Wednesday, May 18, 2011

8 Months

BIRTH
ONE MONTH
TWO MONTHS
THREE MONTHS
FOUR MONTHS
FIVE MONTHS
SIX MONTHS
SEVEN MONTHS


EIGHT MONTHS

It didn't take long before he decided to crawl away.

(This picture makes me want to kiss those cheeks!!)


How about I take the pictures?


Teeth!!



I am amazed at what a little person Jayden has become.

He laughs when we laugh, even if he doesn't know why we are laughing.

He's developing a sense of humor. It's so cool to see what he thinks is funny.

He plays with toys...like really PLAYS with them...not just picks things up and puts them in his mouth. (Although that's still very appealing.) I am in awe everytime I watch him playing with toys and babbling to himself or making noises.

He's so smart and I love to watch him figure out how things work. Even if it means we have to add more baby-proofing.

He dances....which KILLS ME. It's so ridiculously cute. He will do it if I sing and dance with him, or sometimes when I'm just playing music he likes.

If he is in the living room and I come in and sit down on the couch with food, he immediately comes over to me with his mouth open, ready to have a bite of whatever I'm having.

He understands what the word "no" means. A few times he's even stopped what he was doing when I said it.

When he doesn't get his way, he has a fake cry. It involves squinting his eyes and whining. It's adorable.

Is it weird that the pincer grip is one of my favorite milestones so far? I think it's because I love his little fingers so much. I bought him some Plum organic puffs just to watch him do it!

The kids taught him that it's funny to knock over a building made of blocks. The kids now make block structures all over the place for him to knock over. He loves it.


He's very mobile. And has discovered he can climb to reach things.


Climbing to get his pacifiers:

We had to put gates up!

He loves the cats. He lights up when they come into the room. Unfortunately, they don't love him. In fact, they seem to be terrified of him.


He's all over the place and very busy, but he's still a sweet little cuddle bug.

He gets up very early in the morning and when he does, he comes into bed with us for a couple hours. He snuggles right in and I love it. Someday when he is older, I think it's those times that I will miss the most. 


I love this little man.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Easy Peasy First Foods

I was really nervous when it came time to starting Jayden on solids. Everything I read made it seem so complicated. I was saving up for one of those fancy baby food machines like the Beaba Babycook.

But then I decided to just give it a try with the steamer we already own and our food processor. It worked fine! There really is no need to throw away money. If you have a way to steam food and some kind of blender or food processor, that's all you need.

So, for others like me, I decided to do a post all about how I did it. It was so much easier than I thought it would be. The time period of them eating purees is so short anyway. It would be silly to buy something fancy.



SWEET POTATOES

We started with sweet potatoes. I baked them in the toaster oven, then cut them in half, scooped the flesh out of the skin with a spoon, put it in the food processor, blended it well, then spooned it into an ice cube tray. I put the icecube tray in the freezer over night and then popped the cubes out into labeled freezer bags.

I did the icecube tray thing with most of the purees. It makes it really easy to grab a cube or two out of the freezer whenever I want and then just heat them up.


Jayden loves sweet potatoes!


BUTTERNUT SQUASH

I did butternut squash the exact same way as sweet potatoes.


APPLES

I used the crock pot to make the apples, just like I do when I make apple sauce for us. 

I try to buy all organic fruits and vegetables for Jayden.


I peeled the apples, then cut them into chunks and threw them in the crock pot. Hours later they were done and house smelled awesome. I used a submersion blender to puree them into a smoother consistency.

BROCCOLI

I used our steamer to cook a head of broccoli. Then pureed it in the food processor, spooned it into the ice cube tray, froze it, popped the cubes out into a labeled freezer bag.


PEARS

Peel, then cut into chunks.

Cook in pot.

Submersion blender to puree.

I added some cinnamin, which Jayden loves, and it smells so good everytime I heat up cubes of pears!



PEAS

I bought a bag of organic frozen peas, cooked them in a pot with water, then pureed them using the submersion blender.



MANGOES

Boy, oh boy, mangoes are a pain to cut up! It took forever to peel and cut five mangoes. I added the chunks to the food processor, pureed them, then spooned it into the ice cube tray. The best part is that I've shared them with Jayden. I've grabbed a cube or two and added them to smoothies! YUM.

CARROTS

I put the carrots in the steamer, pureed them, then froze them in the icecube tray.

Jayden loves a mix of carrots and apples.

I know some people are worried about nitrates found in carrots, click here for more information about why you don't need to be concerned. Our pediatrician confirmed there is no need to worry. All of the carrots I have served Jayden are certified organic.

BANANAS

Bananas have always been a 'make on the spot' food since you can't really freeze banana puree. For a while I would open a banana and then mash it up in a bowl with a fork. Now I just let him take his own bites from it and chew it. Even before he got his two little front bottom teeth, he was able to take a good bite. I just watch carefully that he doesn't bite off too much.

AVOCADO

Avocado is another food you can't freeze. I just cut it open, mash it up, and feed it to him. Last time he had it, I mashed it with banana and he seemed to really like that.


WATERMELON AND CANTALOUPE

Rather than puree these, I just gave him big chunks to hold and chew on. I think the cantaloupe was particularly enjoyable while he was teething.

YOGURT

I buy him the Yo Baby organic yogurt. He has liked all the flavors he has tried.


BIBS, BOWLS, and SPOONS

My favorite bib is the baby bjorn one pictured below. Jayden will play with all the other ones and crinkle them up into his face, which gets food all over the bib and then all over his hands and clothes. This one is impossible to crinkle up and the most he can do is lift it up and then drop it again. It's also very easy to clean.


I really prefer bowls with lids. I thaw the cubes of food in the fridge and if the bowls didn't have lids, I would be using multiple pieces of plastic wrap a day. It's easy to grab a couple cubes, place them in the bowl, then snap the lid on them and throw them it in the fridge to thaw.

I love the munchkin infant spoons. They make so much less mess. And they hold your purees really well when you are making them very thin in the beginning.

 Let me make it clear- I am not receiving anything for my opinions here. These are just what we used and liked so I wanted to share.
PROTEIN

Now that he is getting older we are starting to add some protein like pureed white beans and sweet potatoes. And tofu and bananas.

TABLE FOOD

Whenever possible, I give Jayden bites of whatever we are eating. Sometimes I have to modify things, but he is getting really good at biting and chewing. It's funny I worried so much about making purees because it's really a short period of time. He's moving more and more to just eating what we eat.


LEFTOVER PUREES

If you make too much of any of your purees, you can find way to use them for yourself. I grab fruit cubes to add to smoothies all the time. And almost any vegetable cube can be added to something like pasta sauce to get some extra veggies in.


GOOD LUCK and HAVE FUN :)

If I was giving myself from two months ago some advice, I would tell myself not to worry so much about doing it the wrong or right way. Just feed him good foods and have fun with it. The faces are priceless. Anything you put in Jayden's mouth is met with a "what the hell are you doing to me?!" look. Then I smile, which makes him smile, and then he decides he loves whatever it is.

Oh, and don't forget to take lots of cute food all over the face pictures :)

Friday, May 6, 2011

Mother's Day

Many years ago when I was working at a daycare, I was in charge of closing the building on the Friday before Mother's Day, so I had to be the last one out of the office. The time clock was right outside of the office I was working in, so everyone said goodbye before leaving. We were trying (unsuccessfully) to get pregnant at the time so it wasn't exactly fantastic to hear "Have a great Mother's Day weekend" over and over again.

Then one person was getting ready to leave and I heard her going past all the rooms and saying goodbye to teachers and the parents that were there picking their children up. Over and over I heard, "Happy Mother's day to you." She clocked out and said it to everyone in and around the office. Then made a point to say-"Well, Lisa, I can't say it to you." Of course she didn't realize what she said, but it was like a stab in the heart. I rememeber holding it together and then crying in my car.

Through the years I have tried to get through Mother's Day many ways:

Pretend nothing is wrong. Do all the Mother's Day stuff but don't think about it. Just another day that doesn't apply to me.

Ignore it. Complete media block and no leaving the house.

Going overboard with it. Spending money I didn't have to show my Mom how much I appreciated her and making a huge deal out of it. (My Mom is awesome so it was totally worth it.)

But, this weekend I will be spending Mother's Day in a way I never have before.

AS A MOM!

But, as I am celebrating, I will also be thinking of those of you who are still waiting and hoping for their chance to be a Mom. I hope this is the last Mother's Day you have to feel this way.

I will also be thinking of a very special Mom who gave me the opportunity to be a Mom. I am forever grateful for her and I will be holding her in my heart this weekend.