Ch-ch-ch-changes

First, we're going to be moving! We've found a cute little 2 bedroom in Old Issaquah, so we'll be moving at the end of the month. I'm quite excited! We have been very fortunate to live with my parents for the last 20 months, but I believe it is time for us to move on. We have grown by one and I think we are making shared living difficult on the other members of the family. I do think it will be hard on Leila, not having her Grandma around all the time; and it will be hard on me too. But we will be only 15 minutes (by car, 20 by bus) away, so it's not so bad. And we will be within walking distance of the grocery store, the library, the park, the river, and hiking trails! And when Elyas gets a bit bigger I can put that bike trailer to good use! Lucky for us, Issaquah is mostly flat, so we'll be able to ride a lot of places. How's that for green living? (and for mama exercise, something I've been lacking in since Elyas' birth, and I'm starting to feel it)

In the fall Leila is starting a preschool group; a true co-op in essence. The curriculum is Waldorf inspired, and we are going at it with (I believe) 8 other families in from our mom's group. So far it will be one day a week; arts, making/baking bread, songs, and fairy tales. I'm looking forward to it and I think it will be an excellent first step in our homeschooling journey. I hope to be able to find these sorts of "groups" throughout the kids' education, as I feel interaction with different adults is an important aspect of the learning process.

And on the Elyas front... The boy is extremely interested in solid foods. I of course wanted to hold off as long as possible, sometime after 6 months but before 9 months. He is really really interested though. I admit, with much mommy guilt (self-induced) that I have let him have some food. Well, I should modify that. He hasn't eaten anything, per se. He's sucked on an apple slice and a carrot. So, he's probably had a bit of apple juice, but I don't think he got much out of the carrot. I let him lick a cherry tomato today, and he also had a taste of a berry while we were camping. With everything he's tasted so far, he cries when you take it away. But I'm not ready for him to start to actually eat, and despite his interest, he is not ready in many ways. He cannot sit up unassisted; he still has the tongue-thrust reflex; he has no teeth; and after he has tasted things so far he has promptly spit up. He is 5.5 months, and I don't think 6 months is a magic number. I just wish he was uninterested in what we are eating (he's quite grabby). Oy.