If Babies Had Online Dating Profiles...

This is what Holden's would look like at 6 months:

Name: Holden
Nicknames: Baby, Little Guy, Twenty Pounder with Cheese
Weight: 19 lbs 14 oz (85th percentile)
Height: 28 inches (90th percentile)
Head Circumference: 46 cm (95th percentile)
Likes: Long walks in strollers, eating all foods, trying to eat all non foods, being read to, sleeping in the Love Sac, diaper changes, bathtime, giraffes.
Dislikes: Wearing layers, getting nose wiped, not having everyone's attention at all times, watching other people eat, direct sunlight, giraffes (note: we are actually not quite sure if he likes or dislikes giraffes...His giraffe toys seem to get played with the most, but usually in a violent manner, so it is unclear if it is a love or hate relationship).
Talents/Skills: Sitting up unassisted, yelling loudly, sucking on toes, switching from laughing to crying in an unbelievably short amount of time.

Easter Festivities

My previous post made it seem as though my Easter was not enjoyable. This is not the case. It was actually fantastic. Mostly for these 3 reasons.

1. I got to purchase a child's Easter outfit for the first time.
2. I got to experience this for the first time (please do not judge the candy, the Easter Bunny wanted to give the grownups a treat as well).

3. These guys are my family

Cake Death

Tragedy has once again touched the lives of the Manning family, at my domestically challenged hands. I was entrusted to make the dessert for Easter dinner tonight. Sadly, that led to a casualty. In situations like these, you may have heard of the 5 stages of grief. These have been adapted for the death of a lemony dessert.

DENIAL: Thinking to myself, "Yes, I have had baking failures in the past, but I have grown since then. I am a mother now, and a mother should know how to do things like bake a cake. Yes, it sounds difficult, but Easter dinner is a special occasion, so what better time to try a new recipe?" I was in denial of my domestic shortcomings, which led to this.

ANGER: This stage of grief was mostly felt by Reo. As I stood staring in shock at what was to be my first baking success in history, Reo became angry at my Bundt pan, the cooking spray I used, and the recipe in general.

BARGAINING: Bargaining is not a very effective stage of grief in cake deaths, as one can only assume that God is not interested in making a deal with me to bring my lemon cornmeal cake with a lemony glaze back to life, and it seems quite petty to even try to bargain in the first place, so I quickly moved on to.

DEPRESSION: This stage lasted the longest. I had invested at least 2 hours and an entire load of dishes in the dishwasher to this cake, so I did not take the loss easily. Tears were shed. Lots of them. Finally, I recovered.

ACCEPTANCE: Going through 4 previous stages of grief takes a while, and now it was nearing 11 PM. I was not about to attempt another recipe (with most likely similar results). So, I sucked it up and did what I could with what I had. I covered up the barren spots as much as possible, and turned the cake into what is kindly referred to at my house as a "Pac Man" cake (this is not the first time something like this has happened....)

In this particular instance of cake death, I felt it necessary to add a 6th stage of grief. I was not quite ready to forgive and forget, so I bring you

REVENGE:

That Bundt pan will never be able to hurt me again!

Eat Your Veggies

Holden has become a connoisseur of baby food this last month or so. He has tried many different varieties, with much success.

Holden is particularly fond of:
Sweet Potatoes
Green Beans
Peaches

Holden is NOT particularly fond of:
Umm....There is nothing he is not particularly fond of. Have you seen this kid? He is not one to be picky!

Six Years In

Happy Anniversary Reo (tomorrow)!

Six years down, a whole bunch of awesome more years to go!

Love ya!