I spent so much time painstakingly cutting out paper triangles, sewing yards of banner and hunting down just exactly the right font for my invitations that I completely forgot about providing food for Evan’s circus birthday party until the last minute. All I had planned was cake and candy and – although those are two of MY favorite food groups – I don’t think most people consider Pixie Stix and fondant a balanced meal. Also, I thought maybe giving all the kids an option besides SUGAR SUGAR SUGAR SUGAR SUUUUUUUGAAAAAAAAAAAAAR would be a wise choice. I’m all about the wise choices.

I tried to stick with my circus/carnival theme, which made munchy, snacky food a good option. Here’s what we ended up with:

Popcorn
Hot dogs
Soft pretzels
Cotton candy
Nachos
Animal crackers
Fruit
Salt water taffy
Rita’s Italian Ice
Cake
Jones Soda
Pink and Yellow Lemonade
…and a whole bunch of random candy I used as decoration rather than food.

Circus cake by Amanda, covered in homemade fondant, top layer is rice krispie treat, second layer vanilla, bottom is chocolate. Delicious AND gorgeous!

Dining room table buffet. The empty bowl is for the giant soft pretzels. Also missing: nacho dip.

My mom cut up GALLONS of fruit because she loves me and would like to let me keep all my fingers

$10 popcorn machine from Craigslist, boxes from party store online

Mini-cotton candy bags bought in bulk from BJ’s (Circus tray from Goodwill)

Hot dog trays from iParty, old-fashioned ketchup & mustard from grocery store

Jar from a flea market, animal crackers from Target, candy stand from TJMaxx, taffy from Christmas Tree Shops

The lemonade has lemons floating in it, the pink lemonade has pink ice cubes with cherries in them. Cups from Celebrate Express online, straws from grocery store, milkglass vase from flea market, drink pitches from Target.

Rita’s Ice! I got a 2.5 gallon party bucket, which was MORE than enough and they let me borrow a scoop and gave me free cups. Loooooove Rita’s!

Vanilla smash cake with buttercream frosting for Baby Evan – the pictures are FANTASTIC. It was a GREAT idea thought of and baked by Amanda. Cake stand is mine from a flea market.

Check out more party posts including circus party decorations and our circus party photo booth.

A little while ago I posted a list of fitness goals I had for myself. I thought putting it on the internet would be a good way to keep myself on track and create some accountability. But since my fitness manifesto, no one has asked me even once why I am surrounded by this pile of Diet Coke cans and York Peppermint Pattie wrappers. YOU GUYS ARE NOT DOING YOUR PART.

I have done a pretty good job attending Stroller Strides, which, by itself, is making a difference. I’m now 4 lbs under the “pre-pregnancy weight” on my medical chart and only 10 lbs away from my actual pre-pregnancy weight. I’ve been told that as long as I’m nursing, losing those last 10 lbs might be the hardest weight anyone has ever tried to lose, but I’m determined to at make every effort. Although I doubt the 20 lbs more I’d like to lose after that is going to be a walk in the park. More like the world’s longest marathon barefoot in the snow up hill both ways. Like the olden days.

My real motivation for losing another 30 lbs is my friend Erin’s wedding in September. I cannot put off ordering the gorgeous J. Crew bridesmaids dress she picked out any longer, but ordering a dress sight unseen means all I have to base my size on is MEASUREMENTS. In INCHES. Which I have to take WITH A TAPE MEASURE. And guys, the biggest size the dress comes in is a 16. Normally, I wouldn’t be anywhere near a 16 but since it’s a “bridesmaids dress” they run small. Because how dare you even think about being involved in a wedding unless you’ve successfully dieted your way down to a respectable size, like a double zero. (Which is an actual size this dress can be ordered in. DOUBLE ZERO. LESS THAN ZERO.) My plan is to call the girl at the bridal shop and ask her to realistically tell me if a) a 16 will fit over my boobs and b) how much extra room there is in the mid section in case possibly maybe my stomach has, er, expanded by September. No, I have nothing to tell you.

Since the giving up soda and candy plan has been a total bust, I’m going to add the world’s most terrifying exercise video to my workout plan. That’s right. I am now the proud owner of Jillian Michaels – 30 Day Shred. I’ve bullied E into doing it with me so for the next month don’t expect to have any conversations with either of us that don’t include “OMG MY AAAAAAARMS. They HUUUUURT. And my LEEEEEGS are SOOOOOORE. Let me tell you more about this workout thing I’m doing! Wait, why are you running away? Come back! It’s REALLY INTERESTING.”

***Don’t forget I’m still looking for donations to help me reach my March of Dimes fund-raising goal. Any amount you can give helps, be it $1 or $20. Our team is doing the best we can but it’s hard to keep badgering people you know for money – so I’ll badger my blog readers instead! Just kidding. All you have to do is click on that purple widget right over there ——–>and you’ll help with RESEARCH and SCIENCE and stuff. Thanks so much!***

I feel like this month’s birthday is going to be mostly overlooked because next month’s is SO HUGE. In just two weeks, when people ask “How old is he?” I’m going to have to start saying “almost a year old.” When you think about a year’s worth of anything it seems like a really long time. No chocolate for a year, no internet for a year, no drinking for a year, no driving for a year, no shopping for a year all sound really really hard, but when you’re actually living that year day by day it passes pretty fast. Not getting a full night’s sleep for a year sounds TERRIBLE, but I’ve almost done it. And I’ll probably do it again. Look at me already writing the 12 month post when this is the 11 month milestone. I’m going to skip right to the BabyCenter chart to save you from any more blubbering about my baby growing up sooooo faaaaaaast.

11 Month Milestones from BabyCenter

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
• Says “mama” and “dada” to the correct parent – Uh, no. He says “mama” a LOT more than he used to but he doesn’t say “dada” very often. He does say “ba! ba! ba ba ba ba!!!” all day long.
• Plays patty-cake and peek-a-boo – He loves peek-a-boo and will play behind anything: my computer screen, the dog, the chair, a blanket, but he’s not very good with clapping yet so patty-cake is sort of pathetic.
• Stands alone for a couple of seconds – WALKS
• Cruises – WALKS

Emerging skills (half of kids can do)
• Understands “no” and simple instructions – Understands “no”, yes. LISTENS to “no”, not even a little. But he does follow simple instructions, like “bring that toy over here.” When he feels like it.
• Puts objects into a container – Puts them in, takes them out, puts them in. As long as the container is pretty big. This morning he threw his shoe in the trash and put the trash in his toy box.

Advanced skills (a few kids can do)
• Says one word besides “mama” and “dada” – See “babababa”. But he can sign “milk” and I think I saw him sign “more” and “dog”.
• Stoops from standing position – Definitely yes, he can squat without holding on to anything and stand up again. He likes doing it when he’s pooping.

So my kid really excels when it comes to physical development but is a little behind with the talking, which is the kind of thing a more high-strung mom might freak out about. If I start thinking about it too much even I get a little worried, but it’s more of a general annoyance that he doesn’t love me enough to call me Mama than a genuine concern he might be developmentally delayed in some way.

Baby Evan also has seven whole teeth with at least three more lurking just under his gums and yesterday he ate a couple of Beechnut animal crackers and part of a carrot stick. I feel like he’s right on the edge of discovering food is meant to be swallowed and one day he’ll just wake up and demand a cheeseburger and fries something really healthy and nutritious. I’m still loving baby-led weaning and highly recommend it especially if you’re as lazy as I am.

The past 11 months have been more fun, more work, more stressful and more enjoyable than any of my pre-baby life. I can’t wait to see what comes next. I apologize if the following photos hurt your uterus.

Baby Evan is almost 11 months old and still does not eat anything. I’m getting to the point where – although what my obviously happy, healthy kid eats is NONE OF THEIR DAMN BUSINESS – people have started giving me funny looks when I turn down children’s menus and offers to “just let him try a little bit.” (Actual conversation with E’s boss at Christmas party – Boss: Oh, we didn’t plan any food for the baby. E: That’s ok, we brought food. Boss: What, like a bottle or something? E: …Or something.) It’s hard to explain to strangers that although Baby Evan will literally run across a room to grab the food from your hand, it’s gonna come right back out as soon as it hits his tongue.  All of my pockets are full of mushed up pieces of Cheerio the baby spit out and I had to pick up because I am not a jerk who leaves drooly bits of cereal all over the play area/pediatrician’s office/Target/your shirt. I’m also afraid people are starting to suspect I’m doing this on purpose, like some sort of extended breastfeeding Nazi who won’t let her kid eat any solid foods because I think BREAST IS SO MUCH THE BEST that everything else is unnecessary. “Anything?” people ask when I tell them he doesn’t eat, “Really? Have you tried Cheerios? My kid loves Cheerios. How about apple slices/Popsicles/mac and cheese/chicken nuggets/a whole turkey leg?” No, I say, not anything. But thanks.

I did talk to a nutritionist (also known as my friend Megan’s mom) about Baby Evan’s strange dietary habits and she assured me we were still well within the realm of normal child behavior.  She had plenty of stories of kids – her own included – who didn’t eat anything until 14, 15, 16 months. After looking over the list of foods that have gone over pretty well versus the list of total failures, we decided it was a texture things as well as an independence thing. Mushy food on a spoon is AWFUL. Crunchy things or anything he could potentially choke on are OK. Things he can chew with his many sharp little teeth are best. My plan of action is to just keep offering food – some food, any food, all food – until we find something that he’ll swallow, and work on “balanced and nutritionally sound” later.

Foods he hates even more than I hate Katy Perry
Oatmeal
Rice cereal
Baby food
Applesauce
Things eaten with a spoon
Pureed anything

Foods he almost ate once
Bacon
Avocado
Mango
Celery sticks
Carrot sticks
Banana nut Cheerios
Peas from some sort of Gerber baby stew meal
Yogurt
Grapes
Salmon
Hummus
Soybeans in their pods
Pasta

Foods almost worth feeding
Puffs
Teething biscuits
French fries
Conversation hearts Valentine candy

Foods he eats enough of to provide nutrition
None

Thanks God I got the hang of this breastfeeding thing. Hey at least it’s cheap, easy and always available.

Dear Bathroom Scale,

I’m sorry I will probably break you later this morning when we have our first weigh-in for the fitness challenge at Stroller Strides. In my defense, the morning after the Superbowl is probably the worst Monday of the year to expect me to have lost weight.

Exhibit A:

The Pioneer Woman's Jalapeno Poppers

Exhibit B:

Quesadillas by Amanda

Exhibit C:

The Pioneer Woman's Drip Beef (not pictured, buttered sandwich rolls and cheese)

Exhibit D:

Fruit Pizza by Amanda - don't be fooled by the "fruit" part, it's shortbread and frosting and chocolate

Not pictured: Taco dip, brownies, three kinds of chips, cheese and crackers, veggies with ranch dip, shrimp cocktail, and my favorite baked potato rounds covered in cheese and bacon.

And let’s not forget my best excuse of all:

BABY WEIGHT

So there, Scale. Those are my excuses. I’ll try to do better next week I promise. Of course I mean AFTER E’s birthday dinner and a special Valentine’s treat.

xoxo

Suzanne

UPDATE: RECIPE LINKS

Jalapeno Poppers – Pioneer Woman

Drip Beef Sandwiches – Pioneer Woman

Amanda’s Website – Funny Days with Mommy & Maddie

UPDATE: I weighed exactly the same as last week. So no harm, no foul, leftover drip beef for lunch!