A Boy and His Books

One early childhood trait that Oliver and I share is a great love for books.  Our parents have shared with us how, even as babies, we each loved flipping through the pages, looking at and touching the pictures, and "reading" out loud in our garbled baby talk.  Oliver even slept with his books in his crib!  His mom had to set limits on just how many he brought in there with him.  Each of us would sit there for long stretches at a time, totally engrossed in our books. 

Well, Griffin in truly our son.  We've been reading to him daily since he was a wee newborn, and as soon as he was able to sit up and hold a book, he's been in love with them.  I have to really keep my eye on him because he's still in the chewing phase and has quite a few teeth.  More than a few books have fallen victim to those little teeth.  So, books really don't stand a chance unless he's not in the chewing mood or if it's made out of plastic.  Anyway, he loves to sit there, just like his mama and papa, and turn the pages, touch the pictures, and "read" out loud in baby talk.  It's so cute.  Here are a couple of book-related videos:

Sea Turtle

3 Girls and Their 3 Boys

So, I was thinking back to the days when Shari, Anna and I looked like this:

And then like this:

And in no time, our 3 blonde headed, blue eyed boys were out in the world (Owen and Sullivan about 4 mos, Griffin 1 week):

And 4 months later, we snapped a picture of the 3 of them together again:

And the weeks and months absolutely flew by, and us 3 girls and our 3 boys are still great friends (Owen and Sullivan 1 year, Griffin 9 mos):

Baby Food Making System

Recently, I did a post called "Why Homemade Baby Food?," and I thought I would follow that up with a quick summary of the steps involved in making your baby's food at home to show just how easy it is!  This post is just to illustrate the process for one vegetable.  Cooking times and methods vary for the different vegetables and fruits (before 8 months), and there are other things (whole grain porridge/cereal, for example) that are involved in a healthy, balanced diet.  Pretty much all of these details can be found in Ruth Yaron's book, Super Baby Food.  Another great (and FREE!) resource is wholesomebabyfood.com.

The other night, I photographed the steps in making kale into baby food.  Kale is a green (like collard greens) that is considered to be a super veggie, jam-packed with good stuff.  I buy it, pre-washed and pre-cut, in bags like this:

First, steam the bag of kale in a big pot for 5-7 minutes.  Steaming is the cooking method that retains the maximum amount of nutrients.

Next, puree in a blender or food processor, adding the water from the pot that you used to steam the kale.  We got the Ninja Master Prep at Walmart (they also sell it at Target and Bed, Bath and Beyond), and we LOVE, LOVE it.  Unlike many other blenders and food processors, we don't have to strain the puree afterwards.  The Ninja purees pretty much everything perfectly.  Also, it's easy to take apart and clean.  It comes with a pitcher size like in the following photo, and it also comes with a smaller blending container  with its own blades!

After pureeing, either spoon or pour the puree into ice cube trays.  One bag of kale makes about 2 ice cube trays.

Before putting the ice cube trays in the freezer, cover the tray(s) with either freezer aluminum foil or, my personal favorite, Glad Press-n-Seal.  The great thing about Glad Press-n-Seal is that the width of the wrap is the perfect width of the ice cube tray, so you only need a little bit!  Make sure to label the foil/plastic with the name of the vegetable/fruit and the date you made it.  You would be surprised at how hard it is to remember what is what when you have 5 trays of veggies in your freezer.

The food cubes need time to thoroughly freeze solid in the ice cube trays (4-5 hours).  Once they're frozen, take the trays out of the freezer and let them sit on the counter for a few minutes to make it a bit easier to pop the food cubes out of the trays.  While the trays are sitting there, get out 1 plastic freezer bag per tray and label each with the name of the fruit/veggie and the date you made them (which should be on the plastic wrap/freezer foil).  Pop the food cubes out the ice cube trays, and put them into their respective freezer bags.  I like the Hefty bags that have the sliding plastic tabs because they're super easy to open and close.

Put these labeled bags of food cubes into the freezer, and you're done!  When it comes time for meals,  you take out as many food cubes your baby will eat and thaw them in the microwave -or- you can think ahead and take out as many food cubes as you'll need for the next day to thaw overnight in the fridge.  You can use the food cube method for homemade baby cereals/porridges made from whole grains, yogurt, and all kinds of different foods.  The freezer is a wonderful thing!  In order to keep your freezer baggies from falling out onto the floor every time you open the freezer door (once your baby has a varied diet, you'll find you have A TON of different baggies to contend with), you can get some sort of shelf or drawer system.  I found a two-tiered wire basket drawer system at Walmart for $7, and it is worth every, single penny:

Hope this helps those of you with questions about the general system.  I know I've said it a million times on this blog, but Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron is ESSENTIAL...and not just for if you want to go all the way and make your own baby food.  It's great for figuring out what your baby/child needs for a healthy, balanced diet and different recipes, household ideas, ways to choose, prepare, store, and cook different fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy products, etc. etc. etc.  It's invaluable.

What a Week!

What a week this has been! It started out well, and we had a guest over for the weekend, our dear friends' pup, Abner. I must say, Abner and Griffin had a blast together. Abner definitely got a few yummy licks of the leftovers on Griffin's face every now and then :)

Sunday night, our sweet boy awoke with a fever of 103, and thus, a nasty little virus began its attack. The jury is out as to whether or not Oliver and I will contract this beloved [heavy sarcasm intended] new house guest. We've definitely been loading up on our Vitamin C, hoping our immune systems will do their job; however, my heart just absolutely breaks as I watch my poor baby suffer. The fever has been fluctuating between 103 and about 99 since Sunday night, and other lovely [sarcasm again] symptoms have since reared their ugly heads...runny nose, watery eyes, and a horrid, croupy sounding hack with accompanying phlegm. After talking with our pediatrician over the phone, we brought him in for her to take a closer look. As of this afternoon, his ears, nose, throat, and chest are all looking good, and this is just a virus that must run its course. As comforting as it was to know that this virus is nothing out of the ordinary, it still does not spare Griffin the symptoms. Yesterday seemed a bit better, and he was able to crawl around a bit, getting into his usual daily "task" of pulling all his books off his shelf on our bookshelf... He loves to pull each one down and give it a good look-over before moving on to the next book. So cute. The caption of this picture should be, "What was that mom? Did you tell me to keep pulling all the books down? I couldn't quite hear you." Haha.

Today was substantially worse than the day before, with the onset of the croupy cough and choking on phlegm. Griffin was not able to play or crawl around at all, so we made a classic sick day out of it, complete with non-stop kid movies and curling up on the couch together. I suppose the silver lining of sick days with a baby is loads of cuddle time, and I could not be more pleased with that part of it. Nevertheless, I broke down in tears many times over the past few days, wishing I could do something to take Griffin's suffering away. It has made me contemplate how the Lord must feel as He looks at the suffering of all of His children. And not just the physical suffering... And yet He SENT His Son to Earth as a man, to live and then die to save His children. These past few days have helped me relate, if even just in a tiny, little way, to the desire God has in watching his children, suffering unto death with sin, and wanting to take that suffering upon Himself to spare them. I am so thankful to have such a Father.

My Son is a Genius!

Lately, Griffin has been VERY into pointing, and we've discovered that he wants us to tell him what the pointed to items are. So yesterday, we were working on facial features like nose, mouth, eye. This morning, while Oliver was changing Griffin's diaper, he asked Griffin to point to his nose...not really thinking anything would come of it....BUT HE DID! Then he asked Griffin to point to his mouth, and imagine our surprise when he DID!  So, Oliver calls me in saying, "You won't believe this!"  Of course, I grab the camera :)  Folks, this is no fluke.  Several different times today, we asked him to point to our nose, our mouth, our mouth, our nose, etc., switching it up every time, and he totally knows!  I'm amazed.  Our son is a genius.

My Latest Meal Obsession

As I've written before, I tend to get hung up on certain favorite meals. I'll go weeks and weeks where I cannot get enough of a certain meal. Certain things need to be true in order for a meal to become a true meal obsession: 1) It must be easy 2) It must be fast 3) It must be satisfying, giving me the energy I need 4) It must be pretty healthy...Otherwise, it would wind up being tainted with guilt due to the frequency I eat these meals :) So, for the past couple weeks, my meal obsession has been tuna, spinach, and egg salads with cantaloupe. Oh my.... I just ate one, and I'm still craving it! Seriously, I must be in need of protein and vitamins A and C or something... Ok, so the tuna has a bit of Miracle Whip in it...I know, I know, but there is no other dressing needed! I cut up the spinach and egg with kitchen shears, and this meal is ready in a few minutes. Love it.

Thank You, Gigi!

I love my new striped outfit, Gigi! Thank you!

-XO-

Griffin

Why, Yes CVS!

A few months ago, I started couponing. I must admit: There are times where I fail...miserably. My dear fellow couponing friends have heard of these epic failures :) As humiliating as these fiascos have been, they pale in comparison to the thrill and glorious sense of victory in my successes. There have now been many-a-time where I have saved OVER HALF of my grocery bill, getting something like $140 worth of groceries for $60. Possibly more satisfying than the grocery store victories are the drugstore victories. Oh boy, do I love CVS. After making a couple initial out of pocket purchases to build up glorious little things called Extra Care Bucks, you literally never have to spend money getting many toiletries again by simply spending your Extra Care Bucks on products that will earn you the same amount of Extra Care Bucks you spend. I'm not going to go into the whole system in this post, but trust me here. It's amazing! I've gotten so, so many necessary toiletries and things from CVS for totally free and many, many more for under $1. Free (FREE!) things I've gotten at CVS: shampoo, conditioner, toothbrushes, toothpaste, shaving cream, body wash, tampons, floss, medicines, makeup, candy, contact solution, deoderant, different hair products like mousse and hair spray, air freshener, cleaning products, scissors, pens, razors, and probably more that I can't think of off the top of my head. So, this week's victory was especially rewarding. I was able to get TWO rechargable toothbrushes (retail $25) for FREE! Why, yes CVS...I do believe I will take those fancy pants electric toothbrushes off your hands...Thank you very much!

Why Homemade Baby Food?

When Griffin was 5 months old, it was clear that he was ready (and I mean READY) to begin eating solid foods. When I switched prenatal care to my midwife, Lisa, a little over halfway through my pregnancy, she really stressed and held me accountable for making sure I was feeding my baby and my body the best possible foods, supplements, etc. She taught me to really examine what I put in my baby's body and encouraged me to take the time to read up on the benefits of breastfeeding. I must say, Lisa did a great job at equipping me to not just accept the status quo of society, but to put in the time and energy to research what would truly be best for Griffin. When Griffin was born, I constantly had to put that information in front of me in order to persevere through several really rough months of breastfeeding; I was so glad I did, because breastfeeding got much, much easier around the 3 month mark. When Griffin reached 5 months, I knew it was time for solid foods, and it was just as important to me to feed Griffin the best I possibly could in the solid food world as it was for me to feed him the best I possibly could in the womb as well as via breastfeeding outside the womb. After doing quite a bit of research, I was convinced that homemade baby food would be the way to go (healthwise and financially). So, I set out into the wide world of baby food making, and Griffin set out into the wide world of eating it.

Fast forward a couple months... Oliver and I had been very stretched financially, and we got Griffin and I signed up for WIC (Women with Infants and Children), a government program that provides low income mothers and children with food vouchers. Griffin's vouchers were for commercial, jarred baby foods (single fruits and vegetables) and commercial cereals. We went up north to visit my side of the family for a few weeks, and I began to feed him solely the commercial baby food for the convenience of not having to make his food while away from home. It was definitely difficult to get him to eat the jarred food...the whole time. He did not like it. During the entire 3 weeks we were gone and 2 additional weeks after we had returned home, Griffin was extremely fussy all day long and all night long. It was very common during that time for him to whine/cry the majority of the day, take 20 min. naps, and wake up every 2-3 hours through the night. He was also clearly constipated during that time. I wasn't sure if the fussiness was directly related to the constipation, but I knew something had to be done. It didn't occur to me until a couple weeks after we had gotten home that the fussiness began shortly after I began feeding him predominately commercial baby food! I switched him completely over to homemade baby food to see if that would help (I was honestly at my whit's end, people. I mean, I really felt like I had a fussy newborn again!). Within a few days, the fussiness, the nightwaking, the whining, the short naps, the constipation was GONE. GONE! ...And it has not returned. I had been convinced that homemade baby food would be best for long-term, but, I must say, I had no clue that commercial vs. homemade baby food could make such a difference in the day-to-day. After this happened, I did more research and found that there are many reasons why it is a fantastic idea to make your own baby food:

-CHEAPER! - (much) If you consider how much fresh fruits and veggies are per pound and how much processed baby food is by the pound. In many cases, it's something like 3 times more expensive.

-Easy! - (I promise) I recommend Ruth Yaron's amazing book, Super Baby Food. It tells you literally EVERYthing you need to know about preparing, storing, choosing, etc. baby food. I would say it takes about 1-2 hours TOTAL per week. I try to do a "batch session," where I prepare several fruits and vegetables and some cereal at once, which takes about an hour (not counting steaming time...which takes absolutely no attention/energy from you). The other hour is mashing up/pureeing this or that here and there and preparing each meal (2-3 minutes prep. time for each meal).

-Ingredients - You know exactly what is in your baby's food. You know that it was made from fresh, ripe, high quality fruits and veggies, and whole grains. You know it doesn't have any fillers, preservatives, added sugar or salt, or anything else.

-Preparation - You know exactly how your baby's food was prepared. You know it wasn't processed or heated too hot to kill bacteria (which winds up zapping a bunch of the vitamin/nutrient content).

-Richer Taste & Greater Texture - If you've ever popped open a jar of baby food, it is super smooth and watery and doesn't typically taste anything like the fruit or vegetable they are made from. This was always puzzling to me until I found out the intense process that takes place between the fresh fruit/veggie and the jar...the jar that can last for years on the store shelves. Wowsers. Homemade food tastes so much richer and has more varied texture than jarred food (trust me...I've tasted them side-by-side). This exposes babies to the actual flavors and textures of food, which is an important process in becoming a healthy eater down the road.

-Balanced Diet - You can create a healthy, balanced diet for your baby that includes all the right amounts of all the food groups for healthy growth and development.

-More Nutritious - You can control how you cook the food (steaming instead of boiling, etc.), and you can focus on preparing the food to retain the most nutrients. Also, because you aren't preparing food intended to be kept at room temperature on a store shelf for a year, less nutrient-zapping measures need to be taken. Yes, homemade baby food is more perishable than commercial baby food, but this is a GOOD thing. Less processing=healthier/more nutrient dense.

-VARIETY! - If you've ever grazed through the available options in the baby food aisle of any grocery store, you will see very quickly that there isn't a whole lot of variety there (even counting the "dessert" options that no pediatrician would probably recommend as part of a baby's diet). I can list what is typically available: pureed chicken, pureed turkey, sweet potato, squash, green beans, peas, carrots, corn, mangos, bananas, apples, pears, maybe prunes, endless mixtures of the aformentioned fruits/veggies [aka. no further variety], and refined, instant oatmeal, whole wheat, and rice cereals. If you were to try to just figure out a balanced diet from these items, you would not be able to! Now, when you make your own baby food, you can expose your baby to so much more variety than this. ALL fruits and veggies, ALL legumes, nuts, seeds, ALL whole grains, etc. At 9 months old (waiting 4-7 days before introducing each new food), Griffin has had (and regularly eats): avocado, banana, sweet potato, brown rice, barley, millet, oatmeal, whole wheat bread and cereal, yogurt, nectarines, peaches, pears, plums, mango, papaya, butternut squash, acorn squash, yellow squash, zucchini, egg yolk, carrots, green beans, peas, apples, tahini, flaxseed, wheat germ, cantaloupe, watermelon, and kiwi. Here is Griffin's lunch one day (bread, watermelon, butternut squash, peas, and kiwi):

After my experience with Griffin's noticeable change once I switched him to jarred food, I just really began to see the huge benefits of whole, unprocessed foods in the day-to-day health and well-being of my child. It was such a night-and-day kind of change that it really brought my attention to what a difference food makes. What kind of food that is is important. I don't write this with the intention of making commercial baby food users feel guilty or anything even close to that. The intention of this post is to tell Griffin's story and to highlight the benefits of making baby food at home and the difference that has made in his life.  Don't get me wrong, I keep some commercial baby food on hand to supplement if I run out of something or if I don't have time to prepare a meal to go.  I just have experienced that it is easy, cheaper, and fulfilling as a mother and tastier, fresher, more nutritious, more balanced, and more variety for Griffin.