When our neighbors brought over that gallon of strawberries a couple weeks ago, we decided to give The Bean some to try. We’ve been giving him real food slowly since he doesn’t teeth, but if we can squish it with our fingers, we figure it’s good to go!
Once he mastered picking up the slippery pieces, he eagerly ate them up…
…but as he was chewing, the strangest thing would happen…
His whole body would do a little shake and he’d make such a funny face! I thought it was hilarious. See below:
HOW IS THAT NOT HILARIOUS? I mean, COME ON! This picture cracks me up so much. John hates it though. Then, just as quick as it came…
…it was gone, and he was happy again. I don’t know if the tartness (?) of the strawberries was something The Bean had never experienced, so he was making a face or what, but this night was the only time he made that face. Now, he eats them and all is normal.
I’m going to start trying to post babywearing pictures again every week. Will you play along with me if I post a linky? This week, I have pictures from our Mother’s Day outing to pick strawberries.
The weather was GORGEOUS on Mother’s Day, and John suggested that we go strawberry picking. The week before, our neighbor from two doors down brought over a GALLON of strawberries for us to welcome us to the neighborhood, and they were delicious. (The south is so friendly, y’all!) The bucket had a logo for Cottle Strawberry Farm on it, so that made deciding where to go easy; we just went there! I knew The Munchkin would have a lot of fun, and it was a really good way to spend some time together as a family.
The lady that we got our bucket from said that a big group was there the day before, and that we might have to hunt a little, but we found a lot of berries pretty easily. Then again, we really weren’t looking for any specific size or anything, which might have helped.
Boy, strawberry picking has changed a LOT since I went as a kid. Back in the day, we would be covered in dirt and our clothes stained red by the end of it, but the farm had their growth mounds (not sure what they’re called…the paths that the plants grow in?) covered in plastic or something, so there were only neat rows of dirt to walk in. It was so nice!
Once The Munchkin figured out what we were doing, he was pretty into it, but he would pick any old strawberry, no matter what color it was, and either put it into the bucket, or take a bite. He learned real quick why you don’t eat the greener ones, haha.
John tried to show him how to look for the red ones, and to pick only those ones, but it was no use. Eventually, John just let him put any berry into the bucket, and he’d throw it out once The Munchkin walked away. Eventually, The Munchkin was more interested in getting to the end of the lane than picking berries.
This was my first time using the back carry wrap with The Bean, and I need quite a bit of practice. He was safe and everything, but I need to make it a lot more tight. The Munchkin pretty much sits still once he’s wrapped up, but The Bean moves around a lot so he can see. I also found it really hard to make him high since he’s so much smaller. What a shocker, wrapping an almost 10 month old is different than wearing a 2 year old!
The Bean still had fun, even though he couldn’t really participate. The baby lead weaning stuff we’ve been doing seems to be working, because he tried to eat that strawberry once he examined it! We didn’t let him though, because it was really big. Also, mess. And dirt.
We ended up filling up our gallon bucket in no time, and headed home. John asked if we should have gotten more, but I said that it was going to be hard enough to eat the ones we had! We still had more at home from the gallon that the neighbors brought over!
John also picked up a bottle of strawberry dressing, which I’m excited to try. The Munchkin made himself at home while we paid by sitting on the steps of their office, behind the cash register area, haha. I know we’re going to go back again, because we looooove strawberries, and you really can’t beat $11 for a GALLON of them.
Here are some more pictures. I put them in a gallery because this entry was picture heavy as it was… (If you’re reading this in your email or a blog reader, please click over to the site to see them.)
Oh, if you’re wondering fashion details:
- The dress is thrifted
- I made the wrap
- The sandals are from Kohl’s
We moved out of our house on Ft. Drum on March 11th, and didn’t move into our house in Columbia, SC until something like April 21st. What were we doing during that time, you ask? We decided to take a vacation, of sorts, because John didn’t have to check in for a while, and he has a bunch of leave time. Plus, we were driving in separate cars the whole way to Columbia, so having all of these stops helped break things up. The morning we left Ft. Drum, The Munchkin threw up, yay! We delayed our leaving so he could see the doctor, but she didn’t see anything wrong with him and figured it was just a virus. so off we went.
I would have normally broken these up into a bunch of posts, with lots more details and pictures, but since it was so long ago, I’m going to do a summary.
Our first stop was Boston, MA. We only stayed there for one night, and did typical touristy things. It was fun, but all of the old buildings meant that we couldn’t really use the stroller. I wore The Bean, and John carried The Munchkin on his shoulders.
Our next stop was Philadelphia, PA. We did more touristy things in old buildings, so no stroller. This time, however, The Munchkin was NOT behaving, so I ended up wearing him on my back while John wore The Bean. The Munchkin still wasn’t happy, but he was quiet. I kept waiting for him to fall asleep, but he never did.
Then, we headed to Washington DC, where we met up with some friends, (John’s old boss & John’s old NCOIC and his family) as well as the typical touristy stuff. We stayed there for quite a few days, and did a TON of walking! Like seriously, I think we walked for nine hours one day. Thank goodness for handicap ramps because the stroller was our savior in DC.
Afterwards, we went to Columbia, SC. On the way there, *I* started feeling sick, and we had to stay the night somewhere in between DC and Columbia because I couldn’t drive anymore. I caught The Munchkin’s bug, isn’t that fun? I also apparently didn’t take any photos in Columbia. We were only there for a couple of days so John could check into Ft. Jackson and so we could find a house, which we did.
So you’d think that was it, right! WRONG! We didn’t take a month to go to four places! After we found a house and John did what he needed to at the base, we drove down (in one car, thank God!) to Florida to visit our families. Sarcastically fun note: My sister caught that barf bug from me, and then my mom caught it from her! 2013′s year of illness was still going strong. But anyway. We were down there for about three weeks, and celebrated The Bean’s first Easter and John’s 30th birthday.
The Florida trip was really great, not only because we saw our immediate families, whom we miss dearly, but we also saw some of John’s extended family; which almost never happens! John’s Aunt Pam, cousin Stefanie, and her daughter Morgan came down one day; and then we met his Aunt Gina and her husband and kids at a bouncy house-type place for lunch on another day. Sean had a lot of fun playing with his cousins. It’s days like those that make military life hard. (Because we are often times forced to live so far from family.) I’m still glad we got to see everyone though!
While we were in FL, John found a super good deal on a five day, four night cruise, so we left the boys with my parents and went on a cruise! It was so nice to spend some alone time with John. We hadn’t done it since we went to Rome! I don’t think we’ve even gone to a movie alone since before that trip… Well, maybe one movie? I don’t know, but this mini vacation was over due.
So that’s that. The Monday after John’s birthday we headed back to meet the movers at our house in Columbia, and I’ve pretty much been unpacking ever since!
I hope all you moms out there had a great Mother’s Day, and a good Sunday Funday to everyone else!
