First Foods Faces

While I am restoring my energy from a weekend full of fun, inspiration, and also family emergencies and intense thunderstorms I will focus on something simple love that I love: Addison's food faces! Each one is unique and awesomely quirky. This kid endlessly cracks me up.

Sweet Potatoes (The first food)

Peas (The favorite so far)

Applesauce (Bitterness!)

Carrots (the pits for Addy)

Rice Cereal (surprisingly, she enjoyed it right away!)

 Sigh. This baby is yummy. I won't eat her....well, I won't swallow her up.

Oh, and I caved and bought the rice cereal based on persuasion from the pediatrician. When I was a kid I had bouts of anemia, mostly from lack of attention to a balanced diet so I fear iron deficiency. I considered using this recipe but instead went with Earth's Best. Much to my surprise she gobbled it up happily! Maybe this can postpone my decision to give her any meat substances before she is able to ask for it. Hmm....the lofty goals of new parents....

First Food Fun/Fuss

Addison's first food experience...a face that reads: 'Why are you doing this to me?'

Addison's first food experience...a face that reads:

'Why are you doing this to me?'

I am now addicted to making food for Addison and hope that this momentum can be harnessed and kept up during the school year. Some people seem a bit surprised that I want to make my own baby food, mostly because of the work that goes into it. Yes, there is ease in buying jars in the market, but I sincerely love knowing I put effort and love into what my baby eats. After months of exclusively breastfeeding (a feat in itself) I couldn't imagine myself not being equally diligent about the 'solid' foods my baby ingests. Thus I am carrying that effort forward and am finding so much joy in the actual simplicity, tastiness, and cost effectiveness of making her foods.

'I'd much rather eat my cute feet' Wouldn't you?

'I'd much rather eat my cute feet' Wouldn't you?

My go-to site for recipes has been Wholesome Baby Food which has some great advice, techniques, and recipes. For Addison's first 'meal' I chose to do a sweet potato puree (I have currently decided to skip over using any cereals since she is still predominantly receiving breast milk for her nutrition.) Right now introducing food to her is more about experimenting with textures, flavors, and color (!) Also, the feeding experience is another method of socialization and means for independence since I allow her some time to 'feed' herself. After day 1 I realized giving her the spoon meant she ate more....granted it also meant a longer sitting and a messier everything, but it also made for a happier baby.

Addison's first 'meal'= sweet potato puree

Addison's first 'meal'= sweet potato puree

Now making the purees does take more work, heck, the entire process of feeding her is somewhat of a chore. With breastfeeding my biggest to-do involves getting comfortable. With feeding it involves opening the high chair, strapping in the baby, bibbing up the baby, setting up her food bowl, feeding or coaxing her to eat/letting her gnaw at the spoon, cleaning up. Phew. The plus side? I really love seeing her experience something new and as much as I cringe over mess, seeing a baby with food all over is super gooey cute.

Part of my first batch of food--stacked high with pride.

Part of my first batch of food--stacked high with pride.

Aren't these food pots cute? A trial run of the Babies' R'Us brand. They claim
to be BPA free and also dishwasher/microwave safe though one was destroyed
day one after falling from the top of the dishwasher. A sacrifice to the food gods. 
 

What I love about making her first foods has been the sense of accomplishment I have gotten. I am welled up with pride particularly because the actual methods are simple, there is literally one ingredient per meal, and I know EXACTLY what I am feeding her (which helps with disposing of her leftovers). I enjoy how fresh the meals are, and that I am saving a lot of money and waste by not using jars. So far, two sweet potatoes has made over 18 oz, 3/4 of a bag of frozen peas made 11 oz, and two small organic apples made 10 oz of food. I am terrible with any type of mathematical equation, but essentially the guesstimate cost of the latter is about $5. At this stage Addy only eats about 2oz a day, so this stash will last quite awhile as I introduce new foods.

By day two she took to the concept well and by five she started to enjoy food,
well, until day seven when I gave her apple sauce. I will have to snap a shot of
that twisted face.

SO there are a lot of sites I would like to recommend but I just can't find the ones one my mind, but here are two others I have been turning to for inspiration and support: Weelicious and Home Made Baby Food Recipes. If anyone has more suggestions in this realm, link up-- I love to add to my collection. xoxo and nom nom nom (making this sound will in fact make your baby want to eat!)

While writing this post I realized a few things: 1. I do a ton of research and often forget to bookmark as much as I would like to share...OR, if I do I am not as organized as I would like, so I don't know what is what 2. TIME FLIES so quickly and because I didn't start this blog as early as I would have liked, it's as if all of the new mama experiences I want to share are already passed. This blog will be somewhat of a retrospective (which also warms me up because I will relive those moments with more clarity and appreciation since they've past) 3. Solid food baby poop...whoooooooo. That might be it's own post

S.M.I.L.E.//L.6: People Will Want to Feed Your Baby

Warning, a mama ranting (somewhat snobbishly) ahead!

Many people will think they are the expert about your child, and even though the sentiments seem to come from good places, sometimes I get plain annoyed or creeped out by some of the obsessions that get handed down. It seems people are adamantly interested in two things about babies: 1. how they sleep and 2. feeding them. All around me I hear:  I can't wait to feed her; When is she going to eat; Once she gets some food she'll really be happy; Oh she'd be better if she ate. There is something beautiful about sharing meals and I am a believer that cooking for someone is like giving them a bit of your heart and soul...but I also find it bizarre that so many people want to feed my baby random stuff, especially stuff that babies SHOULDN'T eat! I've heard cascades of: I fed it to so and so and they turned out fine; It's just ice cream; It's not going to kill her; Aw come on she wants it....WTF? Why is fine/okay or not killing someone the bar in which we set our standards and how the heck does someone know my child wants said food? It seems every time she puts her fingers to her mouth people insist she really wants food. Insert rant: She is an infant, they put everything in their mouth because it is one of their most developed tactile senses to connect to this world AND because of obvious things like teething--yet for some reason many people assume the only logic for any of her typical babyisms is that she wants food. As in something other than breastmilk.


This lesson will correlate with some others I will sooner or later write about, but I find it more pertinent since I am one of the radicals who is following the advice of some "random pockets" like the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and even (gasp) The American Academy of Pediatrics (to name a few) and...wait for it...delaying solids. From the reactions of family members (and outsiders) one would think I was the Grinch. How dare I look out for the ultimate health of my child and sacrifice to maintain a breastfeeding relationship? What a tyrant I am keeping something that has less nutritional value and interest from my babe! I know, horrible.

I found this photo here

There have been many pressures, raised eyebrows, talk-downs, and outright confusion from some about my decision to breastfeed to begin with (oh I will get to that some day) so naturally the fact that at nearly six months into Addison's existence I am still breastfeeding makes some almost aggravated and impatient. Besides the studies that have been conducted, my ultimate theory is to relax. Time goes by so quickly that I am in no rush to speed any developmental milestone up. Truth, I now enjoy having a breastfeeding relationship, but I also enjoy food and look forward to bit by bit incorporating food into Addison's experiences. However, I know my child and I study up-- A LOT. First, she just isn't interested. I let her smell what I eat, I give her her own (baby safe) fork and bowl to 'eat' with me, I watch for all the cues. As you can gander from my last post, my parenting philosophy is a bit intuitive, meaning I use her as my key text. She is just approaching what is considered ready to start and enjoy solids--for instance her tongue thrust reflex has only dissipated in the last few weeks. Addison has only just begun noticing food at all....and I am noticing this NOW, me, the person with her 24 hours a day...so naturally when someone else assumes I am not being receptive I became a little incensed.

I'm so deprived of food I'm forced to eat my fingers.

The deeper truth is that I have long suffered from stomach ailments (even worse off is my poor sister) and have a slew of unfortunate food (and everything else) allergies. Not only does this put my child more at risk for allergies, but it puts me in a position to want to prevent whatever I think I can. I often wonder what life would have been like had my parents been more considerate of nutrition and child development. I understand information wasn't as readily available to them, but it IS for me (yes, I am a google addict). Ultimately, (and I cannot stress this point enough) every parent needs to find what works for them and needs support along the way. The paradox of being a good parent is that you will guilt yourself about everything and want to do everything, read everything, fix everything for your child. So I wonder, why are people so obsessed with having to feed my baby? Why are so many invested in proving me less in tune to both my child and research than I actually am? Why are people in such a rush?? Nom nom nom.

Here is an article that I find very useful from Cafe Mom. If you are like me and occasionally stalk the comment forum, you will find plenty of posts to hurray and quite a few that will make you wonder why so many bitter people exist.