Homemade Baby Food : Sweet Potatoes

So, instead of making a second batch of applesauce using a different kind of apple, I decided to skip it and go with sweet potatoes next. I bought one medium sized sweet potato (or yam) and peeled it, cut it up, and steamed and pureed it in the Beaba Babycook. I ended up adding quite a bit of water to the puree to get it to a consistency that was smooth and not super thick. This one sweet potato (and all the water I added) made enough servings for over two weeks!

Day 1, Mommy holds it.

She likes it!

I reserved one serving of the puree to feed to L that day and froze the rest in an ice cube tray. She didn't seem to enjoy the sweet potato puree on that first day, her reaction was very similar to the applesauce (made a face, didn't want anything to do with it after the first taste). The next day I tried something a little different, it's been pretty hot lately, so I figured I'd just give her the frozen cube of the puree and see what she did with it. I thought she might like it better than eating something hot on a hot day. To my complete surprise, she really liked it! I held the cube for her and she kind of sucked on it, which melted the sweet potatoes in her mouth. She must have liked the taste because she kept on wanting to continue sucking on the cube. I held it mostly for her that first day, but in the following days she has been attempting to hold and pick up the cube herself! I'm really excited because to me that seems like a great transition into baby-led weaning! She's had the frozen sweet potatoes every day for the past five days or so and is still seeming to enjoy them!

Day 5, getting real good at holding it herself!

*I've been taking videos of her eating and I hope to upload them to youtube to document our BLW journey, I'll post them when they're up!*

Adventures in Home Made Baby Food

One of the most wonderful things about getting to stay at home with my little muffin for her first 8 months is that I get to try my hand at making food for her. I really enjoy cooking for my husband and myself, so naturally I was excited about the prospect of making my own baby food when the time came. Welp, the time has come!

I have been exclusively breastfeeding Laurel, and I'm really proud of that. Before she was born I attended a breastfeeding class offered to expectant mothers at the hospital we were delivering at, I even dragged my hubby along! (He was very well-behaved, but he told me afterward that there were a lot of boobie jokes he had to hold in). After reading all the positives associated with breastfeeding I was really committed to stick it out through any difficulties and give it my best shot. Our hospital really advocates for immediate skin-to-skin, so I was able to hold her on me right away, and breast feed her within an hour after her birth. The first days in the hospital were a little rocky, and I'm so thankful to the nurses and lactation consultants that helped L and me get the hang of things. Now when I nurse her its old hat for both of us.

Originally I wasn't going to start giving L any solids until 6 months. I was very surprised when our pediatrician told us to go ahead and start with solids at her 4 month appointment. She said that between 4 and 6 months babies are open to trying new flavors and textures, and she said she'd start with single grain cereals, then fruit, then yellow vegetables followed by green veggies, giving Laurel a week with a particular food before moving to a new one. Laurel had been showing interest in what I had been eating, but I still waited a few weeks before starting her on rice cereal.

I made my own rice cereal by grinding single grain organic brown rice into a powder and then cooking with with water on the stovetop. I then froze tablespoon size portions in an ice cube tray. I made her barley cereal the same way. I used recipes found in this book, which I love! (It was a gift from my brother-in-law and his wife, along with a Beaba Babycook). When I fed her the rice and barley cereals I mixed them with some breastmilk, which gave the cereals a familiar taste, and she seemed to enjoy eating, though I don't think she actually got much into her belly! Haha!

Well, this week I made applesauce. I used 1 McIntosh apple (this cookbook recommends McIntosh, Pink Lady, or Gala apples, as they tend to be sweeter and less tart than say a Granny Smith) and made it in the Babycook. It was super easy, and the applesauce came out beautiful (and delicious - I had to try it!). The one apple made enough applesauce for about 5 tablespoon size servings, which I also froze. So far L doesn't seem to be liking the applesauce! She makes a horrible face after the first taste, and then doesn't seem interested in having any more, unlike with the cereal where she happily opened up her mouth and kept coming back for more! I think it's because the apples are a little tart, and its a completely new taste for her, the cereals probably tasted mostly like breastmilk, but this apple flavor is totally different. I plan on making a new batch of applesauce with a Gala apple and see if she prefers that one better, if she doesn't then no big deal.

 When she hits the six month mark in a week or so I plan to start Baby Led Weaning (BLW). It's not really weaning, it should really be called Baby Led  Self Feeding. Pretty much the idea is you don't give the baby pureed food, you give them a soft but firm item and let them go to town. If they like it they'll eat it, if they don't then they won't (which is where I got the mindset to not stress about the applesauce). As the baby's teeth emerge and their pincher grip develop you change the size and firmness of the food you give them. BLW is said to help develop a strong pincher grip, and to expose babies to different flavors helping them to be more adventurous and less picky in their food choices. Right from the start you give baby a softer version of something you're eating, there's no need to make a special meal for him or her (which can become a whole other thing later on!) And just like making your own baby food, since you are the one preparing dinner, you know what is going into your baby's body (there's an article in the July issue of Parents Magazine about food dyes - it's pretty intimidating). Another plus is that the baby feeds themselves! The parent doesn't have to sit there and spoon feed, which means its likely we can all enjoy eating at the same time! I'm really excited to try it, and there's really no downfall if it takes her a while to get it since she will be getting her main calories from breastmilk still. I can't wait to try it and let you know how it goes!

Has anyone else tried making their own baby food, or tried BLW? How did it go? Any tips, tricks or resources you'd like to share?

What's in a Name?

Personally, I think choosing a name for your little bundle of joy is one of the most exciting parts of becoming a parent. The name you choose for your child becomes such a huge part of their personality, and it's crazy to think each of our names is chosen by our parents. Its truly one of the things you don't have any control over whether you love it or hate it.
My husband and I had agreed on our girl's name much earlier than a name for a little boy. Don't get me wrong, we disagreed on a number of names before we came to our decisions but it's like a wedding dress, you just know when it's the right one. So how did we get to Laurel?

I wanted my daughter's name to have some significance and to stand out, but without being too obscure. It's a lot of reponsibility to choose what another person is going to be called for life, you want to make sure you're not setting them up for mockery or limiting their potential success. I was named Jennifer because at the time everyone on my dad's side of the family had the initials J.C. He wanted to carry on that family tradition, and that has always made me feel like my run-of-the-mill name has some special meaning. I was able to have a name that wasn't "weird", since Jennifer was easily one of the most popular girl's names of the mid-80's, but still had meaning behind it. We chose Laurel because it represents a phonetic combination of our mothers' names, Lori and Carol. We went with a traditional spelling, instead of combining how we spell each of our mom's names, so Laurel wouldn't have to be correcting people for the rest of her life. Some other positives of Laurel are that it's not a super common name (I only know one Laurel) and it's also a beautiful flower! Her middle name is a tribute to my husband's late grandfather, whom we were both close with.

Actually one of my reasons for choosing Laurel as a name for our girl was the possibility of calling her "L" as a nickname. I often refer to my husband by his first initial, and when I had been creating my list of possible girl's names I liked "Elle". However, knowing my husband's taste, I was pretty sure he wouldn't agree to that name. So I knew if we used a name that started with an L I would reap the benefit of a slightly sneaky by-product. What's really funny now that she's here is that my husband calls her "L" much more than I do, and I have ended up with all sorts of other nicknames for her! And, just the other week my hubby made a comment about how much he likes being able to call her "L" :)
How did you come up with names for your little ones? Do remember the other contenders, or the names you had for a baby of the opposite gender? (We were debating on Finn, or Seamus for a boy) Do you think your child fits their name? I'm always interested in how people come to land on their children's names!