Pasta Night

Have done a lot better recently at planning meals for the week. (It seems to come in waves). This dish is one of my favorites - Linguine with Shrimp Scampi, from Barefoot Contessa. It is easy, light, and quite colorful. Also tried the Fish Tacos with Salsa Verde, from this month's Everyday Food, and plan to make the Chicken-Fajita Tostadas later this week. The tacos took a little time to prepare (with all the chopping), but cooking the tilapia was a breeze, and the dish was very flavorful.

Rub-a-dub-dub

Lauren loves to splish and splash during bath time. She also enjoys sucking the water out of her terry-cloth bath toys (yuck). We're still using the baby bath tub - it's very roomy, with one end for newborns, the other end for babies who can sit up. She's anxiously awaiting the completion of our master bath remodel though, so she can try out the new air jet tub.

Bottle Swap

With all the recent reports about the potentially harmful effects of the chemical bisphenol-A (BPA) used in hard plastics, we decided to switch Lauren's bottles. After reading several reviews online, we chose the Green to Grow bottles. They are very similar in shape to the Avent bottles we'd been using, and even have cute little smiley fruit faces on the front. My only minor complaint is that after sterilizing the parts in boiling water, the caps were very tight and difficult to remove once placed on the bottle. However I emailed with customer service (I think I've actually been corresponding with the company owner), and they are going to send replacement caps. So overall, have been very happy with these bottles. Plus, the company is very eco-friendly, using soy inks, 100% recycled packaging, etc.

Finger Lickin' Good

As we move on to finger foods, we need to mentally prepare for the messes to come.... Lauren went to town on this biter biscuit the other night. She had also had fun mushing some fresh banana today. And after another go at the sippy cup today, I had to change her dress because it was soaked - she still needs a little practice :)

Fun in the Sun

We're back! Lauren really enjoyed her first vacation. She logged lots of beach time, and even took her morning naps oceanside - how can you beat that? The highlight for her had to be tasting (literally) the sand :) Swimming in the pool with Mommy and Daddy was lots of fun too. Lauren also enjoyed exploring the house where we were staying - here she poses before we headed out for a yummy dinner one night. She had fun on her first plane ride too, chatting it up with the other passengers, and pausing every so often (thankfully!) to catch some zzz's :)