Finger foods, Crawling, Stroller Hunting and Washing Dishes

Where have I been? Well, let's see...

First of all, we've had a bit of a food strike this week. Madelyn has discovered how fun it is to feed herself. We started with Lila's mom's suggestion of Organic Brown Rice puffs. 4 things to say about them:

• they're great for helping to develop your baby's pincer grasp
• they're healthy/gluten free
• they end up everywhere in your house
• dogs (even Retreivers) won't eat them (darn!)

Now that we've left most purees behind (fruit is still a hit), I am preparing fresh food daily. Meals now consist of mini cubes of steamed veggies and fruit like apples. Only 1/4 ends up in her mouth and the rest plastered to her highchair, clothes, my floor, my clothes, mason's hair...everywhere. We are still pretty much sticking to our 9-12 months food guide, but we've added some other things for flavor (mango, onion, garlic and ginger). Occassionally she will still eat her oatmeal with halved blueberries in the morning, those are good days.

Another thing eating up my time this week is spontaneous baby proofing. I was procrastinating things from my baby proofing list  until little M decided to start crawling forward! Now everything up to 3 feet has to be fully baby proof. Thank you husband for installing all of the baby gates before this happened. If you are interested...

I have also spent way too much time this week scanning websites for deals on a new stroller. I have been using a Quinny Buzz 3 since Madelyn was born. It was great for when she was in her infant car seat, since it would easily snap onto the wheels. But, now that little M is a bit bigger I need something a little sturdier, with a larger basket and that can handle more weight. I am in love with my friend Mel's Uppababy Vista and am thinking of getting the Lindsey model. Any thoughts?

If anyone wants my Quinny+Bassinet I'll sell to a blog follower for $375 (retail value $780).

Lastly, our dishwasher broke 3 weeks ago and the warranty part still isn't available. Sigh. I really wish there was a dish washing fairy...

Baby Food Starters: 9-12 Months

Caveat:  I am not a baby expert, please listen to the advice provided by your Pediatrician, GP or Lactation Nurse. I am only writing from my experiences with Madelyn, hoping to provide insight to other new moms.

It's been two months since we started solids and Madelyn LOVES food. We have knocked every last item off our Baby Food Starters: 6-9 Months list (no allergies, thank heavens) and now we're ready for more.

While I want to savour every moment of Madelyn's baby days, I am also really excited for the milestones ahead. That includes introducing more flavours and textures to our little girls developing palatte. I'm going to try my hardest to wait one more month to start most of these. It's going to be a long month!

I compiled the following 9-12 months food starters list by consulting our GP, Naturalpath doctor, Lactation Consultant and my mom friends. I highly recommend doing your own research to see what is best for your baby. Every baby has different needs.

Baby Food Starters: 9-12 Months

• Papaya
• Lima Beans
• Mashed Potatoes
• String Beans
• Nectarines
• Peeled Grapes - halved or pureed (note: chocking hazard if left in full form / with skins on)
• Ground Oatmeal
• Split Peas
• Organic Goats Yogurt (in small doses only, wait until 9 mos)
• Blueberries
• Chard
• Spinach
• Collard
• Millet
• Leeks (good addition to veggie soup)
• Snack food: Baby Mum-Mum Rice Biscuits (Original, USDA Certified Organic variety)

Some notes:

• The Red Items are part of the Dirty Dozen. It's better if these foods are Organic.
• The Blue Items are some of the least contaminated foods. These do not need to be Organic.
• Continue to wait 2-3 days between food introductions to look for allergic reactions, rashes, or changes in mood.
• At 9 months you can start experimenting with the texture of food. Allow for small chunks by cutting back on the amount of time you process.
• Small amounts of spices can be added to enhance flavour. Cinnamon is a great addition to fruit!

Baby Food Starters: 6-9 Months

First, I need to caveat this post:  I am not a baby expert, please listen to the advice provided by your Pediatrician, GP or Lactation Nurse. I am only writing from my experiences with Madelyn, hoping to provide insight to other new moms.

Now, we can get down to business :)

It's been almost a month since we started solids and so far it's been SO much fun. I am very blessed with a baby who loves to eat, making the whole process enjoyable. We decided to wait until after Madelyn was 6 months as I wanted to exclusively breastfeed for 6 months. One sign we also looked out for (under the advice of our Lactation Consultant) was Madelyn's heightened interest in the foods we were eating. On our trip to Cuba she was reaching for our food and was totally into drinking water from her sippy cup. We knew she was ready.

I compiled our 6-9 months food starters list by consulting our GP, Naturalpath doctor, Lactation Consultant,  Lila's mom and other moms I know. They all had different opinions (of course) and different good reasons for their items. I highly recommend doing your own research to see what is best for your baby. Every baby has different needs.

Baby Food Starters: 6-9 Months

* Listed in our trial order

• Squash
• Steamed Prunes (helps get things moving)
• Avocado
• Sweet Potato / Yams
• Banana
• Broccoli
• Peaches
• My Organic Baby Brown Rice Cereal (fortified with iron)
• Pear
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Pureed Dark Chicken Meat
• Apple
• Cherries
• Blackberries

Some notes:

• The Red Items are part of the Dirty Dozen. It's better if these foods are Organic.
• The Blue Items are some of the least contaminated foods. These do not need to be Organic.
• The order of food was based on what we had available in our kitchen, however, we purposefully started with veggies before fruits so our baby didn't develop a preference for sweeter tasting food.
• Wait 2-3 days between food introductions to look for allergic reactions, rashes, or changes in mood.
• All foods with the exception of bananas, peaches and avocado were steamed.
• All foods with the exception of bananas and avocado were pureed in a food processor before serving.
• Brown Rice cereal was recommended for it's Iron content. We mix it straight with warmed peaches or pears (rather than water) to boost it's flavor. (Try it on it's own, it tastes like glue - nasty).
• If you are debating between Brown Rice or White Rice cereal, read this article first.
• Pumped breast milk can be added to any food to make it taste super yummy for baby.
• It's a great time saver to make a big batch of one food and freeze it in ice cube trays (1 tbsp serving to start, 1/3 cup as baby progresses) and keep them in a zip lock bag in your freezer for daily serving.
• We serve 3 flavors per meal and often mix the foods together to create new flavors.
• We offer water in a sippy cup as a compliment to the meal.
• Baby Wise II says, "Begin as you mean to go". We say a prayer before our meal and keep baby's hands to her side while we eat. It's a cleaner way to do it and takes less time to clean up after! Honestly, by the second day she knew to keep her hands by her side - babies are amazing!

I'm looking forward to comments about your own food successes!

100 Apples and 100 Pears

Back in October I thought it would be fun to cash in on some local harvest and make my own baby food. Two bushels of apples and pears sounded like a good idea. I didn't realize it would become a full time job to move all that produce into my freezer in little ice cube trays. Now that the task is complete, and it's been a few weeks since smelling an apple or pear, I am ready to *happily* share these pictures with you. We are 6 foods away from introducing to Madelyn...I really hope she likes them.

ps. Baby food is SUPER easy to make and WAY cheaper than the little jars of store stuff. If you have a baby you should really try making your own food.

First Bites

Madelyn celebrated her 6 month birthday while we were on a family vacation in Cuba (I'll post more on that later). As soon as we got home we promised her she could try her first bites of big people food. We started with buttercup squash and she loved it!

Excited to try some real food...

...first taking a big sip of mommy's milk from her big girl cup...

...Mommy getting the puree ready in the kitchen...

...a little look and smell...

...taking her first bite...

...and presto - she loved it :)