Weight: 10kg (22 pounds)
Height: 73cm (29 inches)
Teeth: 2 bottom
Favorite foods: Steamed beets, Steamed fennel, MEAT (turkey, beef, pork), pears… pretty much everything. I gave her a bite of salmon last week and she loved that too. Yay for not having a picky eater!

She is changing and growing so incredibly fast. It’s been really noticeable this week. I swear one day last week she woke up and looked so much bigger, like overnight. So mature…a grandma baby.

She is still talking up a storm. She says “mama and dada” and a ton of other fun noises.

She points now! When I ask her where my nose is, she points at it! She hasn’t quite perfected the skills and sometimes she misses.

She can feed herself and she really likes to chew!! I am going to start making her baby food a little thicker with more texture, she seems to be getting sick of the mush. G is still eating 2x a day, about 3 ounces in the AM and 3 ounces in the PM, and breastfeeding 6-8 times a day (and night, ugh). I give her a small sippy cup of pumped milk once a day and she drinks from it pretty well. Still no bottle.

She can stand! If I offer her my hands she will pull herself up and once up she can stand, assisted of course, for quite a while.

She is starting to realize that she can make things happen, such as, dropping the ball over and over, making sounds by hitting things against the floor and, the best of all, is that she has begun “playing along” when I read her Pat the Bunny! She “scratches daddy’s face”, puts her little chunky finger “in mummy’s ring”, plays “peek a boo” with Paul over and over (then stops, turns the book over and looks for Paul on the back, too funny) and the best part is that she “smells the flowers”!! Yes! She leans over, puts her face in the page and goes sniff sniff (ok it’s more of a blow, but whatever). OMG, too darn cute, this one.

Lastly, she is starting to think about crawling. For the past two days she has been leaning forward, arms straight ahead, and wobbling a bit on her knees. Arrrr, it wont be long I tell ya. I am savoring every last moment of this…

Lots going on with the move. Getting nervous about how screwed up her schedule will be, oh, and sort of dreading the 12 hour plane ride with a crawling baby. Suggestions? Anyone?

flowers, breakfast and a gift certificate for a one hour massage with a happy ending.. mothers day is the bomb! xo

…cause every mothers day needs a mothers night

things are super busy around here. we are moving back to the US in 46 days!

we started selling our furniture and, let me tell ya, its a full time job in itself. People have been here every night picking stuff up… pretty soon there will be nowhere to eat!

the list of things we need to do is a very long one and on the end of that list is : move in to new home. i cant even imagine being at that point.

these next few weeks are going to take exhaustion to a whole new level.

check back later.

Oh America, how we’ve missed you so…

(um… I think so)

just got word that our relocation will be covered 100%. i could pee, poop and drink right now i am so excited
omg…

San Diego, here we comings! IT’s FRICKIN SUMMER EVERY MONTH! SUCK IT RAIN! Suck it FOG!

BURRITOS!

THE BEACH!

AMERICANS!

MEXICANS!

TACO BELL!

TARGET!

NORDSTROMS!

NO LIIIIFEGUAAARD ON DUUUTYYYYYY!

arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrriba!

“

This week, we are having:

Brocolli and Fennel Mix

Beef / Pork Mix

Zuccini and Sweet Potato Mix

The instructions are pretty simple, here is what I do and what I use to make Georgiana fresh food each week:

#1 buy organic, if you can. particularly when it comes to veggies that grow underground and have thin skins.

#2 to make her food, I use: A cast iron pot, a steaming basket, a blender and some freezer safe BPA free food storage containers ( I use baby cubes brand ).

#3 only combine veggies once you have tried them out with your baby separately to make sure that your baby does not have an allergic reaction.

#4 taste it once it’s done. i always make sure it tastes good. i would never feed something to my baby that i wouldn’t eat, and enjoy tasting, myself. i always let baby have a little taste of each thing as well.

The recipes for the veggies are easy.

Broccoli and fennel puree:

- 1 small head of broccoli, washed and florets (top part) cut off, chopped in half. discard stalks.
- 1 small bulb of fennel (just the white stalk), washed, trimmed (green parts removed) and then sliced. If you want you could reserve the fresh fennel (the herb part) and add a small amount to the puree at the end.

in a cast iron pot with a lid add water but not so much that it comes above the basket, you want to steam, not boil. Place steaming basket into the pot, add the veggies, cover, steam and check for tenderness every 5 minutes or so. Veggies should be steamed enough that you can easily pierce them with a fork, but not soggy.

*i use cast iron because some exclusively breastfed babies need a bit extra iron in their diets after 6 months of age. The iron from the pot leaches into the steaming water as it cooks and I use the water to puree the food

Once they are done, cool them a bit and transfer them to a blender, or food processor. Add enough of the steaming water so that the consistency is smooth and the food is pureed however thick you want it. Let the puree cool and transfer into freezer safe storage containers.

You can add a small amount of raw coconut oil to the blender as well as some fresh herbs.

Zucchini and Sweet Potato puree:

- 1 zucchini, washed, skin on, sliced

- 1 small sweet potato, washed, peeled and chopped into small chunks

- drizzle of olive oil

the procedure is the same as above, add the olive oil while blending.

Ground beef and pork puree :

- 1 pound of organic ground beef/pork . here is Germany it is very common to find hackfleisch (ground meat), beef and pork, ground together. it is pretty normal actually. in the US it is not sold this way but you could easily mix .5 lb of pork and .5 beef together. It is really flavorful!!

- 1 bay leaf

- 1/2 of a thick slice of onion

- 1 small garlic clove, peeled

in a cast iron pot, add enough water to cover meat – about 1.5 liters. add the bay leaf, onion, garlic and meat to the pot. bring it to a boil then let it simmer, uncovered, for around 15 minutes. remove pot from stove and let it cool a little. discard bay leaf. using a slotted spoon, transfer meat, onion and garlic to blender. Add 1 cup of the cooking liquid to the blender and blend until smooth. You can add more water if you need to as well. I think I added around 1.5 cups this time to get it really smooth. Let the meat cool and then place in freezer containers.

BON APETHTHHTHTH

i guess we are at that stage (?) now?

is that even a stage?

she knows what she wants, alright.

this midnight/all night snacker is wearing me out.

The suspense is ruining my pretend vacation.

If all goes as planned we will be flying back to SF, for good, around July 5th. We will stay and visit for a few weeks, rent a car and head to our next new home, San Diego. Our things will arrive by crate shortly thereafter and we will live, in the warm Southern California sun and sometimes in Maui, happily ever after.

If all doesn’t go as planned we will be moving back to SF and leaving behind most of our things. We will struggle to find an affordable apartment (we had hoped to start saving so that we could BUY in the next three years, which just wont happen if we have to pay SF rent) in a decent area and but will most likely wind up in the fog, paying 2500 a month for a run down one bedroom apartment, without a singe piece of furniture.

Can you see why I am a nervous wreck? I am trying not to panic but it is very hard. I am trying to stay positive and hope that it all works out, but it’s that 10% chance that it doesn’t work out that is eating my very last hope and dream alive.

I don’t really want to go back to SF. As I mentioned before, the rents are ridiculous and, to be honest, it’s a dump with a really BAD school district. I just found out that our old one bedroom apartment, in the Mission, that had both roaches and mice, and was also situated right next to a housing project is now renting for about 1800 a month.

How can you NOT LAUGH?! and then NOT WANT TO LIVE THERE?

Remember two years ago? Yeah, it’s been TWO years since we moved to Germany from San Francisco. Feels like 10 but I have no regrets. It was a good experience for us. I am glad we left when we did and it has made me appreciate the US so so so much more. Germany is a nice place to visit.

We will know more by the middle of May but until then I am just trying to stay sane in public, which I have been having trouble doing lately, and to focus on that 90%. It’s hard, especially because I haven’t slept in 8 months and I am beyond tired.

I know I shouldn’t complain because I have SO much in my life to be thankful for, but this is my blog, I crappily designed it, I pay for it and I can do whatever the fuck I want.

I am having wine tonight with dinner. Cheerio.

Funny lady!

Oh! Oh! Oh! And i think she called me “Mama” today!!! Shes been saying “mama” for a while now but today it actually seemed like she might gave been talking about me! How fresh is that?!
Woop!

my funny little girl.

as i type this, she is sitting on the floor dancing, ok wiggling, to classical music (it’s the baby Einstein soundtrack).

she did this the other day and i thought she had to poop or something, but then it stopped when the music stopped and picked up again when the next song began which is when it struck me: SHE IS DANCING! haaaaahahahaha hohohoooooooohohohohohhhhooo

wiggle wiggle wiggle!

video coming!

Weight: 8.5 kg  (19 pounds)

Height: 72 cm (28.4 inches)

Mama (when I was 8 months old):

Weight: 19 lb 14 oz (9kg)

Height: 28.24 in (71.7 cm)

After 8 months of pretty much being on the same growth curve as I was when I was a baby (we were even the same weight and length at birth), I think it’s safe to say that she has inherited my build and hopefully my height!  For a while there I was worried she wasn’t mine ha ha ha, them Russian genes on her Daddy’s side completely took over!!!

Georgiana is still not crawling. She isn’t even trying yet and I am fine with it because we are about to start packing up our apartment for the big move which means there will be shit everywhere.

Food, she loves food. This child can eat and eat and eat. She loves it all, not one complain and she doesn’t waste a bite. 99 percent of what goes in, stays in. I’ve never seen a bib so clean!

We’ve moved on from trying to give her a bottle. I still pump everyday to put in her sippy cup which she doesn’t really get the hang of either. She just chews on the spout…whatevs.

Speaking of chewing, have you seen those teeth?! OMG, so stinkin’ cute. Hee hee!!

That’s all for now, chow!