?) but then yesterday she at a whole dish of it! Oh and I let her chomp off of a whole banana on Sunday which I think she thought was pretty special (see video below). It's amazing what she can do despite having no teeth.

Isla is a cat person! (Hooray! At least she got ONE thing from her mother!) She loves her G+G Wilson's two kitties, as well as her Aunt Lani and Uncle Michael's cats. But this week, her life got even better. She met G+G Crozier's fake stuffed cat, Biscuit, and she was in heaven because he DOESN'T RUN AWAY! (I don't remember how they acquired Biscuit-maybe he was a gag gift-but he looks real and lays curled up in a sleeping position). Reportedly, she loved petting him and grabbing and sticking her face into his fur. Since Graham and his dad are allergic to cats, we might just have to buy her a fake kitty like Biscuit.