Six months

It's Nora's half-birthday! Some notable things have happened in the past month:

• She's been going to childcare and has lots of new friends there. She's adjusted really well. They do fun things like make art, blow bubbles, play in the sandbox, and have events like a Transportation Fair and International Mud Day.
• Nora's picture appeared in the Laramie Boomerang, our local newspaper! She was in a red wagon with two other babies on the way to the transportation fair.
• She tried solid food. (http://adventuresinthemidwest.blogspot.com/2013/06/bananas.html)
• She sits up with just a tiny bit of support, rolls from belly to back and back to side, does baby push-ups, sings, laughs, "talks," chews on her toes, and (sometimes) sleeps through the night.
• We learned that she is allergic to milk and eggs, and by cutting them out of her (my) diet we are clearing up her eczema! 

Some of my favorite photos from the past month:

Pretty summer dress

Favorite pastime: chewing on toes

Sweet potatoes are better than bananas

Check out the ruby slippers! Thanks, Grandma Sheri.

Vegan baking???

We recently learned that the wee one is allergic to milk and eggs, so I've cut those things out of my diet. I'm pretty fond of baking and eating delicious things, so I'm looking for things that I can enjoy without triggering Nora's allergies.

So far we've tried vegan baked doughnuts, which were pretty great (though they tasted more like sweet rolls than doughnuts) Recipe: http://www.namelymarly.com/2010/06/happy-donut-day-have-you-had-a-vegan-donut/

Next we tried vegan chocolate chip cookies, which did not turn out great. They tasted OK, but were flat and the texture was off. After refrigerating the dough, the next pans full of cookies were better, but I'm still looking for a different cookie recipe. Let me know if you have recommendations.

And last night we had zucchini pancakes, which were really delicious. Recipe: http://vegweb.com/recipes/zucchini-pancakes

Bananas

Nora just had her first taste of solid food. Here's how she felt about it.

OK, let's try these bananas

Mmm-hmm

No thank you!

 Mike and I were totally cracking up. Baby girl actually consumed VERY little banana. Maybe we'll try something else in a few days.