I Feed Myself!

Jackson's new M.O.? Trying to feed himself! Luckily we bought one of those "self-feeding" spoons awhile back that keep him from jamming the whole thing down his throat. Quite the mess, but also pretty darn cute.

Creating a Healthy Eater

I was recently introduced to an awesome new website from the UK called "Little People's Plates." It's an awesome resource for ideas on how to get your toddler to eat a healthier, more rounded diet and is right up my alley. I blog a lot about how much we want Jackson to start eating right from the start- which includes making all of his baby food ourselves, breastfeeding for the first year, and sticking to a 100% organic diet (him and I). This is all well and good, but I know things get enormously more complicated when the toddler years hit and major food preferences starting rearing their little heads. One of my favorite parts of the website is called "Ten Steps for Healthy Toddlers" and lists a variety of tips for ensuring that your toddler, ages 1-3, is eating as healthy as possible. Here are their ten steps:
1. Eat together as a family and make mealtimes relaxed, happy occasions.
2. You decide which nutritious foods to offer but let your toddler decide how much to eat.
3. Offer foods from all 5 food groups each day.
4. Have a routine and offer 3 meals and 2 snacks each day.
5. Offer 6-8 drinks a day.
6. Give vitamins A & D each day.
7. Respect your toddlers' tastes and preferences- don't force feed.
8. Reward your child with your attention- never use food and drink as rewards or treats.
9. Limit (junk food)
10. An hour of active play every day and about 12 hours of sleep.

Great advice and I think people could use more of it! I read another study recently that found that the vegetable eaten most often by toddler ages 1-3 are french fries! Are you kidding me?! Another fantastic part of the website is a Tot It Up Calculator" that allows you to analyze what your toddler is eating from each of the 5 food groups and ensure that they have a balanced diet. Want to learn more about instilling healthy eating habits in your child? Head over to Little People's Plates for more great advice, helpful printables, and real-world advice!

How to Make Your Own Baby Food

One of my favorite things is being able to make my own baby food for Jackson. Commerical baby food is often loaded with preservatives, sugar, and other icky ingredients that I wouldn't want to eat, much less my baby. Ryan and I try to eat as many organic foods as possible and we try to ensure that Jackson eats only organic baby foods too. Making your own baby food is extremely easy (and rewarding)! Here are the steps I follow when making my own:

1. Choose fresh, organic fruits or vegetables. Wash, dry, and cut into small chunks (peel if necessary).

2. Steam the fruit or veggie according to the instructions on your steamer. I generally steam for 30-35 minutes in a stainless steel steamer. Those plastic steamer baggies are tempting and quick but leach potentially harmful chemicals (including BPA!) into your produce.

3. Once steamed, add the fruit or veggie to a food processor (I use a Kitchen Aid one) and puree until smooth.

4. Add breast milk or formula to the puree until it's thin enough for your baby to handle.

5. Once the puree has cooled you can transfer it to a silicone ice cube tray or baby food cubes to be frozen for later use.

6. Once the purees are frozen I like to transfer them to ziploc baggies labeled with the food and the date that they must be used by (usually three months after making the puree).

7. To defrost simply pop a couple of cubes in a BPA free dish (Sassy makes great ones) and microwave for 30-60 seconds. Make sure to stir thoroughly to eliminate any hot spots and test to make sure it's not too warm.

I've made green beans, peas, bananas, apples, pears, zucchini, carrots, and sweet potatoes using this method and Jackson loves all of the food I've served him so far! I think that homemade baby food is more nutritional and flavorful than jarred foods. It also exposes babies to a much wider variety of tastes and textures, which can lead to better eating habits later in life!

Eating Solids- Advice Needed!

So Jackson has now been eating solids for about a month now and things are going SO well! He absolutely loves all of the food we've made him so far and gobbles them up every night for dinner. He currently eats 2 tablespoons of cereal (organic Earth's Best oatmeal or Happy Baby Organic Brown Rice) with a couple tablespoons of a fruit or veggie. So far he's eaten bananas, apples, and pears for fruits and peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, and zucchini for veggies. So my question is when do we start adding in another meal? We are still exclusively breastfeeding (aside from his dinner at night) and I want him to be nursing as his primary source of nutrients until he's a year old. He does seem ready for more food though and I'd like to start giving him breakfast in the morning. Any ideas or suggestions? The next foods we're going to be trying are avacados and peaches. Any other suggestions for good "second stage" foods to try? He's been sitting independently for a month now and is scooting all over the house, so I think he's about ready to move on to slightly chunkier purees. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Dinner Time

This is what dinner time looks like when Daddy tries to feed me!

My New High Chair

Doesn't Jackson look adorable in his new high chair? It was such a great deal- I found it on Craigslist for only $65!

First Solids

We tried the rice cereal for the first time last night and it was a hit! Jackson gobbled it up like a champ and genuinely seemed to enjoy trying it. We're going to try it out for the next three nights for dinner to make sure there's no allergies and then it's on to peas and then green beans. I used the steamer and food processor to whip up a batch of each this morning and it was easy! Two cups of peas or green beans is enough to make 10 servings of baby food which not only saves us a ton of money (one small jar of organic baby food goes for $1.29) but it's also peace of mind knowing exactly what's in his food. This is the only time I can control what goes in Jackson's mouth and I plan to take full advantage of it! We're sticking to only organic foods and homemade ones as much as possible. After he gets used to the veggies we'll try fruits next. I can't wait to start making the recipes in his different baby food cookbooks!

It's Time for Solids!

So we had Jackson's four month check-up on Monday and the doctor gave us the go-ahead to start solids! Yippee! We are planning on making all of Jackson's baby food and I have been drooling over the assorted baby food cookbooks I've been collecting since I found we were expecting. We decided against shelling out for the $150 Beaba Baby Cook and instead went with a Kitchen Aid Food Processor (much more versatile) and a rice cooker/steamer combo. The first thing we'll start him on is Earth's Best Organic Whole Grain Rice and then try oatmeal after that. I want to stick with organic food as much as possible, so we also bought organic peas and green beans to use for his first tastes. The doctor told us that if we could get him to eat these two foods he'll eat anything! My other obsession for when we're time-crunched (when are we not?!) is the Happy Baby line of frozen organic baby foods. We bought the First Tastes pear and sweet potatoes (at Target, my favorite store!) and are SO excited for Jackson to try them! I love that they're organic with no added ingredients. If you want to win the entire line of Happy Baby foods, head over to Momma Maven in the Making for the contest she's holding right now! You'll also get the new recipe book co-authored by Dr. Sears and an Eric Carle growth chart! Here's the link to her contest- http://themommamaven.blogspot.com/2010/05/giveaway-week-happy-baby-yo-baby.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MommaMavenInTheMaking+%28Momma+Maven+In+The+Making%21%29. As soon as Jackson clears up this cold and starts feeling like himself again we'll try the cereal and post pictures!

Baby Food Obsession!

So Jackson won't be starting solids until he's at least 6 months old (exclusively breastfeeding until this point reduces the chances of him developing allergies and diabetes, both of which run on Ryan's side), which is stil 3 1/2 months away. But that doesn't stop me from obsessing over all of the cool gadgets you can use to make your own baby food. I got the cookbook "Top 100 Baby Purees" and "Cooking for Baby."

One of my friends also got me the coolest cubes that you freeze food in, so now all I need is an amazing baby food maker like the Beaba Babycook. Technically you can just steam all the foods in your microwave and then puree them in a food processor. But the Beaba is so cute and it's all-in-one! Here are its features:

The Beaba Babycook™ (BPA-Free) Babyfood Maker is a one-of-a-kind, compact appliance that steams, purees, defrosts and re-heats the freshest, healthiest food for your baby. It enables parents to provide the best ingredients for their baby's food at a fraction of the cost of jarred foods! Not only does preparing baby's food save families money, it also drastically cuts down on packaging and waste.
Vegetables, fruits and meats steam in less than 15 minutes and retain their vitamins and flavors. After blending them to the desired consistency, parents can freeze extra portions and later use their Babycook to quickly defrost and reheat previously prepared food.


Amazing! I also love that it's BPA free (hard to find in plastic steamers) and easy to clean. For some reason I'm just enchanted with this machine, but not it's $150 price tag (absurd!). I'm on a mission to find one on eBay and I currently have my eye on one that is only at $0.99 right now! I'm also planting zucchini so that I can use them for Jackson's baby food! Some of the other foods I can't wait to make his first tastes are oatmeal (using steel cut oats), rice cereal (using brown rice instead of white), applesauce puree, and sweet pear puree. So fun!

Bottlefeeding Success!

In preparation for returning to work in 6 weeks Ryan and I have been unsuccessfully trying to introduce a bottle to Jackson. I have already begun stockpiling and freezing my pumped milk, but in order to get it into Jackson he has to be able to take a bottle. Well, easier said than done. The first few brands we tried (Avent and First Years' Breastflow) were met with howls of outrage. I then made a trip to Target and bought one of every brand they offered in hopes that one would work. We've been trying one at a time and finally found one that he likes, the NUK brand! We still experienced some howling, but he did manage to finish the entire bottle, which we've never accomplished before. So cross your fingers that he doesn't change his mind tomorrow because I'm running out of different bottles!