Adventures in baby food making: Apples!

Today was day 3 in the veggie/fruit endeavor.

Apples!

I took six Red Delicious apples.

sliced and cored them:

and peeled them and put them in a stock pot:

is there a better way to peel them besides cutting off the skin with a knife? pretty sure I lost about 1/4 of the apples. and, can I keep them from browning? is lime juice the only option? :-/

I covered them with water and cooked them on med-high for about 20-25 minutes, or until soft.

put them in the food processor and PUREED them:

I added a few spoons full of the apple water for nutrients and to help liquefy the apples.

Spooned into the little containers!

Tasted like Mott's! Minus the sugar, of course. Which is good, in Coco's case.

So. I just knew Cohen would love apples! Who doesn't? They tasted naturally sweet.

Excited for whatever's in that bowl...

my little ham :) (He was flirting with the photographer, Miss Ashley!)

Wait a minute...

More, mommy???

Not. a. fan.

siiiggghhhhh.... I suppose we'll try again in a day or two. I'm thinking it was a texture thing. There was still a little crunch, even though it was pureed. I really thought apples would be a hit!?! The poor baby, he would eagerly take a bite each time (I guess he kept forgetting what was in that bowl..) and then he would thrust it out with his tongue, gag a little and do a full body shudder. Each time. I felt sorry for the boy. :( Anybody else have these issues with apples?

Coming soon: Creamy Pear!

And guess who came to see us today?? 

LEA EMERSON!!!

We just Love Lea! She's the YWAM missionary I told you guys about a few days ago. She's moving in a month or so to live full time in Australia for mission work. She was on her way to pick up a friend at the airport and she stopped and graced us with her presence! 

Then, after noon (also when I gave Coco the apples) our friend Ashley and Sallie and Maggie came over to swim! Our first time in the new pool and we loved it! It has a 6 inch area for Cohen to play in! So excited about our new pool, right behind our building! Oh, and Maggie kept kissing Cohen!! it was SO cute!

Cohen's uncle Josh is coming over to watch him while we go to our community group time. Coco loves his uncle Josh, I know they'll have fun!

Adventures in baby food making: Carrots!

A while back, I decided to make Cohen's baby food. Might be crazy, might not. I do have 4 days off in a row, I think I can squeeze that in. We were waiting for 6 months of age to introduce vegetables and fruits for sure, not necessarily this late. But, hey. It is what it is.

So. Yesterday, 12 days after his 6 month birthday, we gave him carrots. Pureed, of course. I've been reading Annabel Karmel's books on baby food making, so that's where my recipes are coming from.

I bought organic carrots. Now, I'm not a huge organic buff for myself or Hector.. but for Cohen, I just might be. It is a little frightening when you think of what all the hormones in our foods could be causing. I mean, young girls are starting menstruation and getting breasts as early as age 8 now! More and more women are having fertility issues. Who's to say these things aren't caused by all the hormones pumped into cattle, chickens, pigs, plants, etc.? Anyways, if I can try to avoid any possible hormonal issues in Cohen, then I will. And buying mostly organic for him is a great way.

So, I took about 8 medium carrots and peeled them and cut them into about 1 inch pieces. I put them into my Pampered Chef microwave steamer and put in just enough water to cover them. I think I ended up cooking them for about 15 minutes. I just made sure a fork inserted went in and came out easily. After they were done steaming, I put them into the food processor. I also added the water from the steamer in with the carrots (it wasn't a ton, that would've made the carrots to runny) because that's where the cooked out nutrients are! When possible, always reuse the cooking water, even if you boiled the veggies. I simply pressed PUREE for a minute or so and they were perfect!

Doesn't look like much, but it was a great serving for my guy!

And leftovers into the little containers for freezing!

Ok, so. Dinnertime.

before carrots:

during carrots:

I think he likes them:

oooo... not so sure:

likes again!

yea, definitely likes!

oh, Hey Daddy!

"I thought I was done!!!"

after carrots:

Confession: I always thought, "I'll keep my baby's face clean when he's eating... I don't know how people let their kids get their food all over their faces." Picture me laughing now. It is impossible to keep their little faces, hands, hair, bib, clothes or highchair clean. Impossible, I tell ya. And yes, that lock of hair that's over his right eyebrow is pasted there with yummy pureed carrots.

What did we do afterwards? You guessed it!

BaThTiMe!!!

Cohen graduated from his baby tub to the big bathtub! He was really tired and strictly business, no playing. 

So, attempt #1 at homemade baby food was a smashing success. It only took about half an hour total. And those 8 carrots made 8 servings! We also had some Gerber organic baby food carrots that we got out to compare. Theirs was runny and really sweet. Not necessarily two good attributes. We don't make his rice or oatmeal runny, so we don't want to regress with his veggies. And yes, we both tried the carrots I made. I don't want him to eat anything his daddy or I wouldn't eat. (and I specifically mention his daddy, because he tends to eat many more varying foods than me!)

**Update**

I gave him carrots again for dinner tonight and he was a little less enthusiastic, but ate the whole bowl anyway. My mom is pretty sure he's going to be a foodie--eating everything. :)

Check back soon, apples tomorrow!

6 Months!

Our little love bug is 6 months old! How can that be? Half a year? I give up. The next post I'll do on his age is 7 months.. and that's closer to 1 year old than newborn, so I give up. Time is going by so quickly and there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. He's changing so much each day. He adds new syllables, he moves in different ways... He looks to me when he's distressed or wants something. He cries when I take something away from him. He thinks he's a bigger boy than he is.. or is he a bigger boy?

6 Months Old!

(the date on the picture is a little incriminating...)

Let's see....
Growth: he weighs 17 pounds, 7.5 ounces; is 26 3/4 inches long.

Sleeping: he is juuuust about sleeping all night. (finally!?!?) He will go to sleep around 9 and wake between 4-6 am. At this point, we'll try to get him to sleep again, by putting him in our bed, and if that won't work, we fix him a bottle and he falls right asleep. Until 8-10 am. It's a pretty sweet setup, and I am not complaining! He is taking fabulous naps. He takes one in the morning after he's been awake for an hour or two. And it lasts 1-2 hours. Then he'll take one around 1 or 2 pm for about an hour. Then he usually takes another mini nap around 5-6pm for 45 min-1 hour.

Eating: he is drinking formula only now. And he eats both rice and oatmeal each day, one in the morning and one in the evening. We will be starting other solids (i.e. veggies and fruits) this month! And he is ready! He watches us like a hawk while we're eating. It's quite sad, actually. He reaches for all of our food, and drinks. More on solids later.

Development: he is rolling all over the place! He knows how to get to his toys, he just spies it, and rolls to it! No signs of crawling yet, he can't get that belly off the floor. He grabs toys with both hands and can move a toy back and forth between hands. He gives us kisses all the time! Oh, how I love those kisses! Slobbery, open-mouthed, precious kisses. I'm sure there are other new things, but they're evading me right now... Oh! He's trying his hardest to sit up from laying position. You can tell he's trying so hard, but I guess he doesn't have the core strength just yet. And yes, he can sit up on his own, if I set him that way (he doesn't rise on his own).

Take 2:

 and 3:

 aaand 4:

So, as you can see, someone wants to play with his truck now!

Well... we think he rocks. He's the light of our lives. How could you ever look at those eyes and not just be drawn in? We do and are... everyday. 

bloggers for birth kits

photo from: themommyhoodmemos

Did you know that 1 in 7 women die  from childbirth in rural Papua New Guinea?

These women don't have money or resources to get good (even acceptable) prenatal care or birthing services. But that doesn't change the fact that they are still giving birth to precious babies every day.

I'm partnering up with Adriel from themommyhoodmemos to help spread awareness and ask for support for the women of PNG.

It is critical that these women have the ability to birth their babies on a clean surface with clean utensils. Women die from infections entering the birth canal during unclean births, excessive blood loss, and other adverse reasons. Babies can become desperately ill by infections picked up from an unclean birthing process.

It is unacceptable.

Adriel works in missions with YWAM medical ships. They sail around Papua New Guinea providing medical services to the rural areas, where otherwise, there would be no medical care.

"We provide dental services, eyeglasses, cataract surgeries, vaccines, primary health care, education, and other crucial services to those who most need it." -from Adriel's blog, linked above 'themommyhoodmemos'

Making a birth kit is as simple as gathering a few inexpensive items and putting them in a standard size zip-loc bag:
1. 1 plastic sheet (1 yard x 1 yard) - for a clean surface (think: painters drop cloth)
2. 1 bar of soap (1/8 of a regular bar of soap or a hotel sized bar) - for clean hands
3. 1 pair of plastic gloves - for clean hands (I would try to avoid latex, some babies are allergic and since it's preventable...why not?)
4. 1 sterile scalpel blade - for cutting the umbilical cord
5. 3 cords/pieces of strong string (10 inches long each) - to tie off the cord after it's cut
6. 5 guaze squares - to wipe secretions from baby's eyes, nose, mouth and to wipe mother's perineum

The idea is for it to be small and lightweight so it can be carried into the villages.

Send completed kits to:

Bloggers for Birth Kits c/o Adriel Booker
YWAM Ships
PO Box 6221
Townsville, QLD 4810
Australia

Please, please, go to Adriel's blog and read for yourself. She offers a video on how to assemble the kits if you want more details. She tells of other ways to help by donating, etc. themommyhoodmemos

I have a new passion for the YWAM Medical Ship and what they're making possible in remote areas of the world. We are so blessed here in the states and I feel like it is our duty to share what we have with those who have nothing. Even in America, you can have zero dollars to your name and no home and go and deliver in a perfectly sterile hospital with certified doctors and nurses there to aid you and your baby.

Now, can't you spare $3.10 to make a birth kit for a woman in Papua New Guinea, to help give her and her baby a fighting chance?

Leave a comment or email me with any questions.
emfen21@gmail.com

"We love because he first loved us." 1 John 4:19