[simage=1659,160,n,left,] At our four month check up the doctor said it was within the time range that we could start introducing food. Rice cereal is the first food you give to a baby. It’s bland and typically babies don’t have allergies to it. It’s a way to sort of ease the transition from mommy juice to real food. The time frame to introduce this food is between 4 and 6 months. The reason you would start to introduce food now is so that the baby can  learn to distinguish between liquids and solids and they learn how to eat. If you wait past 6 months you run the risk that the baby has to be taught how to eat (by doing more than just putting a spoon to their mouths). *Disclaimer* I’m sure plenty of people wait past 6 months to feed their baby solid food and they end up just fine! Our doctor was just mentioning that it can be harder to teach an older baby how to eat. The con to introducing a baby to food too early is there is a risk that they may develop allergies to the food. So I say ‘Let’s Wait!’ My husband says ‘Let’s Not!’ Each day goes by Scotty will ask me if I have put rice cereal in her bottle. I say no, and present a different excuse each time. For example, I tell him I think he’ll want to take pictures of her taking food for the first time. Then he reminds me that the first time she has it it will be in a bottle, not spoon fed. Ugh! So the time has come to introduce rice cereal. The reason I am hesitating is because I’m not sure I am ready for my baby to be eating! She’s already growing so fast and I just can’t believe the window to begin introducing foods is already here! Once that time comes you can imagine what all my posts will be about!! 🙂

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She’s excited for real food!!

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On Saturday we dressed Kayden up in her costume and took her to a pumpkin patch. Since she is a baby we figure we can’t take her trick-or-treating so we might as well put her in her costume to go get her first pumpkin.

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And when did pumpkin patches turn into amusement parks?! The patch we went to had the biggest bouncer I have ever seen! It was equipped with a large slide and climbing area. There were animals, face painting, and we even saw some adults dressed up. We went with Maica, Kris, and Eli and enjoyed taking family portraits of each other. Here are just a few of the 150 pics we took. It was very hard to narrow them down!

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Of course the babies had several photoshoots!

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Stage Moms

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After picking out the perfect pumpkins we headed home to do some carving!

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For the record, the Charger bolt was carved by the Petersons. I’m not saying any prizes were given out that night, but if there were Scotty’s pumpkin would take the blue ribbon!!

On Sunday we got together with our neighbors for yet another Charger loss. We have a new family that has entered our circle. Jeremy and Lisa with their baby Aiden. Lisa is a 5th grade teacher so the girls have lots to talk about! Jeremy is a big football fan so the boys all get along well too! The babies, well the boys fight for Kayden’s attention and she let’s them!

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The diaper is fresh. The diapers fit. But it still happens every day. An explosion!! Every day for the past week or so Kayden has had blow outs, and some outfits have been surrendered to the trashcan because either they were too gross for me to even deal with or the stain could not be removed. Last night at dinner we had our first in-public explosion!

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Lately Kayden hasn’t been too interested in staying in her stroller while mom and dad enjoy a nice dinner. I know I know, get use to it! So we usually bring a grandparent with us so that someone can hold Kayden (because they love it!) so that we can ‘enjoy a nice dinner.’ Well last night Mimi came with us, but Kayden was actually sitting nicely on my lap and she was fine just being bounced up and down on my leg. Well, you can see by the picture what all that bouncing resulted in! I didn’t realize until the walk to the car that my leg felt a little wet. I thought I spilled and ignored it…. until the smell! I looked down and realized why Kayden got a little fussy in her stroller, but what I couldn’t understand was why she let me bounce her on my leg for the next 45 minutes! It’s amazing how the minute you become a mother you instantly don’t mind being a little dirty. A little spit up on my shirt. A drool mark on my shoulder. I view them all as little tokens on love! Here is Kayden enjoying her final wardrobe change of the day!

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The pugs just returned from an extended stay at Mimi’s and Grampy’s. We took them with us last weekend, as usual, and we left ’em! We had a party Saturday night and we didn’t want to go back for them so late at night so we left them… in good hands! My mom knew she’d be coming back this week so Scotty, Kayden, and I enjoyed a little alone time! We are glad they are home though!

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As we all know California has been experiencing some intense weather this week. I decided Kayden needed to bundle up. Even if it was to just stay inside and play all day, she sure looks cute doing it!

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I have made a post in the past about the importance of reading to babies. I would like to say that I have been reading to Kayden every day since, but that’s not entirely true. I have read to her a few times, but it’s been a while! So yesterday I decided to pull out her first Halloween book (thanks Mimi!) and sit down and read to her. To my surprise she paid attention for about half the story! That was yesterday. Today I went to finish the book and she was a little less interested. Well I was too far committed and wanted to know how it ended. I am embarrassed to admit that I read the rest of the story to crying baby! I raised my voice to a high enough pitch that she eventually stopped crying (on the last page) and we ended on a good note. Tomorrow we’ll read Dr. Seuss.

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And here is how Kayden really feels about reading!!

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