So sorry about all the silence over here, folks! I’ve been (very unsuccessfully) attempting to move my blog from wordpress.COM to wordpress.ORG which is why this post is more than a week overdue. I’ve made some progress but now I’m stuck again when trying to import all the posts to the .org version. Whew. I’ve got a couple of giveaways for you up my sleeve but wordpress.com doesn’t allow any sponsored giveaways so I need to move my blog before I can offer them to you.
Coming Up in the Liturgical Year: It’s still Eastertide! Thursday is the Feast of Saints Philip and James. Do you have any traditions for that feast, culinary or otherwise?
Listening to: Seabear. My 3-year-old is really into Icelandic bands. There is no reasonable explanation except that he’s super hip. This isn’t a new song but it’s one of his favorites and we’ve been jamming out to it lately even though it’s more of an Autumn kind of song.
Watching: Once Upon a Time. I can’t decide whether the show is embarrassing or awesome. I keep wanting to get Daniel to watch it with me , but then I remember that horrible episode about Dreamy the dwarf…
Links:
We’re All Extreme Parents (Kate Wicker)
Good Fiction for Young Adults (Simcha Fisher)
My Favorite Things: Natural Recommendations for Your Home (Passionate Homemaking)
Recipe for a Toxin-Free Kitchen: 10 Homemade Kitchen Cleaners (Keeper of the Home)
Managing Your Wardrobe: Pregnancy, Post-Partum and All Those Sizes in Between (Simple Mom)
Our 21 Day Challenge (Raising a Green Family): In case you were wondering, my 21 day challenge is developing the habit of making my bed every day instead of leaving it a perpetual tangle of disaster. Benjamin noticed right off and said, “Wow, Mama. Your bed looks so pretty like this!” The unfamiliar sight was almost too much for him.
Asthma Update:Yesterday we took Benjamin to an allergist to try to figure out what his asthma triggers are. I was right about him being allergic to gluten! Vindicated! And he’s super allergic to dust mites so watch out as I become a nut about making his room as dust-free as possible.
My Quotable Mom:
My parents have been in a California for my cousin’s wedding for the past few days. I received the following email from my mom:“You may hear rumors from your “delusional” cousins, asserting that they witnessed all the uncles and aunts, in formal wear at the wedding, dancing in pairs to the song, “Twist & Shout.” If you receive “evidence” of photos of the uncles and aunts in “Twist & Shout” dance poses, in formal clothing, just remember that the technology of “Photo Shop” makes anything possible.”
These are my parents. Aren’t they adorbs?! They were high school sweethearts.
Pictures Worth Sharing:
Baby girl sleeping in the crook of my arm. Has to be one of life’s sweetest things!
Lucy Update: Baby girl has been practicing taking naps in the co-sleeper instead of in bed with me. We haven’t set up her crib yet, but we’ll need to soon because she’s almost too big for the co-sleeper. I’ve been getting her very very sleepy and making sure she’s clean and full of mama milk and then I put her in the co-sleeper to nap. She usually fusses for 1 or 2 minutes before she’s out like a light. I hope that’s not traumatic for her. And I’m starting her out in the co-sleeper in a separate room at night and then when she wakes up (last night she slept from 10pm to 1am in it) I bring her into our bed.
She also started her first solid food yesterday (she’s 6.5 months so I guess it’s about time) and really gobbled up that avocado! I just used my finger as a spoon and gave her tiny bites. I remember trying to get 3 month old Benjamin to eat rice cereal. What a disaster! Looking back, he was definitely not ready for that and I wish we had started him off with veggies and fruits instead of grains. Do you have any recommendations for first foods? I’m planning on introducing banana or sweet potato in a couple days. Basically, I’m lazy so I want something that’s easy to mash up so I don’t have to puree things in my blender. What a drag.
And she’s scootin’ all over the place. I don’t know if you can call it crawling because she doesn’t really use her knees. She just pushes off with her toes and then uses her arms to propel herself across the floor. Also, she is adorable. Proof:
Hopefully this weekend I can figure out how to finish making the blog move to wordpress.org. Thanks for your patience!
Don’t start with anything sweet, I can’t stress that enough you’ll have a terrible time getting her to eat any other flavor later if you start off with sweet. The more natural the flavor of the veggie the better it may have no taste to you but don’t forget that she knows no other flavors. I went about it all wrong and have had a terrible time getting my children now 11 and 6 to eat veggies. All the luck! God bless!
Great advice! Thanks! I’ll need to be sure I’m balancing the banana and sweet potato with some less sweet veggies.
oh my! that last picture! it had me yelling, “Ted you have to come see this cuteness!”
banana, sweet potato, avocado, and applesauce were all Hannah ate for at least a month!
they were benjamin’s favorites, too!
Re food: isaiah loves sweet potato and banana. We started with those two plus avocado. Now that kid’s a champ at eating. He eats practically everything (within reason of course). I just chew it up and then give him bites. Kid lives to eat.
Other early foods for us:
Peas: I use frozen, boil until not frozen then blend or magic bullet or food process them- Isaiah gobbled them up
Applesauce: I felt that making my own was a bother, So i purchase unsweetened.
Freeze-dried mango: archer farms from target sells it- he loves them. The peaches are a bit hard for new eaters and the apples are as well. But the mangos are lovely (although a tiny but expensive- but to me, since we make the rest it’s something I’m willing to do)
Isaiah is the best! We NEED to do a play date. I totally forgot about peas! Benjamin loved those. And they were so great once he didn’t need them pureed and could play with them on the tray and eat them. And I agree about the applesauce. I made it from scratch for B once and then realized that it took forever and I hadn’t saved any money, haha.
mango, my lady. mango. with all my clients, i use these as first foods: avocado, banana, sweet potato, squash, mango and oatmeal (as a grain after i’ve introduced the other fruits and veggies). but with the mango, you have to make sure all the skin is off (people who are allergic to it are typically allergic to the SKIN). I normally steam it first and smash it (but if its ripe enough, no steaming is needed). also, my sister-in-law is interested in baby led weaning, which you may like as well (ethically, as a caregiver and psychologist I am down with this approach)– but i am neurotic and don’t know if i could handle it. 🙂 check it out–http://www.babyledweaning.com/ (it teaches chewing first and swallowing second). its interesting!
I didn’t know that about mango skin. Thanks, Claire! And we’re about to have an explosion of summer squash in our garden so pureeing that would be a great idea! I haven’t looked into baby led weaning, although I’ve seen a couple posts about it floating around. I’ll check it out!
I am also on the fence about Once Upon a Time. Unfortunately, whether it’s awesome or embarrassing, I still really want to know what happens.
Yes….I’m so hooked. But sometimes the costuming and effects….I just….whew.
Oh, she is so beautiful. Wow! She looks so different from Benjamin. They have very distinct features.
Also, Benjamin’s quote today is too much. For some reason, when 3’s talk about private parts, it is too too good! I remember Laith at that age, feeling really sad for me, going without and all. He thought it quite an embarrassing tragedy, my body structure!
Traditional cultures do the soft boiled or gently fried (in coconut oil or cultured butter) egg yolk. Not the white. We tried to do that with ours. I try to keep them off legumes and grains for a year, doing veggies, some fruits, and plenty of animal fats and proteins. I’m not a purist, though, and they eventually just start grabbing off of my plate. Our house is gf, and I promise the transition isn’t terrible. Though, I used to be an amazing bread baker and now there isn’t anyone who can eat it, which of course strips the fun right out.
Anyhow, check out nourishing traditions website…
Aren’t they so different!? I think it’s partly her blue/grey eyes and super fair skin (B has an olive tone to his just like Daniel’s sister) but I think they inherited very different facial features. Same eye shape but different noses, etc.
And B has been very concerned for me every since he discovered the anatomical differences between boys and girls. “If you ask Jesus for a penis, maybe he’ll give you one, too!”
I’ve heard of the egg yolk idea and I’ll look into it. Sounds like a great way to get protein and we have chickens so it makes sense. We’ve been trying to be gf for awhile (I seem to be intolerant if not allergic as well) but having it confirmed with the allergy panel is motivating me to really start doing some gf baking. I need to get me some xanthum gum! Also, quinoa is my best friend. Thanks for reminding me about nourishing traditions. I’ve been to their site before and it’s awesome.
Ooooh, the wounded soldier crawl- it’s my fave! My kid all loved steamed carrots. I know that involves a little mashing, but they do have a natural sweetness that other veggies lack without the, you know, actual sweetness that too-sweet things have 🙂
I heart your mom. I really do!
Carrots! Duh! Thank you, Dwija. We have some in the garden that are getting ready to eat. Perfect.
I heart my mom, too! She’s a cutie!
PS The we’re all extreme parents post, so good. Thank you.
You’re welcome, lady! I love mostly everything Kate Wicker writes!
We like “Once” – it’s a fun show (though we role our eyes a lot when they throw in something completely Disney to the mix), but it’s nothing compared to the Fables Graphic Novels (which ABC was supposed to turn into either a mini series or tv show, that feel thru and voila “Once” was dreamed up… coincidence?)
Anyways, the Fables Graphic Novels are spectacular – it’s the same kind of concept “fairy tale creatures and people flee to our world to escape an evildoer who’s taking over and their lives become our fairy stories and eventually they decide to fight back. It’s a definitely not appropriate for people under teenage years at least, but it’s some amazing storytelling! If you look into them I recommend getting the first 3 volumes to read thru first since the first volume is much like a t.v. pilot and you’ve got to get into Vol. 3 to really discover just how complex and indepth the creators have made their story-world. =D And I won’t ruin too much by saying that at least one Arthurian legend comes into play later on.
I will definitely check out the Fables graphic novels. Thanks, Molly!
Oh my goodness..I love this quote “Once Upon a Time. I can’t decide whether the show is embarrassing or awesome. I keep wanting to get Daniel to watch it with me , but then I remember that horrible episode about Dreamy the dwarf…” I can’t stop laughing! That last picture of Lucy is extremely adorable. Seabear is great! I decided to delay the introduction of solids and I also will begin with fruits/veggies rather than cereal.
Thanks, Nena. Isn’t she a cutie? I gave L avocado and banana this week and it was so much easier giving them to her at 6.5 months rather than 3 months which is what we did with Benjamin. She doesn’t even need them pureed! I just give her a chunk and she gums it and gobbles it right up. Success!