Goin' Swimmin'

For the past three years, we've spent the weekend of the 4th with a set of family friends in Mt. Hope.  We were very excited to come back this year as a family of three!

First we had to get Gideon all decked out in appropriate sun protective gear.  Poor kid has alabaster skin, just like his momma.  

Check out those cool sunglasses!  We got him some that actually wrap around his head so that he won't pull them off.

Keith tried dipping Gideon's toes in the water first to see how he would react.  He wasn't very impressed.

He was content to sit on Daddy's lap for a family photo.

We walked around the pool and let him splash his feet in the water.  He was very content to do little splashes.  We even played "washing machine."

And then he let me push him around on a float.  He seemed pretty content in this big float- he did NOT like the "kiddie" float we tried to put him in first. 

Overall, Gideon was a great little boy for our day trip.  There was so much activity that he didn't want to sleep, so he's made up for missed sleep today.  We look forward to more fun swimming trips here soon!

7 Months Old

Our sweet little boy is 7 months old!  Here are a few updates...

Sizes?  Size 6 or 9 month clothes- he just wears what fits since sizes vary between manufacturers.  Size 2 diapers during the day, and size 3 at night.

Eating?  He nurses once a day, and receives three additional formula bottles a day (8 oz).  He's on a pretty great schedule- 6, 10, 2, and 6.  He gets two solid meals a day, as well as snacks of puffs or teething biscuits.  I'm also letting him try to eat some finger foods, and he's done great with fruit.  He's eaten a whole banana (cut into small pieces), a pear fruit cup, and a peach fruit cup.  I'm feeding him fruit packed in water with no added sugar, and breaking the larger fruit pieces into smaller chunks- he loves to pick up the pieces and feed himself!

Sleeping?  Like a champ!  Bedtime is at 6:30 pm, and he'll sleep until 6:30 am.  He also takes a short morning nap and a longer afternoon nap.   I love that he's such an easy baby to put to sleep- we just lay him down, give him his WubbaNub, crank the mobile, turn on the sound machine, and make a hasty exit (I promise that only takes 10 seconds in real life- it looks complicated in print).  He'll talk to his mobile for a little while, but then settle right down and go to sleep.

Favorite things?  Our dogs- He grins bigger for the dogs than anything else.  He also loves to play with his blocks from Mimi and Pop, his Sophie the Giraffe, and his push toy that makes a lot of noise.

New this month?
-First sick visit to the pediatrician for some diaper rash that just wouldn't clear up.
-First date night out for mom and dad, which meant babysitting from his sweet great aunt.
-First trip to the dog park to let the puppies play.

We also got to celebrate Keith's first father's day this month!  We even made a fun Auburn-inspired craft for Keith to place in his office.

How did we live before Pinterest?  I mean, really?

"What did you do to my feet, mommy?"

"I can make my Bumbo turn ORANGE!"

Totally unrelated to our craft and a blurry photo, but too cute not to post.  Look at this cutie pie!

I have the most precious little boy in the world.  I am so blessed to have him in my life.

More Baby Food

I'm two months in to homemade baby food making, and I still love preparing all of little man's food for him.  Just look at how pretty these purees are!

From top to bottom, left to right, potato-carrot-corn, strawberry, broccoli, mango, nectarine-strawberry, parsnip, cherry-banana, carrot.

Some other purees I've made that he's loved have included strawberry-blueberry, mango-banana, and blueberry-banana.

One of my baby food making books says that purees containing bananas aren't suitable for freezing.  I couldn't think of a reason why Gideon couldn't eat previously frozen bananas, other than freezing then thawing bananas changes the texture.  Little man LOVES banana containing purees.  (If I want to make just plain banana, I smush a banana with a fork and serve.  I don't prepare plain banana puree in advance).

Some tricks I've learned along the way with my most recent batches of food-

-Corn needs to be processed through a food mill or pressed through a sieve before freezing for texture.  I should've done this when I prepared english peas, as well.

-Strawberries are in season, so I've made multiple strawberry-containing purees.  It's a huge advantage of homemade baby food making- prepare what's in season for a HUGE cost savings!

-Nectarines peel easily if the peels are scored on the bottom, the nectarines are placed in boiling water for a minute, and then removed and placed immediately in ice water.  The skin just falls off.

-Peeled nectarines are slippery.  

-My dogs really like nectarines.

A few days ago I was in Target, and a mom walked past me on the baby aisle saying she was looking for mango baby food.  She continued to explain how mango was her son's favorite, but she had a really hard time finding mango puree.  This past week mangos were 10 for $10 at Publix, so for four dollars, I made six to eight servings of mango baby food, without having to search high and low for it!  Yet another homemade baby food advantage!

I think his current favorite is the cherry-banana.  The first time he tried it, he tried to steal the bowl away from me and grab the spoon.  See?

Bless him, if only I had a spoon-straw.

I'm looking forward to trying some new recipes in the coming weeks.  I'd really like to try making a puree from kale, and I can't wait until peaches are in season.

Slow down, time!

Oh my gracious little boy is growing up so fast!  Look at these neat accomplishments!

                                            Holding and manipulating Sophie the Giraffe

                                                         Playing in my activity center

                                                          And sitting all by myself!

"The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow, for babies grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.  So quiet down, cobwebs.  Dust go to sleep.  I'm rocking my baby, and babies don't keep."

How is he 6 months old already?

I cannot believe we have had our precious baby for 6 months now; it does not feel like 6 months has passed!  He is such an incredible blessing!

Sizes?  We have our six month appointment tomorrow to find out an updated weight/length, but right now sizes are kind of hard to determine -- one brand's 3-6 months is another brand's 6 months which is another brand's 6-9 months.  Who knows?  He wears what fits.  I can definitely tell he's grown!

Eating?  Gideon is 75% formula fed and 25% breast fed.  He nurses once per day, then receives 3 other formula bottles throughout the day (6-8 oz a bottle).  He also eats two solid meals per day, with oatmeal or rice cereal mixed with some fruit around lunch time, and a veggie around dinner time.  He likes to play with baby "snacks" like Gerber puffs and yogurt drops, and we even tried out a mesh feeder today with some cut up strawberry dropped in.  He LOVED it!  Gideon is definitely an eater, and will try to eat anything that he sees you eating.  He's gone after my hot tea recently, and tried very hard to steal some Fritos off my plate at a church social today.

Favorite foods?  Banana-blueberry puree and banana-mango puree are favorites right now.

Least favorite foods?  He doesn't like green vegetables right now.  I think it's a texture issue more than a taste issue- a small downside of homemade baby food making.

Favorite toys?  Gideon still loves his crinkly giraffe; he snuggles with it at bedtime.  He also loves his activity gyms that have items hanging down, and works very hard to try to pull the items off of the gyms.  His train from grandma is always a favorite, especially once he realized that it makes noise if he pushes it off of his high chair.  He'll play with pretty much anything these days- a recent favorite is a wooden spoon.

Other favorite things?  Our labrador, Benelli.  Gideon smiles his biggest smile for Nelli dog.  He likes to put his hands on her cheeks, and Nelli responds with lots and lots of kisses.  They are so sweet together!  I'm hoping Nelli will be good crawling/walking incentive in a little while.  (Gideon also likes our other dog, Lucy, but since Lucy is not quite a year old, she's still a puppy and very clumsy.  We don't trust her as easily with Gideon, yet).

Developmental milestones?
-Learning to use a sippy cup.  He can get it to his mouth without help, but since we usually just have a small amount of water in the bottom, he needs help to get the cup angled to where he can drink.
-Some self-feeding.  He can get a "wagon wheel" snack in his mouth and feed it to himself.  He also held his mesh feeder without help.
-Sitting in a bumbo seat for extended periods
-ALMOST sitting without support.  There have been a few times recently where he's been sitting with me just using a finger or two to keep him balanced.
-Lots of different noises!  I love to hear him "talk" to his mobile/toys/dogs.
-Distance vision- I noticed today at church that while we were a half a room's length apart from each other, he found me in a group of ladies and was focused on me.

He is such a precious little boy!  I just love being a mommy!

Gideon's Baby Dedication

Gideon was dedicated to the Lord this morning at church- something I'd been looking forward to for a long time.

However, I was a little sad this morning coming to church.  Since one grandfather is a pastor and another grandfather is a nurse practitioner who was scheduled at the hospital, we knew that extended family would not be able to make it up for the service, and I was thinking today how I wished his family could be here with us.  Then we walked into the church building.  Immediately, we were greeted by various "aunts" and "uncles" who approached Gideon, and I realized what a blessing we have here- an incredible church family who loves Gideon almost as much as we do.  How wonderful to be surrounded by people who care so deeply for your family!

For those unfamiliar with a baby dedication service, a baby dedication is designed to give parents the opportunity to publicly commit to raising their child in a Godly home, and to give the church body the opportunity to stand behind the family and hold them accountable for raising their child to fear and love the Lord.  Having Gideon dedicated does not ensure that I will get to see him again in heaven one day; that decision will be up to him when he's older.  I pray daily that he will chose to follow the Lord, as his parents have.

After we were called on stage, Gideon was presented to the church and we received a small gift to share with him- a storybook Bible (he's got quite a collection of those, now!), a small New Testament with his name engraved on it, and a letter for him to open the day he decides to follow Jesus.  I cannot wait for that day!  The pastor prayed over us, and then we took Gideon to the nursery.

(Burp cloths- Spring 2013's hottest accessory) 

We understand that it is not the church's responsibility to fully shape Gideon's spiritual growth- that responsibility ultimately lies with us, his parents- but we are so blessed to have a church family walking with us.  Even now, we're trying to teach Gideon about how much Jesus loves him.  We pray with him and over him, we read to him from his storybook Bible, and we sing songs about how much Jesus loves him.  I pray that the simple truths we're repeating day after day will be truths he'll grow to understand.

"God loves Gideon.  God loves Gideon.  In your Bible book it says that God loves Gideon."

What a blessing he is.  The time we have with him is moving so quickly.

Baby Food- Prep Day 2

Since I was off today, I spent a few minutes making some more baby food for Gideon.  I decided to make a few single vegetable purees, as well as some blended fruits.  I'm excited for Gideon to have more variety in his diet; we'll see what foods he likes next!

Prep Day 2
Spent- Approximately $7
Yield- Approximately 50 oz
Time- 30-45 minutes

Green Bean Puree
- Prepare 1 bag of "steam in bag" green beans, puree until smooth, and add water to desired texture.  Place in ice cube trays and freeze.  Yield- 1 ice cube tray

Carrot Puree
-Peel 1 bag of carrots and cut into cubes.  Steam until soft.  Puree until smooth, adding water if necessary.  Yield- 1 ice cube tray
*I'd done some research which suggested that the nitrates in soil could precipitate certain types of anemias in infants who ate home prepared carrots.  My pediatrician didn't seem alarmed about my wanting to prepare my own baby food, and said that this risk was very small.  To make the risk of anemia even smaller, I prepared this recipe with organic carrots, and thinned the puree with fresh water (instead of residual cooking liquid).

Banana-Blueberry Puree
-Cook 1/2 cup blueberries over low heat with a small amount of water until soft.  Puree with 3 peeled bananas.  Yield- 1 ice cube tray.  (These are VERY yummy!)

Strawberry-Plum Puree
-Peel, cube and steam 4 plums, as well as 12 fresh strawberries.  Puree until smooth.  Yield- 1 ice cube tray.  (This makes a very pretty puree, and it tastes very yummy, too!)
*Strawberries used to be a "Forbidden Food" due to the risk of food allergies.  Some recent publications from the AAP suggest that after exclusively breast feeding for at least 4 months, there are no protective benefits from withholding certain foods from a baby's diet (with the obvious exceptions of things that could cause a child harm, like honey).  There is additional evidence that suggests that cooking strawberries reduces their allergenic potential.  Since there are zero food allergies on either side of Gideon's family, and our pediatrician did not suggest that we withhold strawberries until 1 year old, I was okay with introducing them.

Simple avocado puree
-Smush up 1/2 avocado.  Serve.
*I'd read that due to the high fat content of avocado, this puree is nutritionally similar to breast milk.  I know of other mommies who mix avocado with banana.  I know several babies who LOVE mashed avocado; Gideon was less than impressed.

We've also added a new snack food to Gideon's diet- Gerber Graduate Puffs.  He REALLY likes them.  He also tried to steal my Earl Grey tea yesterday morning.

Little boy is growing up so fast!