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I talk to Lyla pretty much all day long. I more or less tell her everything I am doing. Our one-sided conversations consist mainly of statements and questions. They go a little something like this:
“Lyla, what do you want to wear today? How about this pink shirt. Look Lyla, this is pink!”
“Lyla do you want to go to the store? Let’s go to the store. Can you get in your car seat?”
“Here we go! In the car. Mama has to stop at the red light, you can’t see the red light, but it’s the same color as your train at home.”
“Look Lyla! Daddy’s building! He works on the 39th floor. Can you count to 39? No, you can’t count… or say any words yet.”
“Ok, Lyla what do we need at the store? How about some pineapple! Pineapples are yellow! You can have pineapples when you are a bit older. They are yummy.”
“Time to get back in the car! Do you like riding in the car? We’ll be home soon. You can play with Sophie while Mommy drives.”
“Lyla when you are bigger, you can help me unpack the groceries. Here is Daddy’s juice. It’s orange just like this toy (me holding up her orange block). See, both of these are orange!”
“Ok, Lyla. Mommy is going to chop up the lettuce. Do you like lettuce? Lettuce is green, just like your socks!” (Yes, we go over colors. A lot.)
And so on and so forth, all day long, every day. People who see me with her might think I’m a little crazy, but I think it’s good for her. You’d be amazed, but I can go through every children’s song I know, read her every book we own, play with every toy in her toy box and spend half an hour making silly faces at her and it will still only be 10 a.m. There are only so many things a 5-month-old can do! So I talk to her. All day long. At this point she probably has no idea what I am saying, but my words engage her. She smiles back at me, giggles at me and “ooohhhs” and “aaaahhhs” at me and I know that if nothing else she understands that I am her Mommy and I love her more than life itself. So I talk.
Yesterday I told her that she has been doing such a good job with her zucchini and peas, that I was going to make her sweet potatoes. She smiled. I assumed that meant she was pleased with her expanding dinner menu. I put her up in her chair at the kitchen counter and got to work all while she watched my every move and while I explained exactly what I was doing.
I told her there would be 6 easy steps to making her sweet potatoes.
Step 1: Scrub the potatoes clean and prick with a fork.
Step 2: Bake the sweet potatoes at 425 degrees for 1 hour (don’t worry, I didn’t make her sit in her chair for that hour). Let cool.
Step 3: Cut in half and scoop (or squeeze) the potato out of the skin and into the food processor.
Step 4: Puree until smooth adding breast milk to create the perfect consistency.
Step 5: Refrigerate enough sweet potatoes to last 3 days and freeze the rest.
Step 6: Devour!
I am pretty sure the sweet potatoes just beat zucchini as her new favorite food. Oh and Aunt Kat, Lyla says if you come and visit her she will share her sweet potatoes with you. Someone told her they are your favorite :)
