Caitlin's started sitting up!

She's still easy to topple, but she's doing quite well. She seems to be enjoying this new found ability. Ben seems to like this too as he can sit on the floor and play with her more easily. Lately he likes to stack blocks for her to knock over.

Caitlin's second tooth has arrived!

As expected the second lower central incisor has cut. My big girlie has two whole teeth now. Bring on the steak and corn on the cob! :D

Caitlin cut her first tooth today!

She's been a little off, and a 'little off' for Caitlin is very subtle since she has a fairly unshakable sunny disposition. She fussed at her bottle a little and had been chewing - a LOT. I felt her lower gums with my pinky and sure enough, my finger was met with a sharp little tooth: her right lower central incisor. The left appears to be not far behind. Yay for our big girl Caitlin!!

It's a good thing we've all gotten over our colds.

To make way for a new cold virus! Arggh!!!!

Ben started coughing and sneezing a couple of days ago, I started yesterday, and this morning poor Caitlin's nose was running like a faucet.

So far it doesn't look like it's going to be as bad as whatever it was we all just had, so hopefully it passes quickly and with minimal discomfort to everyone.

And the magic food is...

barley cereal!

I would never have guessed it would outshine carrots and banana??! Caitlin loves it though. Opens for every single bite and chows down. I'll have to get some pics later this morning.

Games at school for Ben

Last Tuesday when I was picking Ben up from school another mum of a little girl in Ben's class said that following Monday's class her daughter said to her "I played with Benjamin today!" (in a very girly-girl was, drawing out Ben's name), and when her mum asked her what games they played her daughter replied with "Hugging and kissing!" HA!!

Ben, however, insists they played 'car games'. Funny!

More food for Caitlin

So far Caitlin's tried three different foods: banana, rice cereal, and now carrots. Tomorrow we move onto barley cereal. So far so good, no reactions observed. And she's starting to get the hang of it too. She hasn't *loved* anything she's tried yet, but she hasn't outright rejected anything yet either.

I've been avoiding dairy with Caitlin since Ben had a mild dairy allergy as an infant. It's really surprising how many infant cereals include skim milk powder considering how common dairy allergies are among infants (and I wouldn't be surprised if early exposure to dairy - whether it be from unhydrolized cow's milk based formulas or cereals - accounts for a lot of infant eczema cases). I could easily find rice, brown rice, and wheat cereals that don't contain milk, but oatmeal and barley were a bit tougher. Fortunately there are a few organic, whole grain brands (Earth's Best and My Organic Baby) that offer these sans dairy. Much more expensive, of course.