SILVER CAN PUT HERSELF TO SLEEP!

Alright, alright.  I know it's probably not too impressive since she's now over a year old.  But for this sleep deprived mama, this is BIG news.  Huge.  Silver has hated sleep from the get-go.  I mean, really just despised the whole sleeping process.  She wails while I rock her because she knows I'm trying to get her to go to sleep.  She'll wail in her crib once I've put her down.

Tuesday, July 12 marks the start of something new and amazing (it's been a full week since then so I feel like it's maybe "safe" to say that and I'm hopefully not jinxing myself :)

We did our usual nighttime routine of Mr. T rocking Silver to sleep, and then she did her all too usual, no, I'm not going to stay asleep once the rocking stops and I'm out of your arms - which is incredibly frustrating to say the very least.  So then I think I gave it a go, and T.J. maybe gave it another go.  And then we decided, this is just ridiculous. She's obviously tired.  Why does she have to fight so hard?  Let's just see what she does.  And so the crying began.  I just kept staring at the monitor and willing Silver to sleep.  Longest five minutes that ever was.  But she fell asleep.  On her own.

This is how she fell asleep
She's on the right side with her hiney up in the air.  :)

Later that night after she woke up, shortly after I had just nursed her and gotten her back down, my sleep deprivation decided we really needed to get this figured out.  So, instead of picking her back up, I grabbed my pillow and a blanket, made her lay back down and I laid down right next to her crib on the floor.  Oh, I think she cried for probably fifteen minutes.  It was terrible.  But I was right there and I knew she was okay and I had just nursed her right before this.  So I talked to her and kept tapping the mattress with my hand through the bars, trying to get her to lay down (because at this point she was standing back up holding the bars as if her crib was her own personal jail cell and she had been terribly wronged).  Crying on and off, she eventually settled down and then fell asleep while staring at me.

And I think that's what did it.

Silver learned how to fall asleep without being rocked, held, or having her back rubbed.

Each night this week, during a couple of her nightly wakeups she has managed to put herself back to sleep after just a minute of unhappy noises.  I'll be getting ready to head down the hall, when she stops.  Bliss.

And, just before I started typing this Silver woke up from her all too short 35 minute nap for just a minute and went back to sleep not even crying.  I just heard some little noises on the monitor and thought, ugh, worst napper ever, and of course there she was, standing.  But as I watched she sat back down, rolled onto her tummy and BAM!  Back out.  Amazing, it was.

THINGS ARE LOOKING UP.  This mama is going to be bragging about a full night of sleep SOON.  :)  Okay, maybe not bragging.  I know she is a year old and some babies are doing this at like, I don't know, 3 months or something crazy awesome like that.  But everyone's different and that just hasn't been us.  And I just don't believe in the shutting the door and not going back in there till morning business.  Or even really crying it out.  Which is why it has been so hard for us and I'm sure some moms think I'm just crazy for not having done that this late in the game.  But... we're getting things figured out in our own time.  :)

Deep Stuff - Our Labial Adhesion Story

So, this is something I haven't talked about yet but I feel like needs to be told because it's something I had never heard about, yet from all the research and googling I have done I know it's not too uncommon of an occurrence.  And I hope Silver will forgive me for sharing her story with the world.

When the PA was taking a look at Silver's lady parts at her 9 month checkup she made a discovery: Silver had a Labial Adhesion.

A what?

An adhesion on her vagina, which means that the inner lips of her vagina — her labia minora — had become stuck together with a clear-ish like membrane that seemed like should just separate, yet was fused together.

Now you want to talk about freaking a mama out, this totally did it for me.  Not to mention that at this appointment the PA had also discovered that Silver had her first and only ear infection.  Completely freak me out, worst doctor's appointment ever.

The PA prescribed us a hormone cream, Premarin, which I of course had plenty of questions about.  A hormone cream?  Really?  Is that safe?  Yes, the PA assured me, it's perfectly safe and better than the alternative - if the cream doesn't get the adhesion to open, when Silver gets older she will have to have it surgically separated.

So I take the PA's info for what it's worth, nodding at all the right times while thinking through my shock, oh my gosh I've gotta get home and start researching this.

And what exactly is Premarin?  Well, to put it simply it's:
PREgnant MARes' urINe

Hmm, the hormones of a horse soaked into the human body... That combined with that it's not approved to be used on children, it's for menopausal women, yeah, where can I get some?  Let's slather my daughter up with some of that, ASAP.

And, further to boot, "Parents should be aware that some girls, and even infants, will experience a small amount of breast development during treatment with topical estrogen cream because the hormone can be absorbed into the blood stream.  If this happens, consult your practitioner.  It may be reassuring to know that the breast tissue usually goes away once the estrogen treatment is stopped."

After learning more about labial adhesions, I found out that as long as the adhesion does not cover her urethra opening or she doesn't have a UTI, it's not dangerous, and that girls will eventually start to create their own horomones around 8-12 years old and that will cause the adhesion to go away on its own.

But, in the meantime, I also read that if the adhesion is severe enough, urine can get backed up in there causing the UTIs, and even making potty training difficult because the urine can dribble out long after the child has finished pottying.  That would be devastating for a child.

Oh my goodness.  So began the search for a natural remedy.  I couldn't imagine having bladder control problems all the way up to possibly 8+ years old.  That would just be terrible.  I wanted the adhesion gone, but no way in heck were we going to use the cream.

I found two great conversation threads on Mothering.com and BabyCenter.com.

I decided to first try Calendula cream.  I applied it a couple of times, but then Silver started teething so I decided to take a break and not put her or her body under any more stress.  I backed off for a month or so.

And then Silver started to crawl!  YAY!  And I get my first period post Silver.  There's just lots going on!  :)  I'm distracted from her problem and actually manage to put it aside for a little bit.  Finally I decide we need to get back to using the cream and take a look.  And, oh my gosh.  The adhesion had started to open.  ON ITS OWN.

A couple days later I look again, and it's GONE.

What can this be attributed to?  Was it that Silver started crawling and all the wiggling helped open it up?  Maybe.  Or maybe it was that my hormones had changed when I had my first period and I'm still breastfeeding, so those got passed onto her...  That's what I think it was.  I read this from a midwife on one of the conversation threads I shared and it makes sense to me:

"Hormones are in your breastmilk and reach your babies. Baby girls are often 'closed' and it is normal for breastfed baby girls. Like a couple pp's said, when their dd's turned 8 yo or so, it went away. Again, normal, because the girls have hit pre-puberty and make their own hormones. Adult doctors in Western medicine seem to think infant girls are supposed to be 'open' like adult women are, and that is just not true."

If the adhesion hadn't gone away on its own, we would have proceeded with the Calendula.  If that didn't work we would have moved to flax oil which is a little more aggressive.  But, flax oil works because it is a phytoestrogen - which means it exerts hormonal effects.

Praise God it went away on its own!  At our one year appointment the PA was surprised to hear it went away on its own without the use of the cream... :)

Mother's Day Out, Or Maybe We Should Just Stay In...

I finally decided I was ready to send the munchkin off to Mother's Day Out about a month ago.  With Silver still not being such a great sleeper (including during nap time), I need some time to get stuff done!

So the search of finding the best Mother's Day Out program began.  A few were recommended to me by friends.  I researched and began to sort through them deciding on three that sounded like a good fit for us.  I contacted them and of course they were all full...  So I got us on the waiting list.

Imagine my surprise when last week I received an email stating that one of them had an opening - HOORAY!  So excited and feeling like we totally lucked out in getting a spot.

Today I visited the MDO and picked up the application and information.  While I was there the sweet director showed me the room.  And this is where my hesitations kicked into overdrive.

The room was about the size of Silver's bedroom and there were somehow 8 little tiny people crammed in there with 2 adults.  Which I'm sure, come fall, will be Germapalooza at it's finest.  Not to mention that I came during lunchtime.  What was on their high chairs?  PIZZA.  Freaking pizza from Pizza Hut for one year olds.

Now I know I do things a little differently.  But this was just too much for me.  I really seriously just couldn't believe it.  I know that Silver will be exposed to some germs whether I'm ready or not, and I know she'll eventually eat stuff I might wish that she didn't, but for today, right now, in this moment, I feel a distinct sense of no freaking way.  Get my kid outta there.

Later I read in the guide book that you typically bring your own lunch but since it was summer they did different fun activities, like pizza.  And I don't mean to judge the pizza, it will eventually happen, I know it.  I guess I'm either just not ready or just too entirely judgmental for Mother's Day Out.  Which very well could be the case.  After I left I got onto the other two MDO websites to compare.  One of them has all the age groups in one giant room that is merely separated by furniture... How in the world is that going to work?!  Especially for my non-napper?!  I'm not crossing it off the list just yet, but let's hope we hear from MDO #3...

Happy Birthday Cake! - Apple Spice Cake

So... Call me overbearing, call me paranoid, say I denied my child a certain rite of passage, I don't know - but I just didn't feel like loading my child's tummy up with sugar in commemoration of her first birthday.  Who decided that's what you are supposed to do, anyway?

We've done baby led weaning, which has been a-mazing, and I have always made sure to nurse Silver before offering her food since breastmilk or formula is supposed to be the prime source of nutrition for babies until they're one.  That being said, I'd say Silver is about 75-85% breastfed and the rest is made up of snacks of solid food (mainly veggies and fruit).  Since her diet has been fairly limited I thought it might be traumatizing to her tummy to load it up with so much sugar all at once.

And so... The quest went on to find a birthday cake I would be capable of making myself.  WholesomeBabyFood.com had quite a few recommendations, one of which especially stood out to me because it didn't sound too incredibly complicated :)  And there was no sugar or eggs - PERFECT.

I tweaked this recipe a bit:

Apple Spice Cake

1/2 cup molasses
1 1/2 cup applesauce
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves (I used Pumpkin Pie Spice because I was out of cloves)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1-3/4 cup spelt flour
1 tsp ginger

Mix the molasses and applesauce in a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Bake in a nonstick 8 x 8-inch baking pan or one sprayed with a non-stick spray, in a 350° F for 30 to 45 minutes, or until it tests done.

As with any "non traditional" cake, the batter for this cake will not seem "right" so don't panic!

I used an oversized muffin pan so I reduced the cooking time quite a bit.

For the frosting I mushed up a banana and combined it with some pureed strawberries.  It didn't look too shabby (at least I don't think)!  :)

I sawed off the top of one of the oversized muffins with dental floss and then used a cookie cutter on one of the other muffins to cut out a little flower to put on top.

NOTE:
If this is your first time cooking with molasses (as it was mine) it is kinda stinky and smells like soy sauce.  At first I thought it must be bad or something but then googled and found out this is normal.  :)  I expected it to be sweet smelling...

Things I might have done differently:

I'm thinking I should have remembered to add the chopped dates I had in the fridge.  Might have made a nice addition and made the cake seem sweeter and a little spice-y.  Or I might have left out the cinnamon and just used the Pumpkin Pie Spice.  Either way, it still turned out quite delicious.  And Silver LOVED it.

More on the party to come!  :)

Banana Cookies - YUM!

Just made the BEST (and healthy!) cookies!  They are vegan and sugar free so suitable for the munchkin too.  Quite a bit easier than the other cookies I've made for Silver as well.

I found the recipe on allrecipes.com and adapted it based on people's suggestions:

Healthy Banana Cookies

3 ripe bananas
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup dates, pitted and chopped
1/3 cup applesauce
1/4 finely shredded coconut
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Sprinkle of cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
In a large bowl, mash the bananas.
Stir in oats, dates, applesauce, coconut, vanilla, and cinnamon.
Mix well, and allow to sit for 15 minutes.
Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet.
Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly brown.

*NOTE:
This was my first time cooking with dates.  I figured it would be easiest to chop them up in the food processor - and it was!  However, I kept chopping and chopping them until they coagulated together and looked very much like a Larabar.  So... don't over do it with the food processor.  :)  It made it more difficult to stir it all together.

They look granola-y but are really pretty soft.  Perfect for Silver who just has her six teeth in the front.

Carrot and Bean Cakes

These reminded me a lot of the Oatmeal and Bean Waffles but were WAY easier for me to make.  Will be doing them again soon.

Found the recipe on Homemade-Baby-Food-Recipes.com

Carrot and Bean Cakes

4 oz (1/2 cup) cooked, mashed carrot
8 oz (1 cup) cannellini beans (or other white beans), mashed well
1 garlic clove, crushed
4 tbsp flour
olive oil

Mix the carrot puree with the mashed beans, garlic and flour.
Form the mixture into little patties with your hands - if the mixture is too moist, add a little more flour.
Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan/skillet.
Fry the patties for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, until golden.
Serve with applesauce for dipping!

These were great and Silver loved them!  I omitted the garlic b/c I thought it might be too much flavor, although next time I think I'll do it b/c there wasn't a lot of flavor to them.

Also, I used spelt flour and think it turned out okay.  These cooked up a lot differently than the Oatmeal and Bean Waffles - much less hearty.  Probably easier for Silver to eat too.  I tried some in the waffle maker but think they did better as pancakes.

I confess...

Okay.  So... I suppose my first confession would be that I watch 19 Kids and Counting.  And really love it.  A lot.  On this show, they have a sweet little girl who has the cutest pigtails that I was totally amazed with until I realized she was completely bald.  How did her mom do her hair in such awesome pigtails?  I did some thinking and realized they just couldn't be real - a few episodes later her brother pulled the piggies off of her head - and yes!, they were fake!  I couldn't believe it.  I was intrigued so I jumped onto google, which leads me to my next confession.

After some googling I discovered Bebe Doos Perfect Ponies.  I think they are hilarious!  But so stinkin' cute too!  They also have an Etsy page which made me like them even more (support your local artist!)  I did some contemplating.  I know it is totally ridiculous.  So not my natural self.  And yet... They were calling to me.  My mom was totally on board.  My best didn't think I was too crazy...  And so, I DID IT!

I mean, really though.  Check. her. out!  I seriously like 'em.  Not to be worn everyday, but every once in a while, Silver will totally rock them.  :)  

Sweet Potato Chips

I made sweet potato "chips" today. Silver LOVES them!

Here's how I did it:

•  Preheat oven to 400 degrees
•  Wash and peel sweet potato
•  Cut the sweet potatoes into thin slices
•  In a large bowl, add a tiny bit of olive oil
•  Put the cut up sweet potato slices into the bowl and stir so the potatoes
   get coated with the olive oil
•  Dump mixture onto a baking sheet
•  Cook for 7 minutes
•  Take out and flip chips over
•  Cook for 7 minutes more

If you really want them to be like chips, you should probably cook them a bit longer.  I still wanted the potato "meat" to be mushy instead of crispy so she could eat it more easily.  I ended up eating quite a few too... :)

I'm a Believer! Chiropracting at its Finest.

With the exception of her second to third month in life, Silver has never been a good sleeper.  We recently 'dropped' her crib and the past couple of nights she has been an even worse sleeper than normal.  Actually sitting up and grabbing the bars instead of just tossing and turning.  Because she is now more mobile?  Because her crib is dropped and she can grab the bars to stand?  


Imagine my shock when we took her to the doctor for her 9 month checkup and the PA says, "Well that's the problem," while looking into her ear.  Oh my gosh, what?!  She had just discovered that Silver had her first ear infection...  I felt. Like. Crap.  I had been so frustrated the past couple of extra sleepless nights, when really it was because she was in pain.  Ugh.  Big time mommy fail.


We were prescribed some antibiotics.  I'm not a fan of taking meds unless you really need to, so I wanted to check out our natural options first.  We went to the health food store and got some of Hyland's Earache Tablets and Earache Drops.  I also asked some advice from the amazing girls in my mom's support group at Birth Matters about visiting the chiropractor for ear infections.


Yes, you read that correctly.  The chiropractor.  For an ear infection.


I too was a bit surprised at first, but my mommy friends were such huge fans and are such an amazing outsource of knowledge!  After some research I decided it was definitely the way to go.  I wanted Silver to feel better, and FAST!  Basically babies just get their neck gently adjusted to help mobilize the drainage of their ears - it is safe and non-invasive.  That way they can build up their own antibodies and recover more quickly.

So I took Silver to see Dr. French (who came super highly recommended) at Livewell Family Chiropractic Center.

I LOVED him.  That's right.  Those of you who know me know how HUGELY HUGE of a deal this is because of my general distrust for pretty much everyone in the medical field.  But he was really, truly awesome.  Dr. French gave me lots of information, is all for natural alternatives like elderberry juice and colloidal silver, and doesn't vaccinate his kids and will tell you why.  Amazing, he is.  Love, love, love him.

We went to see Dr. French everyday and by Silver's third visit, POOF!  No ear infection.  And we needed antibiotics huh?

My friend is studying to be an audiologist in Illinois and she shared with me that they are no longer teaching them to prescribe antibiotics for ear infections anymore...

First Trip to the Zoo

We had such a great time at the zoo with my Mom's Support Group!  Silver, my non-sleeping munchkin, managed to sleep for quite a chunk of time though.  She is continuously surprising me...

First time standing up by herself...!

Einstein Never Slept

Some days when I try to get Silver down for a nap I am convinced that DHS is going to show up at my door at any given moment.  Why?  Because Silver is not, nor has she ever really been, a good sleeper.  Our 'routine' of late involves me letting her scream her head off for a bit in attempts to put herself to sleep.

Other days, I am convinced that someone else on our block has the same video monitor we do and has picked up our signal.  The mom is watching us, shaking her head at our situation and 'tsk, tsk-ing', while judging me.  She's probably even calling her stay at home mom friend up to talk about me.  "Can you believe this mom is just letting her baby cry like that?!  Listen (Holds monitor up to phone)."  I'm not even kidding. I really feel she's out there.

I am not a fan of letting Silver cry it out.  And I don't believe in the cry it out method.  To be honest, I think the Baby Wise method is entirely crazy because when babies cry it's because they need something.  But when I KNOW Silver's exhausted because she's 'sung her sleepy song' as I call it, she's not hungry, she's had a diaper change, and she is merely pissed off at the world (or probably just me), because she can't fall asleep, what else am I left to do?  She has to figure it out.  Because when I rock her, she just wails (while trying to latch on to me through my shirt).  When I nurse her, she falls asleep and the second I go to lay her down, we're back to wailing.  So she has to figure it out.

I'm a researcher at heart.  I've read most of The No-Cry Sleep Solution.  I've started reading The Happiest Baby on the Block, and even have the DVD set to ship to me on our next video queue... I've read about sleeping solutions on quite a few blogs and parenting websites.  All of which were extremely helpful and filled with the most fantastic ideas... yet don't seem to be working for us just yet.  But we're working on it.  We've been working on it.

The second Silver wipes her eyes, gives a yawn, or buries her head in my chest it's go time.  I'm not even kidding.  I practically sprint to her crib.  No, not really, but time is definitely of the essence.  And some days Silver actually goes to sleep without putting up a fight.  Those days are little miracle days where I do an oh my goodness, freak out with excitement dance, while looking into the video monitor, smiling with awe and joy at the miraculousness.

What did I do to make that go so well?  Is it because we played on her bouncer instead of on her play mat before heading to her crib?  Is it because she is swaddled extra perfectly?  Maybe the little musical soother played the most perfect combination of classical music and rainforest sounds.  Perhaps it was that the sun was a little overcast so it's darker in her room...  All of the factors can drive a mama crazy.  I've become ritualistic and don't even know for sure what my rituals are.

She usually eventually does figure it out.  Sometimes it's after just a couple minutes of yelling at me.  Sometimes, on the bad days, like today, it's been an entire hour of her trying to work it out with me intermittently checking on her so she knows she hasn't been abandoned.  I'm probably going to have to go in there and let her think she's won.  We'll try to play for a little bit, but she will be so darn grumpy, we'll go straight back to her crib, where she will probably quickly cave.  And when she does cave, it is so bizarre, she will go from screaming, with her eyes squeezed tight, to silence with the sweetest sleeping face you've ever seen.  You wouldn't think it was the same baby who had been screaming in protest just moments before.

My mom gets Silver to fall asleep without much fighting almost every time she watches her.  Although my mom does have to work her magic.  She tells me she thinks that Silver must just be a genius, like Einstein, who never slept... And I love her for that.  Finding the beauty in our exhausting situation.  All I know, is that eventually Silver will learn to fall asleep without hating me and every second of our 'routine'.  Because she has to.  And, I now more than EVER cherish those beautiful moments, from the time she was maybe about 2 months, until she was about 3 months old.  When she would sing herself to sleep at any given moment and actually take naps.  Lots of naps.  Beautiful, glorious, angelic naps.  And she even slept. through. the. night...

Germs on Parade

T.J. and I both wanted to go the gym this morning.  We had a full day, and it would make sense that we would go to the gym all together.  As a family.

But... no.  I had huge hesitations.  That would mean putting Silver in the nursery.  On a Saturday?  Um... I just don't know about that.  There are babies with kids all the way up to age 10 in the nursery.  All in the same room... We're in the midst of flu season.  It's like Germapalooza in there.

We have been so blessed with Silver only having a cold so far, while T.J. and I have both been sick (thank goodness for breastfeeding so she can get my antibodies).  Despite her healthiness, I feel certain that if I take her to the gym, on Monday she will definitely be coming down with something.

T.J. thinks I'm insane.  And maybe I am.  Okay, he says, we'll just never leave the house.  Then he brings up a great point - but babe, he says, we check her in the nursery at church every Sunday.

And we do.  And I feel completely okay with that and confident in our decision.  Is it because I know most of the babies who might have the cooties and that makes it okay?  Is it because she's only with other little people of about the same age?  I don't know.  But what I do know is that I realized Silver couldn't go to the gym anyway, because it was time for her nap.  :)

Back in Cloth

Silver is back in cloth diapers today for the first time in a couple weeks...  She had gotten diaper rash from a combination of a laundry mishap from me (drying her diaper inserts with a dryer sheet, hence making them un-absorbant) and teething.

We have always felt extremely loyal to our cloth and started with all the natural remedies we could try first.  We tried coconut oil (it's antibacterial and antifungal).

Then I bought some raw silk liners (raw silk retains some of the silk's natural sericin (a creamy wax given off by the silkworms) which is supposed to be both soothing and antibacterial! It's also great at pulling moisture away from the skin).


At one point, I even leaned over the changing table so I could squirt some milk onto her heiny.  Breast milk has got some amazing healing capabilities!  But it didn't seem to work for us and our situation...


Her diaper rash was never terrible (minus when it first popped up, when I hadn't realized I had messed up the diapers), but it just wouldn't seem to go away.


So then I bought some disposables.  I so didn't want to do it.  Not to mention the fact that the situation was particularly irritating because of course I have received some flack about using cloth.  So I now feel like I need to defend it!!!  But back to the diaper rash, some family members had suggested that maybe the cloth was the problem because 'they can't ever really get sanitary, disposables are so much more absorbent, and maybe disposables would even help her sleep better at night' (that's a whole other issue...!) blah, blah, blah...


Alas, I went with some more 'natural' disposables, from 7th Generation, and then also plowed through some Huggies Pure and Natural (I have no idea how you disposable diaper using people do it!  They are expensive!)  I tried Desatin (I have no idea how people use that stuff daily either!  It's a mess).  Tried Triple Paste.  Tried A&E.  The diaper rash would always fade away yet still be there, and at times it was occasionally more noticeable than other times.


Did some more research.  Bought some cornstarch, though never used it.  Re-read up on coconut oil.  Um... Hmm... I had bought the kind at the health food store that was specifically for the skin, when come to find out, it was deodorized.  There goes man, messing around with nature again.  Are you kidding me?  So then I went back to the health food store, bought some cold pressed coconut oil used for cooking, slathered it on Silver's bum, and BAM!, couple of diapers later and the rash is almost gone.  For real this time.  And she smells like a pina colada.  :)  So... Life is good.  We love our cloth.


And, as a P.S., let's just say holy cow to the blowouts that Silver had while in the sposies.  She has only maybe had a couple while in cloth.  Those disposables just didn't work out for us so well.  Love cloth.  So much.  The end.

Baby Led Weaning - Quinoa

Made  a dish for the fam that Silver could enjoy too!  The recipe called for brown rice, but i'm not giving Silver that just yet, so instead I substituted quinoa.  Have you heard of this amazing stuff?

Quinoa (it's pronounced keen-wa) is an amino acid-rich (protein) seed that has a fluffy, creamy, slightly crunchy texture and a somewhat nutty flavor when you cook it.  It is a recently rediscovered ancient "grain", dating back over five thousand years and once considered "the gold of the Incas."  It's cool because it contains more high quality protein than any other grain and contains no gluten.

Loved it!  It cooks up just like rice - a cup for a cup.  When you cook it do one part quinoa and one part water, stir it and cover.

I bought the kind from Ancient Harvest because it is pre-washed, so you don't have to rinse it (with other kinds you need to rinse it to remove the natural bitter saponin coating - I thought this might be difficult because they are pretty tiny.)

http://theamateursdish.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/quinoa2.jpg

I made a pilaf with the quinoa and left out some of the things that Silver shouldn't have just yet, like almonds and soy sauce (salt).  So... T.J. thought it was pretty bland.  My mom likes bland though so I gave her some to try and after tasting it she sweetly asked, is it pretty healthy?  Lol.  Yes, it was pretty much straight up vegetables.  :)

That's one thing that's going to be great about baby led weaning for all of us - it's going to keep our healthy eating in check!

Baby Led Weaning - Rolled Oats

Made Silver some rolled oat bars today!  I also learned why it is important to soak oats before you cook with them.

The merits of soaking oats

All grains contain an organic acid known as phytic acid. Phytic acid stops our bodies from efficiently absorbing essential minerals like iron and zinc, which can eventually lead to mineral deficiencies.  Soaking grains reduces their phytic acid, which means that their nutrients can be properly digested and absorbed by the body.

This is by no means a modern concept - our ancestors either soaked or fermented grains before cooking with them - and it is still common practice to do so in many parts of the world.

So, I prepared the soaked oats last night, then this morning I added some water and then boiled it for a bit.  Then I sprinkled a little bit of cinnamon into it and put it into a small 8x8 pan and pressed it down flat with a spatula.  Baked it on 350 for 5 to 10 minutes (just wanted it to thicken up a little bit so that I could cut it into pieces that Silver could pick up without them falling apart too badly).

It was a success!

Baby Led Weaning, Day 1

Silver ate some real food today!  A little bit of cucumber and avocado, more of the avocado.  She made a mess and got more of it on her than in her mouth, but it was so cute!

We're doing baby led weaning, which I've posted about before, but basically Baby Led Weaning means offering your baby (age appropriate) foods that are soft-cooked and sometimes cut or mashed into small easily manageable pieces. You then offer the food to your baby to eat, and then, this is the important part - your baby does the rest. In short, Baby Led Weaning is skipping thin and runny purées and not feeding your baby with a spoon – it's where you rely on your baby to self-regulate and lead the way.

It will be a bit before she's actually eating, instead of playing and discovering, but we will be giving her the opportunity every once in a while.

Yeah... next time mama will remember to roll her sleeves up.

Teeth

SILVER HAS TWO TEETH COMING IN!!!  Oh. my. gosh.  Couldn't even believe it when I discovered them.  She's also been sitting up quite well for several weeks now.  She has the occasional fall over, but for the most part, she's got it!

Silver's First Work of Art

My Mom's Support Group had the best Christmas Party.  We decked the room out in plastic sheeting (just like on Dexter!) and Silver got to do her first ever art project - we finger painted!

Silver was just about five months when we painted, so I was a little nervous since she's sticking EVERYTHING in her mouth.  But we were careful, and one of the mommies found the coolest paint ever (made from fruits and veggies!), Eco-Paint, from Pottery Barn Kids.

It's a powder paint handmade with flour, cornstarch, seaweed, natural and organic fruit, plant and vegetable extracts from beets, spinach, paprika, carrots, purple sweet potato, red cabbage, blueberries and tomatoes.

The babies had the BEST time.  They were quite precious.  And I've gotta say, I'm glad Silver's not crawling yet... It would have made this project a whole lot messier for me!  :)

Silver's First Work of Art!

Our painting buddies

Canvas for Chris at Birth Matters

Baby friends and mommy friends

Silver Rolls Over

SILVER ROLLED OVER FOR THE FIRST TIME TODAY!!!  From front to back.  I couldn't believe it!  Took this picture right after she did it.  The, I put her back on her tummy to see if she could do it again, and she did!

And yes, she's wearing a halloween onesie at the end of November... Don't judge.  It still fits!  :)

Cereal. Or... Not.

The munchkin's four month checkup went really well.  Doc says she's super strong and will probably be an early crawler!  She weighs 15 pounds, 14 ounces (95-97 percentile!) and is 25 inches (75-90 percentile!). She's a healthy, growing girl who's showing us new things she's learning everyday!

Doc also said we can start silver on 'solids' now starting with rice cereal.  But... we're not going to be participating in that.  Rice cereal is just not necessary for breastfed babies.  There is little to no nutritional value, with the exception of iron, which generally causes constipation.  It's like empty calories, and since Silver's obviously growing quite well, we're skipping the rice cereal and waiting for something of more value.

While I'm at it, I'll go ahead and take a second to introduce what we will be doing with Silver, which I'm very excited about: Baby Led Weaning!!!

Baby Led Weaning means offering your baby (age appropriate) foods that are soft-cooked and sometimes cut or mashed into small easily manageable pieces. You then offer the food to your baby to eat, and then, this is the important part - your baby does the rest.  In short, Baby Led Weaning is skipping thin and runny purées and not feeding your baby with a spoon – it's where you rely on your baby to self-regulate and lead the way.

I am very excited about this!  It's cool for lots of reasons.  We will be starting when Silver starts giving me some signs - sitting up on her own (without tripod-ing it), getting some teeth, getting her hand/eye coordination down to where she can get objects to her mouth...

It's funny how many people have already freaked out because we're waiting to do food - maybe even until Silver is one, who knows, we're playing it by ear folks.  But, the good news is, I'm a huge researcher and am not going into this uneducated.  Baby led weaning makes tons of sense!  And it's how people did things before technology took over, which makes me love it all the more.

Here are the top ten benefits, according to Gill Rapley, the author of the book Baby-led Weaning.

It’s enjoyable!

• BLW babies look forward to eating; they enjoy learning about different foods and doing things for themselves
• Playing an active part in mealtimes and being in control of what to eat, how much to eat and how fast to eat it make eating more enjoyable; the opposite can make mealtimes miserable
• Being able to watch their child learn about food, without any pressure to ‘get her to eat’, means that mealtimes can be enjoyable for parents too

It’s natural

• Babies follow their instincts to eat when they’re ready – just like any other baby animal
• BLW uses the skills that all healthy babies are developing in the second half of their first year to help them to explore food at their own pace
• BLW allows babies to follow their instincts to use their hands and their mouths to find out about all sorts of objects, including food

Learning to enjoy and trust food

• With spoon-feeding all the tastes are puréed into one; BLW babies can discover different tastes and begin to learn how to recognise foods they like
• BLW babies are keen to try new foods; they rarely become ‘picky’ eaters or suspicious of food as toddlers – probably because they are allowed to use their instincts to decide what to eat and what to leave
• Enjoying a broad range of food is good for babies’ long-term nutrition as well as their enjoyment of eating

Learning to eat

• BLW babies learn to manage different shapes and textures of food from the very beginning, so they quickly become skilled at dealing with a broad range of foods
• Handling food himself and then putting it in his mouth helps a baby to work out how to manage foods of different sizes, shapes and textures
• BLW babies learn how to move food around inside their mouths and how much they can safely put in; they tend to bite off small pieces to chew, whereas older babies who have been spoon fed often over-stuff their mouths when they are first allowed to feed themselves
• Learning to chew effectively makes it more likely that babies will get all the nutrients they need – and it helps digestion too
• Practising chewing as soon as they are ready helps babies to develop the facial muscles that will be needed as they learn to talk

Learning about their world

• For babies, play is essential to learning; they learn about concepts such as less and more, size, shape, weight, texture and gravity just by ‘playing’ with their food
• Because all their senses (sight, touch, hearing, smell and taste) are involved when they feed themselves, babies discover how to relate all these things together for a better understanding of the world around them

Reaching potential

• BLW babies practise hand-eye coordination every time they use their fingers to take food to their mouths
• Gripping foods of different sizes and textures several times a day improves babies’ dexterity
• Allowing babies to do things for themselves helps them to learn and gives them confidence in their own abilities and judgement

Being part of family meals

• Being included in family mealtimes, eating the same food and joining in the social time is fun for babies
• Babies copy mealtime behaviour, so they naturally move on to using cutlery and adopt the table manners expected in their family
• BLW babies learn about how different foods are eaten, how to share, wait their turn and how to make conversation
• Sharing mealtimes has a positive impact on family relationships, social skills, language development and healthy eating

Developing healthy eating habits

• Allowing babies to choose what to eat from a range of nutritious foods, to eat at their own pace, and to decide when they’ve had enough helps them to develop natural appetite control. This may be an important part of preventing food conflicts and obesity when they are older
• Because they are involved in shared, healthy meals from the beginning, BLW babies are less likely to choose unhealthy foods when they are older (or to need separate ‘kids’ food’) and are therefore more likely to be better nourished, long term

Easier, less complicated meals

• Puréeing food is time-consuming and fiddly, and can be expensive. With BLW, it just isn’t necessary. Provided the parents’ diet is healthy, they can easily adapt their meals for their baby
• Eating out is easier too. BLW babies are used to eating round the table with adults and they enjoy ‘grown-up’ food – so families aren’t limited to restaurants with a ‘kids’ menu’
• With BLW everyone eats together; the grown-ups don’t have to spoon-feed the baby while their own dinner goes cold and everyone is part of what’s going on

No mealtime battles

• When there is no pressure on babies to eat, there is no opportunity for mealtimes to become a battleground, so problems such as food refusal and food phobias are much less likely
• BLW respects babies’ decisions about what to eat (or not to eat) and when to stop eating, so there is no need for games (“Here comes the train!”) to try to fool a baby into accepting food she doesn’t want or to ‘trick’ toddlers into eating healthily
• The whole family can enjoy stress-free meals together, meaning relaxed parents and happy children