Exploring!

Man, it's been awhile!  Time has been flying by!  Little dude is now 5 months old and oh how things have changed in such a short time.  Jakob is a rolling champion.  As soon as his back touches the floor, couch, crib, anything he flips to his belly.  This morning we found him sleeping soundly on his stomach rammed up next to the rail.  Not only is he a flipping maniac but he easily does 360's in his crib on his back.  He just picks up his feet and pushes along the rails to go around in a circle... even while he's sleeping.  I sure hope his sleeping calms down a little!  My ear plugs are definitely a life saver.

Ok, so since May... Our 3 year anniversary dinner was amazing!  Paul found this little restaurant called Kreis 6 and our friend put Jakob to bed for us.  It was the first time I've dressed up in Switzerland and it felt great.  Dinner was a full 3 course meal with wine and Prosecco and was super expensive but well worth it- dessert was my favorite of course!

Our visit with Carli was a lot of fun.  The first few days she was here we hung out around Zurich, Luzern, Braunwald (for the Alps), and then the second set of days we took off for a roadtrip and an overnight stay in Strasbourg, France and drove back through the Black Forest in Germany stopping to see a castle.  We saw so many great things and Jakob was a pretty good sport- although now we can tell he wants to get out of the car seat more.  We borrowed a car seat and it was nice and pink!  So maybe that had something to do with it.  ;)  I just love French pastries though... it's a good thing we do not live in France!

We finally put together Jakob's highchair and he loves it.  Whenever we eat dinner he is right there with us playing with his toys and watching our every move.  And when I say 'right there' his highchair is pulled right up to the table.  He has a mat that sticks to the table to serve as his 'tray'.  I love this family style highchair!  We've let him start holding food and doing whatever he wants with it but in a couple weeks we'll actually give him food at least at lunch and dinner.

I bought a book called The Baby-led Weaning Cookbook and love it so far.  It is a British based book and a lot of people here do it so I thought I'd look into it since so far I love the baby atmosphere in Europe.  I've always thought I'd just give my baby homemade puree until I read things that made me think twice.  Pureed food came about when doctors suggested starting solids before babies were able to grasp food and feed themselves.  But now that many doctors say 6 months is a fine time to start, babies already have the motor skills to start with solid food from the beginning.  Some people think babies are less picky and develop better eating habits this way.  But basically you just season your food with less salt and stay away from the bad foods and cut big enough pieces that they can grasp and naw on like they do with all their toys.  They eat as much as they want, taste a range of food and spices, and gradually with time they'll eat more and self-wean off of breastmilk.  I love the idea especially since I'm not working.  And this book's recipes... most of them seem easy and a creative spin on the things we eat already.  I'm so excited to start this!  (Excited for the experience but definitely NOT the poop!)  If it doesnt work out, I always have my baby food maker but I have complete confidence in this. :)

Anyway, June seems to be a pretty slow month and we're going to enjoy it!  Rain has come back and that makes things no fun but at least it brings cooler weather.  Nights have been very hot lately.  Oh, and I've completed about 8 books so far this year!  I have NEVER read this many books in less than 6 months before.  No idea where this reading thing came about but I love it!