Solid Food and Naps!

What a fun time the six month mark has been! We got the green light from the pediatrician to go ahead and start with the solid food, which we had been making for a few weeks already. We had a stash of green beans, sweet potatoes, peas, squash, carrots, bananas and pumpkin. So far, we have discovered that Lola does NOT like green beans. Rodney also had a bad experience with trying to feed her peas. She seems to be ok with sweet potatoes, carrots, bananas...and yesterday, I fed her some mango and she LOVED them.  It's fun when she actually likes the food! That means that we don't have as much cleaning up when it's over. I'm a little worried about this early dislike for green veggies, though.
She is really changing so much, becoming more and more animated and interactive every day. ...And chatty! She is giving Thomas a run for his money in the verbalization department. Can't wait until we understand what she is saying.

One of the great things about turning six months, the pediatrician said, is that naps will last longer, and it was like a light switch the next day. She is taking two naps a day at three hours each. This is new for her.  Prior to six months, Lola would only go down for 20-30 minutes at a time.
Lola and I have made plans to go see our family in Maryland next month with Gamma. We are super excited about that. Not only do we love to travel East, we love to travel East to see FAMILY. Gamma is flying here and then we are going to travel together, thank goodness, because I cannot imagine going all by myself with a (then 7th) month old even a straight flight. Can't wait!!

Last weekend I had two friends come to visit and to participate in the PF Chang's Rock and Roll Marathon. Now, I'm not what you would call an athlete, but when Tiffanie and Steve came last year, I was a little humbled by the people I saw crossing the finish line, so I decided to give it a try. I was a little late in beginning the training, but I did it.  Anyone following me on Facebook knows that I did this, but for anyone NOT on FB...I walk/ran a 1/2 marathon. And I did it well within my goal time. My goal was to finish in under 4 hours and I finished in 3 hours 45 minutes. Just past mile 13, Rodney and Lola were there cheering me on.  I felt great, except for a throbbing knee which has turned out to be bursitis. Ick. We are planning on making this an annual event.  We were done in time to head across the street to watch the second half of the Cowboy game. However, Rodney's car was towed (along with the whole parking lot) and our friend Robert (who I've known since 2nd grade!) was kind enough to run him to East Mesa to get the car back. THANKS ROBERT!  But that's ok, since it took the waitress 2 and a half hours to get us the food we ordered, so Rodney and Robert didn't have a long wait at all for their food! We were so ready to be home by the time we were done eating. 

Here I am waving to Rodney and Lola with the mile marker 13 behind me!

It's hard to believe that Lola has been in our home for 6+ months...growing and changing before our eyes. It doesn't seem like we could love her any more than we do, but every day, we love her a little more!