It's that time! I'm not sure how much longer I'll keep eats and feats going, as each month becomes a smaller and smaller percentage of her total life thus far, but I'll keep it up for at least a little while longer. (Also, look at her cute, wispy bath hairs!)

Since Indy turned one, there have been two major happenings which have been subtly changing the way I feed her. The first is her anemia, which I wrote about here, and the second was reading Real Food for Mother and Baby, and our thought processes related to how we want to feed our whole little family, which I wrote about here. When we started Indy on solids, I had already done a decent amount of research, and our baby feeding philosophies were on the right track, but fell a little short. We knew enough to skip the rice cereal and limit grains, but we still fell into the cheerio trap (This article and this article do a good job of explaining why its a good idea to delay the introduction of grains) . For future babies, I plan to hold off on grains for longer, and limit them more. At this point, grains will play a (hopefully) minimal part in Indy's diet. I also knew a little bit about a baby's need for healthy fats, but I underestimated the need, and was misinformed about what fats are actually healthy. I thought that what she really needed was fruits and vegetables for a long time, but along with those healthy plant foods and fats like avocado and olive oil, she needs the fats and vitamins from foods like fish and egg yolks, and grassfed butter, liver, and meat. I held off on introducing meat, and I strongly suspect that that decision contributed to her anemia. 

Eats (forgive me if I repeat anything):

• coconut water
• pork
• cooked spinach
• almonds
• bacon
• blood oranges
• chicken liver
• liverwurst
• indian food
• dark chocolate (and I mean dark, 85% cacao)
• la croix (she loves the bubbles!)
• banana yoghurt
• ice cream
• lox
• cream cheese

Pickiness has reared its ugly head. We're trying to just ride it out, chill and offer a variety of foods and not coerce (it's so hard! I feel like I constantly find myself trying to force her to eat! ugh). But I'll grow, she'll grow, we'll both grow. 

Feats:

• In case you missed the video, Indy is officially a walking girl. She has progressed so much since then, and more everyday! She walks everywhere, our little Frankenstein's monster! Painfully cute!
• Her hugs are now acompanied by pats on the back.
• She likes to rearrange our diningroom chairs, as well as all the couch pillows.
• She's obsessed with flushing the toilet (thank goodness we don't pay for our water here).
• She clearly understands more and more words and commands (like "hand hat," a game uncle Joel has been playing with her for a long time, which involves him putting his hand on her head and declaring. . .well. . ."hand hat." Now, if someone speaks the name of the game, she puts her own hand on her head).
• High fives!
• Mad dance skills.
• She can remove her diaper cover. Thankfully, I think she is a long way off from figuring out the snappi, but she's still squishing her wet prefold butt around on my carpet.
• The other day I found my silicone cupcake liners in the bathub. That is a toddler feat, my friends. Next step is finding things in the toilet. 

She's rather enchanted by the faucet. First she touches it. . .

And then. . .

Open mouth kiss.

On Indy's party day Kate snapped some pictures of our apartment in its unusually uber-clean state. It was slightly rearranged (as in, kitchen chairs in the livingroom) for party purposes, and not entirely comprehensive (some walls and rooms - like the sun porch and bathroom - are missing), but it at least gives you a peak into most of the rooms. The rundown on our apartment: we live in our city's little downtown, above the shops. Our building was built in 1918, and our apartment was such a find and a blessing. It's sunny and classic, has crown modling, radiator heaters, and hardwood in most of the rooms. Our style is ecclectic, and we've furnished and decorated it mostly with thrift/antique store, curbside, and Craigslist finds, and some handmade. It's how we find peices we like, and what our budget allows. Without further ado:

The kitchen is above, seen from the hallway, with the sun porch and the rear apartment entrance through that door, and our bedroom off to the right in the kitchen. Excuse the party guest coats on the bed. . .

Bedspread: Anthropologie. Crib: Ikea. Crib quilt: heirloom.

The pictures are all family members of mine. Clockwise from the top left: my dad and aunt in a flashy convertible, my mother's late brother Gene, my mother's late father Harold, my father's late brother John, cows from the old Schellpfeffer dairy on my dad's side (not really family members, I guess, haha), and my mother Melanie.

Mirror: family heirloom. Dresser: vintage. Mobile: handmade by me with birds from Pottery Barn.

P.s. ignore the socks sticking out of the drawer above, how embarassing!

View back into the kitchen. . .

Next we turn left down that short hallway, bathroom is on the right, and the door into the guest bedroom/ craft room is in the left. . .

Vintage doily bunting: made by me. Lampshade: Ikea. Quilt: who knows, haha. Bedframe: inherited from my parents, and we spray-painted it blue.

I originally made these tissue paper shadow boxes to sell on etsy, but then I fell in love with them and had to keep them. . .

Also, meet Roy. . . Cage: vintage.

Read about my desk here.

Next we continue into the diningroom (hallway is to the left, livingroom to the right). Table: Viva Terra via Craigslist (it's made from recycled railroad ties, and it was the steal of the century!). Chairs are vintage and were all around $10 bucks or less. . .

Botanical prints and birdcage: vintage.

Indy's table chair: Inglesina.

And right behind us. . . Rug: Craigslist (you can read more about it here). Wicker coffee table, couches and chairs: all vintage.

Lamp: Target.

Monarch pillow: World Market.

Lamp: Tuesday Morning. Painting: Goodwill (Alan hated this when he saw it, but I insisted and its become one of our favorite finds.)

Record player: Crosley. Beverage cart: vintage.

Hope you enjoyed it!