Trip to the Park

Thanks for making yourself known, readers. It's lovely to know you're out there, and also your comments are really nice as they form a sort of archive. I have no idea if Raf will ever read this blog, but your comments and participation is every bit as important as all the things we write and post here.

Anyway, another busy week. Both Rich and I are looking forward to the end of the semester. Rich, this past week, cut back his hours at work so he can take care of Raf for more hours during the week. Jen, the nanny, is really wonderful and we couldn't ask for a better carer for Raf, but we also want one of us to spend as much time with Raf as possible during these early couple of years. Unfortunately Im about to become chair of our department so I will have to be on campus more. I am really feeling sad about that - though I am trying to focus on the positives. Right.

Whilst I spent the day grading papers yesterday, today we had a nice family day together. This morning we hit the park - photos below. We've taken Raf to the park a couple of times but he has never really been into it. This is mostly, I think, because he's been tired or under the weather, and we've always managed to find parks that are super busy. This morning we went to one down the road from us, quite early on, and Raf had a very fun time. He loves the swings, and while he found the slide a bit perplexing he did like the fire engine with the big wheels to turn.

In other news... Raf is doing quite well with solids. We've been loosely doing baby led weaning whereby they feed themselves with finger foods. We have been giving Raf foods that we feed him which require a spoon - non-dairy yogurt, oats, hummus, etc - and lately he has been a wee bit lazy about feeding himself. Still, he's getting a lot of variety.

Today's menu for Raf:

Breakfast - non dairy yogurt (the probiotics are doing wonders for his tummy), combined with chopped kiwi fruit, banana, and melon. he also had a bit of my oats, oat bran and flaxseed.
Lunch - squash, hummus mashed with romaine lettuce, and avocado
Dinner - slices of pear, banana, melon and a massive helping of yogurt. We all had breakfast foods for dinner tonight, and Raf had a slice of the most expensive pear I have ever bought... mmm - organic pears are super pricey!

We are in a hummus rut, though... Any other suggestions. He LOVES it :)

Here we are at the park.