i'm a big kid now

it has been a lot easier than either the husband or i thought it would be. we have gotten sweet cheeks to go to bed... by herself. that is a big deal for us. prior to, our normal bedtime routine would average 1.5 hours. bath-pjs-teeth (30 minutes), 2 books(10 minute), small talk (10 minutes), and then wait for sweet cheeks to fall asleep (20-40 minutes). such a thing of the past. now we do the first few steps, but when it is time to sleep, we leave the room. she goes to sleep on her very own.

i won't say it was a bribe-free transition. for the first week, we had a reward basket
that sweet cheeks could pick from if she went to sleep like a big girl. it has been a bit over two weeks now and she is doing amazing. so much better than we thought. she is a kid after all and will get out of bed using one of the many excuses kids use, "i need water" or "i have to pee" or "can i give mommy one more kiss," but overall, she is doing great. we are so proud!

**

wednesday night was fish taco night at our house. so fast and easy to make, and just as easy to clean up. last week on taco night, sweet cheeks at her entire taco. that is a lot of food for this usually lite eater. so we were surprised on wed. when she wouldn't eat her taco. maybe it was the sour cream over the mayo this time, or the different tortilla. either way, she wasn't having it.

now i know parenting books and pediatricians will tell you that if your kid doesn't eat what they are presented, you do not make them anything else special. i would understand that much more so if (a) i had made a gourmet meal or (b) we had more than one child. however, neither of those circumstances were present, so i opted to make sweet cheeks oatmeal instead. i get to the point sometimes that i just want her to eat, so i will accommodate just to get food in her already tiny belly.

thankfully she did eat her entire bowl of oatmeal and trader joe applesauce.

dinner 1-




dinner 2-


yummy dessert- the husband made us some delicious chocolate shakes-


***

this was sweet cheeks before school yesterday. before you ask, no, i did not perm her hair :) she had braids the day before and refused to wear her hair up, so hence the messy do. we just go with the flow with this cutie. loved her little sweater though.