Tofu in the diet

I always try to keep Jude's diet healthy. We avoid unnaturally sweet, super salty, super processed foods and try to stick to fruits, veggies, meats, grains and just non-greasy goodness. That's not to say I don't give him tiny bites of my ice cream or small bits of whipped cream or that he's never tasted a chicken finger - I do pass on things like hot dogs, fast food and pizza when it comes to feeding Jude.

Ryan and I are big pasta/dairy fans and as I'm trying to balance Jude's diet, I'm realizing just how little meat we eat. Being that I want Jude to get the protein he needs, awhile ago I tossed around the idea of introducing tofu into his diet. Tofu, like a number of other things I've given Jude is one of those things that I personally turn my nose up to. It's also one of those things that I knew when I brought home, Ryan would look at me like "tofu? seriously?". He'd see it as another one of my 'new age hippie' choices. I was right. But either way, I bought tofu and I fed it to Jude.

I had poked around trying to find ways to prepare tofu and basically I'm finding that all it really does is absorbs the flavors of things around it. Otherwise it's pretty bland.

Well, on day, I was in a rush at lunch time and decided to just toss the tofu on his try and see what he did with it. It was cold, uncooked, and still in it's original cubed shape. He poked. He played. He put it in his mouth. He spit it back out. He looked it over carefully. He put it back in his mouth. He then began to devour the rest of it.

Apparently Jude loves tofu.

I kept it in the fridge uncooked, and we gave it to Jude with lunches and dinners and each time he had the same response. Needless to say, it's something I will be regularly stocking in our fridge... but maybe in the future we'll prepare it with a little flavor :)

Bye Bye Boobies...

Well... not 100%.

We have reach the inevitable day where we are running out of frozen breast milk.

Currently, we have a mere 2.5 ounces left. I told Ryan the next time he needs to give Jude a bottle he should mix that with 2 ounces of milk and that will be the last time Jude gets a bottle. Once that is gone, then the bottles will be packed away and Jude will begin getting a sippy cup of milk before bed.

At this point, the sippy cup of milk will not even be necessary, because he's still nursing about 4-5 times a day (yup, I'm working his nursing down too) but I want him to get used to the idea of drinking cows milk.

From what I've gathered, there are a few ways to make the switch to cow's milk. Two of the most popular are either switching a bottle of formula/BM to milk one at a time (so if they nurse/have formula 4 times a day, make one milk, 3 formula, etc...) or doing part formula/BM and part cow's milk with each bottle (so 3/4 formula/BM, 1/4 cow's milk... and then slowly adjusting the ratio).

Obviously since we have only two ounces of BM left, Option A is the way we're pretty much going to go. We're going to start with his last feeding being switched to cow's milk and then I'll eventually knock off his day time feedings... and I'm pretty sure his morning feedings will be the last to go. Right now, mornings are Jude-and-mommy-cuddle-time, so I'd like to keep them that way :)

Currently, I don't plan to start switching any other feedings to cow's milk until after his first birthday.... but even that is RIGHT around the corner.

Trip for Two: Recap - The Rains Came

My second full day in North Carolina had promise to be as beautiful as the first. However, even though we woke up to warm weather - it was overcast with the occasional light showers. This didn't really make for the best zoo weather, so we decided to hit one of the museums.

While my mom was working a little in the morning, Jude and I took our time getting ready and then went to visit his cousin Olivia. Olivia is a month younger than Jude and so they're fairly close in age. Neither of them seemed overly-excited to play with one another - in fact, aside from Jude stealing her pacifier, I'm pretty sure they didn't interact much as all.

After talking with some of my mom's friends, we decided the children's museum I had found online was the perfect indoor alternative. So, we were off to Marbles!

Pretty much everything near my mom is at least a 25-30 minute drive. She lives in a small town and has to travel to the larger cities/towns around her to do much of anything. So, we also knew that in addition to Marbles, we'd be hitting a couple of stores near there that my mom had said she was interested in.




But about Marbles! It was ADORABLE! Now, we have a number of children's museums in our area that I've been wanting to get to, but just haven't made the trip to yet. I'm excited to see them, but have heard that Jude is too young for them for the most part. It was no different here, but he still had a GREAT time!





The main level of the museum has a huge area called "around town". Inside this area is a small little 'crawlers' section that after I took one look at it, I knew he would be totally uninterested. So, I let him brave the big kid section. There was everything: a garage, an ambulance, a bus, a costume room - with a stage for performances, a reading area, a tree house, a house with a front porch swing, a garden, grocery store, kitchen and restaurant. All on a kid's level to play pretend. I would put Jude down in one section and he would crawl around, climb up to play with things, chew on toys (there was even a basket to put all "tasted" toys in for disinfecting) and just watch all of the kids around him. He loved it!

Playing Dress-up

In the kitchen...

Picking out Produce in the store:

Playing in the garden:

Afterwards, we went to the "splash" zone. Jude again mostly just watched the big kids around him. There was a hose that spit water and kids would put boats in the stream, which would splash Jude in the face. At first he seemed a little startled, but after about 2 or 3 times, he just giggled.

If you look, you can see the white hoses coming down the sides of the light house... going into the 'river' which empties into the tub that Jude was playing in... he was right in the line of fire.

He loves water

Next, they had an 'under water' area, with fish on the walls, and lights that cast 'bubbles' on the walls. There were speakers making wave sounds and it was so adorable.

After the splash area (which had much more than what we experienced - but it was too much for Jude), we headed outside to a bubble station. I don't know that Jude ever really has seen bubbles, so he was in awe. I blew some for him - but quickly realized that at some point in your life, you just lose the power to blow the perfect bubbles. Luckily, the lady working the station knew what she was doing.

The few successful bubbles he saw, he loved.

When we had maxed out bubble time, we headed upstairs where they had a 'construction' zone. They had super-sized legos to build your own buildings, some blue prints and even real tools/wood working stations for older kids. By this time, Jude was pretty over-stimulated and so we decided to head out.

checking out some blue prints:

On our way out though, we walked by another great section that was all about finances. They had little stations set up where kids could earn money by doing chores and then use the money to buy "needs and wants". The whole point being to teach kids about financial responsibilities. I must say - this place had thought of everything.

Afterwards, we swung by a mall near by, did a little more shopping (who can resist?) before heading back to (again) close up shop.

That night for dinner, we went to my grandparent's house. She had gotten wind that my brother and I were starting a garden (more to come on that later) and was just oh-so-excited. My mi-mom has apparently been an avid gardener for a few years now and was so excited that I too expressed interest. As a gift, she made me a little herb garden with cute little stones. In addition, she made us the most delicious meal with some of her produce.

Let me recap this meal:
- fresh green beans and asparagus
- pasta with a little bit of pesto and tomatoes
- chicken sandwiches. let me tell you about these sandwiches. They were on some hearty italian-style bread, lightly buttered and toasted. Then she spread pesto sauce, layered on some cherry tomatos lightly roasted with olive oil, chicken and sprinkled with mozzarella cheese and baked them. YUM.


After dinner we talked for a little while and then home to put Jude to bed.

Another solid sleep for the two of us.

Cleaning out the Cupboards

So, I had a whole other post prepared on homemade baby wipes... and decided that I haven't had enough experience with them to fully post. So, I'll be holding off on that... and discussing another topic: Cleaning out the Cupboards. This is not so much a 'go green' tactic as it is a 'save some green' option. Call me lazy, call me poor, call me cheap... call me what you will, but this without a doubt is a great way to save some money every now and then.

How many of you have at least 1/2 a pantry full of non-perishables that at one point or another you bought and just have never used? Cans of this, boxes of that, a freezer full of something... however, even though all of this stuff is in your cabinet, you open your pantry door or freezer and think "I need to go to the store, there's nothing in this house to eat!". We are very guilty of this.

However, every now and then I put my foot down. I insist that whatever is in our cabinets will be eaten before I make another trip to the grocery store. This means mixing random ingredients to make a baked good of some sort, getting creative with dinner or snacking in new and interesting ways. I can pretty much guarantee that hiding in your cupboards is at least a meal or two (probably 3 or 4 - or more).

Just recently, we went at least a week on having 'nothing' in our cabinets. We had a little bit of meat in the freezer that we mixed with random ingredients, often making surprisingly yummy meals. For example, one night, I baked chicken in some cream of mushroom soup (I had a few extra cans from the last roast I cooked) and some red wine and it was oh so yummy. I paired that with some egg noodles (that I planned to make chicken noodle soup with) lightly tossed in butter and some herbs and there you have it! A meal. When Ryan wanted something sweet, I made sometime. I went through my cookbooks to find the perfect recipe that we had all the ingredients for (instead of setting my mind to a specific recipe and going out to buy the ingredients).

By the time I gave in and said "that's it, we're going to the grocery store", we seriously had nothing but condiments in our fridge. My brother had finished off the graham crackers left from a fire pit, Ryan had taken finger-fuls of decorating icing that was left from decorating a cake, I had made that box of pudding that had been hanging around and Jude had finished off the stray bags of frozen veggies in the freezer. Our usual supply of 5-6 boxes of pasta, a variety of sides, snacks and fresh fruits and veggies had been diminished.

If this is something you'd consider doing, allrecipes.com has a great tool where you can enter a list of ingredients you want to use (and those you don't) and it will spit out recipes based on what you've entered, making it even easier.

Ebay

Another thing off the list!

I sold my first item on ebay the other day!

I was so super excited when I got my baby food cooker from my coworkers. I took it home, and placed the fancy box among all of the other "to be used later" items for Jude.

Well, by the time food rolled around, we had pretty much decided against purees and so there was no need for the cooker any more. Of course by the time I decided there was no need for it, it was already out of the box and played with.

Recently I've been having a bit of a "get rid of shit" urge. Anymore, the thought of having things piled up around the house that we don't need frustrates me. Perhaps it's because of all the construction. I mean our house has holes in the walls and wires exposed... the last thing I need on top of that is clutter. Maybe it's my newly emerging 'minimalist' self, where I'm losing attachment to almost any 'thing'. Maybe it's my fear that I'll become that woman with 50 boxes of baby clothes/toys/gear in my basement that hasn't been touched in 10+ years.

Whatever the reason, the baby cooker (among other things) just had to go. I first tried selling it on craigs list. No Go. I did my blog sale. No Go. Knowing I've eventually have to face the beast that is ebay to cross something off my 101 list, I decided to give it a whirl.

The cooker usually retails for $150. I was hoping to get $100 + shipping. The auction ended up closing at $84 + $15 for shipping. So, $99.00 total. Not too bad.

My newly earned $99 is now sitting in my Paypal account, to be used for a future purchase, a rainy day fund, vacation spending money or whatever-else.

It's like he misses it...

Recently, we've worked Jude up to three (fairly) consistent meals a day. Since he currently doesn't seem to rely on any of them, it's not a huge deal if I substitute it with nursing. I think in the last week or so, I've skipped one or two meals and replaced them with breast milk and he didn't seem bothered by this at all. But really, I'm trying to stay pretty regular - and have been doing a pretty good job of it.

I'm not sure if Jude just is not happy about this... or if it's his 9 month growth spurt, but lately he's been wanting to nurse more than ever! Right after a meal, he'll start grabbing at me, giving me some very obvious signs that he wants to nurse... so I let him.

Then, he'll nurse again about an hour later... an hour after that... basically any time I'm holding him. It's never for very long, but it's definitely happening. This really surprises me, because he eats like a champ and get water to wash it down. I'm pretty convinced this is his way of telling me that he's just not ready to let go (and maybe he's growing...).

And speaking of growing... this he is. The past week or so, I have felt it. when i pick him up, he feels so much more solid! his legs are getting beefy, his belly is getting bigger and he's just growing up... it's adorable and oh so sad at the same time.

Feedings: Frequency and Recent Changes

Question: How often do you BF Jude? Brooklyn is 3 months and I feel like I am still BF every 2-3 hours.

Answer: I will (as always) indulge and answer this in more detail than I need to:

When Jude was in the 1-2 month range he ate roughly every 2-3 hours for about 20 minutes. I usually fed him on one side for about 15 minutes and then flipped and offered him the other side (but he rarely took it). At first we were heavy on the every 2 hour side because of jaundice and then backed off. Feedings felt VERY frequent and that's probably because we were basically forcing him to eat. As they say, the first so many minutes is the thirst quencher and then behind that is the 'fatty' milk. I'll also add - this was every 2-3 hours during the day and less at much less (if at all) during the night.

When I went back to work, he ate much less during the day. I made it clear to the lovely lady watching Jude that he only NEEDED to eat when he showed hunger signs. Within an 8-9 hour period of time, he would sometimes only take like 2 bottles. She said sometimes she would think he was hungry, go to prepare a bottle and he'd fall asleep instead. Since I was pumping, this is A. OK with me. That just meant that there was less of a demand on me. He was still growing like a champ and sleeping well, so we were fine.

After I started staying home, he began eating MUCH more frequently than he was with Katie. I will attribute this to "out of sight, out of mind". With Katie, the milk wasn't constantly in his face, so he didn't feel the need to go for it. But when I'm home, he knows it's there. I can go all day without eating if I'm busy, but if I'm at a party and there's food set out, I'll pick and eat all day if I can - so will he. While he still seemed to be eating roughly every 2 hours though, the feedings were considerably shorter. They say at some point, your baby will de-latch (not the right term I'm sure) on their own. Jude on the other hand: not at all. If I let him suck all day, my man would SUCK ALL DAY! However, I did notice over time that after a certain period of time, he would slow down. Often times he'd take a few second break in between sucks. Or, more common than that, he'd fall asleep. I would not wait for him to take himself off, I'd do it for him. He never cried or fussed for more (and still continued to grow), so this is what worked for us.

Eventually he found his thumb. Once he found his thumb, I would take him off and in his thumb would go. Which reconfirmed, he just wanted to suck. He liked to suck so much, that my mother in law watched him once and he ate DOUBLE what he would any other time JUST because it was there (and then spit it up)

This was our routine until he was about 7+months old. He nursed roughly every 2-3 (sometimes more) hours for 15, 10, 5 minutes (decreased over time).


Current Feedings:
Jude began solids around 6 months. We were very slow with them because we were doing "Baby Led Weaning" (or at least something very close to it). I had originally heard about it when Barbie posted it on her blog awhile back and it struck me as interesting. I first started by giving him chunky purees. So, foods in mushed forms that he could handle. He had very little interest at first and even when we tried to feed him, he stuck his nose up. Because of this, we would go days at a time without offering him food. I'd some times put my fruit up to him to see if he'd take it... and sometimes he would. I remember my family would put foods in his face sometimes and see if he'd eat it. I almost got the impression that they didn't believe me when I said he just was not that into it. For this reason, he was still BFing every 2-3 hours

Once he really started to get the idea that these foods we were putting up to him were good and interesting, then he actually started to consume some of it. I'd say this happened about a month ago. So, in Jude's case, around 7 and a half months is when he was really ready to start making the transition. Currently we offer him solids twice a day. Once around 11am and once at our dinner time. Sometimes I'll offer him his "Purely O's" (my brother would call me out if I called them Cherrios... but that's basically what they are) in between, but usually there's no reason to.

So, let's assume Jude has a good sleep night. He'll nurse at around 5,7 and when he wakes up for good around 8:30 or 9:00 (sometimes the 7 o'clock feeding doesn't happen... sometimes the 5 o'clock doesn't... etc). On a pretty normal day by 10:30 or 11:00 we have showered, dressed, done some cleaning or started our errands. I rarely eat breakfast, so this is 'lunch' time and also when I present Jude with his first solid.

Not too long after is nap time. Sometimes I'll nurse him to sleep, or on very rare occasions he'll go to sleep by being rocked, in my arms, in his carrier, etc. So, maybe a nursing at nap time (12:30?) and then maybe 2 more before dinner which is when he gets offered solids a second time. Finally, I'll either nurse him before bed or Ryan will give him a bottle if I'm working (very rarely, he will fall asleep at night without his last bottle - but it has happened).

He appears to still be an every 2-3 hour eater.... but now that we have solids it's breaking up the nursing a bit.

I hope that helped... basically, I would say that what really helped is when the feedings got shorter. I was not nursing for 20 minutes at a time, so when my 2-3 hours were up, I did not feel like I had JUST finished feeding him.

Have I mentioned how much I love this kid???

In other food news:
- Jude has successfully eaten a few 'whole' bananas. Not only has he eaten the whole thing at once, but he eats it the way a grown person would eat a banana. It has got to be one of the cutest things. Ever. On the rare occasion that we're in the middle of doing some when Jude should be presented with his solids (and I feel bad substituting that meal with breast milk), the banana has become the most convenient 'on the go' meal. I hold it, he bites.

- Tonight, we gave Jude his first piece of meat. Apparently we're at the age when meat and dairy can began to be introduced. We went to Buffalo Wild Wings for 'cheap' wing night and I got chicken fingers. The service was pretty rough and we were through all of Jude's purely O's (and banana) before our food arrived. Being that we were approaching his bed time he was a little fussy, so we let him play with a piece of the chicken finger (without the crunchy outside). I didn't like the idea of fried meat for him... but what can you do? He ate a couple of small pieces and seemed to like it. I was really hesitant to start meat and dairy, but... what can you do? Perhaps in the next couple of days I'll make some more wholesome chicken and really let him try it.

We like to call them "Lady Killers"...

I was never one to care too much about eye color. I liked that I had green eyes... I knew that Ryan had brown eyes, and I could see the attraction to the "Clark Kent" (dark hair, blue eyes) type. But that was about as far as it went.

Then Jude was born. He had these deep blue eyes that I could just get lost in. Of course, a statistic I read said that something like 90% of white babies are born with blue eyes... so I mean... I figured they'd change. My family on the other hand would always ask "does he still have those blue eyes??"

Well as I mentioned, they haven't. In fact, since he was born, Jude's eyes have lightened up in color and are (in my opinion) a stunning shade of blue.

I've had this conversation with other mothers before that it happens to their children too (so I'm not just saying it's Jude), but it's hard for us to go anywhere without people swooning over our son. We hear regularly that he is just the most precious baby ever. Trying not to be too into ourselves, Ryan and I's general response is "yeah, we think he's OK". Then of course they start on the eyes... how BEAUTIFUL his eyes are... of course we always have the same response to that too "yeah... we like to call them his lady killers..." and they laugh.

Watch your ovaries ladies...

then of course if the eyes don't get you... there's his smile...

Lunch time has become my favorite time to take pictures... and Buddy's favorite time to spend time with Jude...

just waiting...

this is exactly why Buddy loves lunch time...

This particular day Jude ate A LOT

Look how WIDE those eyes are!

We can't forget the FEET!

Longing...

MMMM... Pears and Sweet Potatoes

Getting Jude started on solids has been no real easy task. He just doesn't seem into them - which I'm fine with. I started with chunky purees of squash which he basically smeared around on his tray like finger paint.

Then we moved on to things like rice (whole rice, cooked very well) which he seemed to hate - or at least cared very little to eat. I tried mixing it with some of his veggies, but nothing really worked.

Then we did some sugar snap peas - whole peas in their pods cooked to be soft. He kinda got into it. He liked to basically pick them up and suck on them. Carrots we served pretty much pureed and he put down some of it, but not much. Everything to this point has been served on Jude's highchair tray for him to touch, lick, taste and explore on his own. Towards the end of most of his feedings, I'll sit down in front of him (usually I let him play with it while I'm doing dishes, etc so that I'm not rushing him) and scoop some up on a little spoon or my finger and encourage him to put them in his mouth. Most of the time he fights me on it (blocking his mouth with his tongue, etc) so I stop, but every now and then he'll consume a little. Sometimes if it's something I'm serving whole, I'll eat some off of his tray so he makes the connection.

Since he wasn't very receptive to many of his seasonal veggies...

Oh! maybe I should add that Ryan has this thing with 'food miles'. We watched this show on the History Channel or something where they discussed food miles and how much energy and money and everything else is put into moving fruits and veggies from one area to another when it's out of season and how the fruit loses so much nutrition on it's way. So, ever since then he gets (dare I say?) annoyed when I come home in the winter with strawberries. I still do it, but Ryan really liked to stick with the seasons.. Of course this is hard, but we do our best.



... I decided to start with some of the fruits I had frozen for him a little while back. We had picked local apples and I had a few pears that needed to be eaten, so I froze some for Jude. So I started with pears. In the past while eating one myself I would put it up to Jude's mouth and let him suck on it. He LOVED it. It was one of the few times he got upset when I'd taken something away from him. If he had teeth, he probably could have bitten a chunk off, but he didn't so he just sucked on it. When I put the mushed pears on his try and put a little to his mouth, you could tell he was excited! He swirled his hand around in it, sucked on his fingers, tried to pick up some of the pieces and just all around seemed to be enjoying it. It made me so happy that he was finally actually ingesting some of it instead of me throwing it all away.

Then the other day I tried sweet potatoes. I had a feeling he'd really like them, so I boiled them really well until they were soft and cut them into about 1" cubes. I then sprinkled just a little bit of cinnamon on top (apparently about 8 months is the appropriate time for herbs and spices - I obviously did it a little early... I eat a lot of cinnamon, so I had a feeling he'd love it). I was right. he LOVED it! It was one of the few times he didn't fight me when I put some to his mouth and he actually grabbed the cubes and sucked and mushed them in his gums on his own.

I'm sure there's still a whole world of food out there that he'll love, but it's great to see the beginnings of it.

Question: Recommend fruits and veggies that your kids love? No kids? Recommend stuff that you love...

Me vs. Icing

Icing: 2 - Me: 1

SCORE!

You all may remember the story about my adventure with the Raspberry Buttercream. basically it turned out to be a runny, nasty, hopeless mess (until I added a bunch of flour). Well, the other night Ryan wanted something sweet. I wanted to make something sweet. So I made something sweet.

I decided to make a cake. I bust out my recipe book and whip up a pretty basic yellow cake mix and threw it in the oven. Then I realized - we didn't have icing. Shoot.

I didn't want to go through the trial and error of how-much-flour-is-the-right-amount-of-flour, so I almost just didn't finish the cake. Then I decided I'd give it a whirl again.

In the same book that I got the cake recipe, I found a chocolate frosting recipe. I fortunately had all the ingredients, so I gave it a whirl. I started adding some ingredients and it looked like it was going down the same runny path, but some how it all came together and turned out pretty yummy (and thick enough to actually stay on the cake).

So! Here's to me winning one in the battle for amazing icing/frosting/buttercream.

...the end of cloth diapers as we know it

I will say that tonight was not the first... but it was the most significant "solid" poop we've had.

Since Jude really only plays with his solid foods, we haven't had to deal with many of the really solid poops. In the very beginning of him eating solids, he had consumed a good bit at one sitting and the next morning I heard a very distinct "thud" and knew I would be changing a solid diaper.

Tonight I was in the kitchen cooking dinner and he was flapping around on the ground having a good old time. Then all the sudden he got very quiet and then I heard this sound coming from him I'd never heard before. It was like a choking/straining/concentrating sound. I honestly thought at first that he was choking on something. I quickly went over an inventory of items that may have been on the floor around him as I ran over to scoop him up....

Then I smelt it. The undeniable scent of baby poo. But not the baby poo we had come to love and appreciate... the other kind. The kind that is almost human, but for the sake of keeping yourself sane and not getting grossed out that you're in fact touching human poo, you still consider it 'baby poo'.

Since I had scooped him up mid-grunt, I was under the impression he wasn't finished. He seemed to be between grunts, so I took that opportunity to strip off his diaper and sit him on his potty. Jack Pot. He lets out a little groan and boom - a loose log in the hopper!

Luck for me, Ryan was just walking in the door. He had run out to grab a drink while this whole episode was taking place. I quickly came up with a reason why I just HAD to get out of the bathroom (I rambled out a sentence about ravioli and boiling water and left the boys to be). It didn't take him long to realize that there was in fact poo in the toilet and a dirty diaper not too far away.

After Ryan got Jude cleaned up, he was putting the dirty diaper in the laundry room pail and I caught him and explained that we had reached the end of cloth diaper as we know it. He couldn't simply toss the diaper into the pail, log-style poos required scraping. They required a tool. They required him to take said tool, stand over the toilet and plop the goods into the bowl. He was less than pleased. Ryan has a very strong phobia of all things that come OUT of the human body (blood, poop, pee, vomit, etc) and just was not ready for this - which is why I passed Jude off.

Really I only told him to do it because I wanted to get a good laugh. Reluctantly he grabs the diaper and heads into the bathroom with a scrapper in hand. Before I even hear a plop, there's a series of gags, some spiting and a "I give up! I'm throwing it away! We're getting disposables!" Meanwhile I'm in the kitchen with tears in my eyes I'm laughing so hard. When he comes in seriously ready to throw Jude's $17.99 diaper into the trash I tell him I'll take care of it and that I just wanted to see how far he'd get. I was proud that he even gave it an honest effort and hope that he has a new appreciation for his wife who has no problem scraping and cleaning poopy diapers.

In addition to all of this, we BOTH have a new appreciation for our efforts with elimination communication.

You SHOULD be embarrassed!

Proper Portions

Ryan and I are not obese people. But from time to time, we have our chunky feeling moments.

I half blame myself for this.

I have been referred to as a "jewish mother" by one of our friends because of the way I can almost "force" food onto people. A few years back when I was living in my apartment, Ryan and our friend John used to come over for dinner all the time. This was before my roommate at the time moved in and so we would have little "dinner parties" and hang out and it was adorable.

I remember specifically making dinner and having more food than we knew what to do with (I'm not so good with cutting recipes). Instead of having left overs (this girl doesn't do left overs) I would insist that they eat more. Both of them would end up uncomfortably full while I was pleased that all my hard work paid off :)

Well, as we're getting older, my husband really knows how to make me proud of a meal by going back for seconds (I have joked with him before that if he doesn't get seconds, I know not to make a certain meal again). However, when he worries from time to time about his weight, I am left trying to figure out ways to "nicely" help him out.

Solution: portion control. For awhile now, we have been doing this and I personally feel it works so well.

We have a large collection of plates in a variety of sizes. Our largest dinner plates honest to goodness are so big they didn't fit in our cabinets at our old house. Then, we have the "smaller" salad plates that we instead would use as dinner plates. Then finally we have a big collection of dessert plates. Similarly we have a variety of bowl sizes as well.

Well, typically I'd fill the middle (normal) sized plates up and serve them. Ryan would then go back for seconds. Now, I typically use the dessert plates (specifically for filling/heavy meals like pasta). So, he gets a smaller portion to begin with and still has the illusion of a "full plate" of food. I'm sure if I brought out a large plate with the same amount of food he'd look at me like I was crazy. So, even if he goes back for seconds, he's still probably only getting the amount of food that would have been on of the larger plates. It's not like this is a secret to him, he's aware of it, it just really works.

Recently reading through my Parents magazine, I came across an article that used similar ways to encourage their kids to eat healthy.

Ideas they suggested were when serving juice, use a tall slender glass. If it's a short/fat glass, kids will assume they are getting less and want more. A tall slender glass will give them the illusion that they're getting more and they'll feel satisfied. (another suggestion is adding water to juice. personally I think juices like ocean spray and juicy juice are very strong and taste better diluted).

Also, try serving an appetizer of veggies before dinner, before the carbs come out. If they're hungry enough they'll pick at them a little before they get to the other items as opposed to offering both at the same time and having them chose the non-veggies first. Even just one or two pieces are better than none at all.

In addition, never force your child to eat what's on their plate. Over eating is a big problem with children (and even adults). Instead, play around with how foods are offered to encourage them to eat one over the other.

Similar to the juice story above, offer water in large glasses. Chances are, no matter what the size of the glass, they will drink about half. So, if you give them a 4 oz glass of water, you're lucky if they drink 2oz. But offering a 10oz glass of water, they might put down 5oz.

I'm sure there are a million other ways to encourage proper portions and healthy eating. I'd love to hear ways that you all encourage healthy eating in your home.

Six Month Check Up

Today was Jude's 6 month check up. More to come on Jude being 6 months later this week (his appointment happened to be a few days early).

He had follow up shots to all of his 2 month shots. Since he got all of the 2 month shots, he of course got their follow ups. We were offered the flu shot and I declined it. I got the "talk" about how we don't live in a vacuum. I listened and again declined. I felt judged - but whatever. So, later on when he mentioned the H1N1 vaccine, you can only imagine how I felt even more judged.

His stats:

Weight: 15lbs 5.5ounces (20th percentile)
Height: 26.5" (50th percentile)
Head Circum: 16.5" (20th percentile)

He's on a pretty consistent path.

The appointment for the most part went the same. We went into the room, Jude got weighed and measured, the doctor came in and checked him out, then something different... he didn't ask the normal series of questions about the house etc. I thought it was weird, but let it go. Then the nurse came back in and gave Jude his shots :( and told us 'the doctor will see you in his office now'. I had to this point never gone into the doctor's office. Everything was always done in the exam room. I immediately had a million things running through my head "is there something to be concerned about?". I guess they just needed the room, because he just went over the normal chat in his office - it was actually very nice to not be dressing Jude and talking to the doctor.

We were advised to continue a lot of tummy time as he'll be moving around soon. He said developmentally he's right on track and doing well.

We also discussed food which is something we've really not been all about lately. I guess it was all the party hype that slowed it down, but we have not really been doing the food thing very often. This is fine as right now he's just experimenting with textures and tastes, but the doctor advised us that even though breast milk should be his primary source of nourishment, we should eventually begin to start some sort of schedule with his meals. Starting with one meal a day (no matter how big or small) and slowly working up to three just to start the idea of meals. I personally feel we have plenty of time for this and will continue to experiment with foods at a very gradual pace until he seems more prepared. He's very interested in putting everything except the food we give him in his mouth... (to this point he's had rice, carrots and butternut squash)

So, in conclusion, the appointment went very well. I have a healthy little man and he's adorable and wonderful and ALMOST 6 MONTHS OLD!

We took the plunge...

Tonight, Ryan and I took the plunge and gave Jude his first solid food!

We had every intention of starting with Rice cereal but instead started with a veggie. We first gave him Butternut Squash! Not too long ago Ryan and I decided that the first night/time we had together without me going to work or Ryan doing side work, we'd give Jude solids. Well, schedules kept conflicting and the one free day we had, we spent running errands and just being busy. So, we just went for it tonight.

Jude seemed.... interested.

I plan to basically let him feed himself a little and so did some thick mashing of the squash and let him go at his own pace. The first bit I fed him myself to get an idea of what was happening and then let him run his hands through it, grabbing bits and pieces and sticking them in his mouth. Ryan video recorded the whole thing with narration. As he gets the idea of what's happening I will probably be cooking his fruits and veggies in larger, softer pieces for him to "Gum" on his own... but thought this was a nice seg way into him acquiring a taste.

He in no way finished what was in front of him and made a bit of a mess, but it was fun and exciting to have him getting started! Now I'm eager to get through the waiting period of testing for an allergic reaction to start adding new foods, combining items and adding herbs and spices!!!

Pretty early on in the process. He liked the new taste of his thumb:

He has that "yummm" look on his face

Clearly happy that he finally has more than the boobies. Finger-lickin' delicious

Solid

As some of you may remember, at Jude's 4 month visit, we were told that around the time he's 5 months we should start considering giving him solids. She said if we wanted to, we could start him right away, but five months would probably be perfect. But of course we could just as easily wait longer

I knew I would not be starting them right away, but assumed Ryan would be ALL about starting them right at 5 months.

I plan to make Jude's baby food, so have recently been spending a good bit of time flipping through my baby cook book and browsing different information on line. I still need to purchase food storage containers and then I should be 100% ready for making and freezing fruits and veggies which I'm super excited about (yes, I'm aware how lame that sounds).

Well, the last time I was at the grocery store I took a stop in the rice isle. Typically it is recommended that you start with a rice cereal and then work your way through the other foods one at a time to test for allergies. In addition to picking up Ryan and I's rice I bought some whole grain rice for Jude. I was super excited and planned to start him on solids in the next couple of weeks.

At the mall one day, I was holding Jude while I was eating and home boy was keeping a good eye on my food and lately at home has been reaching for anything in my hands (edible or not). In the words of Barbie "if that's not a sign he's ready, I'm not sure what is".

So, I told Ryan about my purchase and how I wanted to start Jude on rice cereal thinking he would be thrilled! We just needed to find a good night we were both home to give it it's first whirl. He'd finally have more of a hand in Jude's feedings and it'd be a big milestone in our little man's life. I got just the opposite response. He actually suggested that we keep him solely on breast milk until he's six months old. His opinion is that Jude is growing fine and so there's no point in rushing foods. Being that I try to balance our parental decisions, I gave him this one.

So, our whole grain rice will have to hang out in the pantry for another month, but you can bet I will be super thrilled to start it once 6 months rolls around!!

Beef Stew - yum?

Recently I have become pretty tired of all the same meals. Every now and then I try to get creative and make something new, but really, we eat a LOT of chicken and pasta prepared in an endless number of ways; and our share of "quick fix" meals. So, while I was shopping recently I decided to expand my meat selection beyond chicken breasts and ground turkey and picked up a few things I'd have in the freezer for when I'm bored.

I picked up some beef cubes and thought I'd be able to find something fun to do with them.

I decided on a beef stew.

I knew I wanted something I could throw in the slow cooker and not have to worry about until dinner time, so I thought THIS RECIPE on allrecipes.com would be perfect.

OF course, I never follow a recipe 100%, so I'll mention that I made the following changes:

1. I used a little under 2 lbs of beef - this was not on purpose, I just didn't have enough
2. I didn't use the bay leaf
3. I used extra paprika and worcestershire sauce
4. I only used 1/2 an onion
5. I added A LOT more broth (and flour - to thicken the broth - and then added a little water b/c it was TOO thick)
6. extra potatoes
7. fewer carrots and no celery
8. added mushrooms
9. served it over rice

I must say it was pretty darn good! Perfect for the semi-cool fall day and even more perfect not having to cook after working in the yard.

In the future if I make it again, I'd go much heavier on the salt and pepper add much more than 2 pounds of beef and not add as much flour to keep it a little more 'soupy' (the extra broth was a must in my opinion, a cup and a half just wouldn't have covered the ingredients).

Do you mind?? I'm eating here!!!

It has been so amazing watching our little man develop over the last 4.5 months. It seems like every day... week... month, it's something new. Every step brings him closer and closer to a fully aware and functioning being.

Most recently his awareness has developed most around feeding time. I must say that this particular change came out of no where and at the time was just too cute (as it continues to happen though, it's getting less adorable).

The other day I was sitting in the living room feeding Jude on the couch. Typically when Jude's eating, that's all that matters. Stopping him before he's finished or not having enough (in the rare instance that he gets a bottle anymore) is like "seriously?? feed me more!!!". However, while sitting on the couch earlier this week while feeding, Ryan walks in the door. Being that Buddy is always the first to acknowledge Ryan's coming home, Ryan was praising him for being such a good dog and then made his way into the living room.

Well, it seemed almost as soon Jude heard Ryan's voice he stopped eating and just looked up at me. He seemed to have a half smile ("awww daddy's home!") but at the same time had this look that was like "I enjoy my peace and quite while eating if you don't mind." At one point I had to specifically ask Ryan if we could finish out greeting one another after Jude was done eating because he just could not concentrate and at that rate I'd be feeding him for the next hour.

Since then it had happened on more than one occasion. For example feeding him in the family bathroom at the mall today, he heard so many noises on the other side of the door he was just too curious to really stay focused. Thank goodness he eventually let it go though and fell asleep in my arms.

It's so neat to see him become more and more interested in what's going on around him!

"Girls Night Out"

Tonight, I had one of my few choice times away from Jude. Typically if I'm not with him, I'm working.

I was invited to attend a "girls night out dinner" at Texas Roadhouse and accepted. I was invited by Barbie to dine with a few people that she knew. All of these woman have children within a few weeks of one another, so I was kind of the "odd man out" with the 4 month old. I had met all but one of these ladies previously and think they're all very nice.

In addition to just enjoying their company (and the food), it's very interesting listening to them talk about their little guys and gals. First of all, it's amazing to hear how different everyone's parenting style is. For the most part they all do something (or things) that are on the "non-conventional" side of things, but everyone picks and choses what works for them and it's great.

Secondly, it's interesting to hear about some of the things still to come. Jude has already grown so much over the last 4 months, but there is still a lot ahead.

Finally, hearing how different all these children are is amazing. Everyone grows and matures at different rates, with each of them doing one thing best. It's amazing how different people and children are.

In conclusion, it was a very nice evening. I came home to a sleeping baby - even though I enjoy putting him to sleep it was nice to walk in the door and have nothing that really needed to be done.

A Month Without Fast Food

I know I blogged about when I was starting my "month without fast food", but I'm not sure I every really blogged about how it went. Since I was asked about it, I figured I'd give a little more detail.

Before I started it, I don't think I realized how often I would swing through a drive thru and grab some fries or nuggets or anything! Most of my fast food dining happened while I was at work though. Typically I'd go through spurts where I did nothing but take my lunch to work, other times I'd do nothing but eat lunch out. Being that my lunches are only supposed to be 30 minutes long and I don't have an endless budget, grabbing something quick and cheap was always the easiest.

Since I was home with Jude I thought that would be the ideal time to go without fast food and to some degree it was. I was home during the day and so if I was hungry grabbing something out of the pantry was simply easier. The hardest part of the process I believe was when I was out and about with Jude. We were pretty active during my time off and on the run quite a bit. If I was hungry while we were out that meant I would have to find somewhere without a drive thru and actually take him out of the car and go inside. Because of this I often times just skipped lunch or would at least put it off until I got home.

Something that made it easier was that usually the only time I'd eat fast food was for lunch - so it didn't impact Ryan and I's usual dinner routine at all (only once in a blue moon would we be in a rush and grab something at McDonalds or Burger King for dinner).

Another thing that made it much easier was that my brother and Katy were also going 1 month without fast food. If I was going out to lunch with anyone during my time off, it was typically the two of them. So, the temptation wasn't there to just give in.

The day after my no fast food was up, I'll admit I drove to McDonald's and got a large fry. Also that day, Ryan called and asked if I wanted to meet him at Dairy Queen to get something to eat after work. However, I don't think I've eaten much more than that in almost a month now. I think it's one of those things that once you break out of a routine of having it as a fall back, then you start to realize how great it really is NOT and find other options.

So, while there were times I was driving down the road with a sleepy baby in the back seat and all I wanted to do was pull over and grab a quick bite to eat, it really wasn't that difficult to do and really seems to have been beneficial. We'll see if it sticks when I get back to work.

Bottles

As I've said previously, Jude has only had about 1/2 a bottle. It was terribly unsuccessful and in my opinion hardly counts. Knowing I'd be going back to work - and for Ryan's sake, this past week we tried the bottle. I had heard that it's best for someone other than the lady with boobs to do the feeding, and since Ryan seemed eager he gave it a whirl. At first he was really uninterested (jude). We knew he was hungry, so Ryan kept trying. The nipple just seemed to be pouring the milk too quickly for him, so I think he felt like he was drowning.

On top of that, I feel like Ryan was nervous. I don't think he's ever fed a baby before? Ryan then decided that I should try it. I took the bottle and baby and gave it a whirl. Within a few seconds he seemed to be getting it down and sucking away. I think if Ryan would have stuck with it a little longer he would have been fine. But either way, the kid ate.

The milk in the bottle was from earlier that day. I had specifically pumped with the intention of feeding him a bottle later. I only pumped about 2.5 ounces - it was his first bottle and I had no idea where to even start with quantities. I poured exactly 2 ounces in his bottle at first, heated it up and he went through that no problem. Instead of pulling the last little bit out of the fridge I decided to just give him the boob to finish up.

I've done a little more research about quantities and found that he will probably be eating anywhere from 3-5 ounces at this age (he's just about 1 month - but still technically in the 0-1 month range - so I estimated).

Tonight we're having a BBQ at our house - what does this have to do with anything? I haven't really drank anything since Jude was born (well, since I got pregnant). I would let myself have one drink RIGHT after feeding him but that was about it. Well, since he took to the bottle I decided I'd thaw out some of my pumped milk (and even pumped a little extra this morning) so that I can "let loose" just a little. I still don't plan to drink too much (someone has to watch Jude - and I need to be able to offer the boob at some point incase he doesn't take to the bottle) but it'll be nice if everything goes smoothly with the bottle and I can drink again!