Saturday, July 30, 2011

Baby-Led Weaning


When we introduced solids to E at 6 months we went with a totally different approach. With the older two we did the usual, start with baby cereal then introduce one pureed fruit or veggie every 3-4 days. Truth is, I hated it! It was so time consuming, not to mention we were not helping them learn to eat, just shoveling food into their mouths.

This time around I heard about Baby-Led Weaning. Again through my extensive research, uh reading of blogs, I realized this sounded like the way to go. I quickly ordered the book and got to it. Now purees for us!
We started her out at 6 months with hard foods that she couldn't really bite, but just gnaw on. She loved it! I was a little freaked out about her choking, but the book explains how that really is not a problem because a babies gag reflex is so far up on their tongues that it prevents them from getting large pieces of food in the back of their mouth.
After a while we started giving her steamed and softer foods to eat. It has been really amazing watching her learn to bite and chew at a much earlier age. By 9 months old she was eating just about everything we ate (minus common allergy triggers). An advantage to her eating the same food as us is that it is a good incentive to eat healthy! I am cooking healthier foods and healthier sides because I do not want my baby eating junk!

I often forget how advanced it is to just give my baby regular food and watch her eat it like she is two! It is also amazing to give a 10 month old a piece of steak and watch them chomp it up!

(Pics from early stages of BLW)

Friday, July 29, 2011

Conversations With Alexander

A: Mommy, when I grow big like you I'm still going to call you Mom.
Me: That's good. Are you still going to give me hugs and kisses?
A: Um, okay. When I'm big I'm going to wear Daddy's clothes 'cause I will be that big.
Me: You will?
A: Yeah, but when you turn 1,000 you are going to die.
Me: (sad face)
A: But that is okay because we will be able to take care of ourselves.


I love my boy!

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Cloth Diapers!


For a variety of reasons we decided to go with cloth diapers this time around. I actually started looking into cloth diapers when I was pregnant with the boy, but I was so overwhelmed by all of the different types that I gave up. There were pocket diapers, prefolds, AIOs, hybrids, and flats. Then there are one size, perfect fit, inserts, doublers, velcro and snaps.....the list goes on and on. Not to mention all of the cute patterns.

This time around I started doing my research early. Of course by research I mean I read blogs, lots and lots of blogs. Without the blogs I would not have known what to pick. So, I am going to try to have a weekly cloth diaper post in hopes to help another overwhelmed Mama out.