My parents and I took Ivy to a local fountain park for some more water fun!
Monday, June 28, 2010
Summer Fun
Ryan and I took Ivy swimming for the first time a week ago. Her floaty was/is HUGE. She was okay with everything at first and then figured out that this was meant to be fun and ended up splashing Daddy really good!
My parents and I took Ivy to a local fountain park for some more water fun!
My parents and I took Ivy to a local fountain park for some more water fun!
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Being the Mother of a Girl
This is totally something I would have loved as a little girl - DIY Play Kitchens. Will Ivy be a girly-girl? Or will she be a tomboy?
One thing I thought of that didn't occur to me until this week is hair. I've never been one to do my own hair. I never had girlfriends to do their hair. I never was interested in kids enough (as a younger adult or older teen) to mess with little girls hair. There are things that I know how to do, but executing them? Not so much. Poor Ivy is going to have some weird hair. I'm pretty sure it's going to be wavy. She has a swirl and a huge cow-lick just like me. And you can't do anything to it unless it's wet. Oh gosh. Later in her life, I hope she has girlfriends who will show her how to do her own hair and will let her do their hair. Until then, I hope I can do what she wants or likes to an acceptable standard.
See, here's what I wasn't considering at all. I always thought (and completely accepted) that I would have boys. This hair thing never entered my mind.
One thing I thought of that didn't occur to me until this week is hair. I've never been one to do my own hair. I never had girlfriends to do their hair. I never was interested in kids enough (as a younger adult or older teen) to mess with little girls hair. There are things that I know how to do, but executing them? Not so much. Poor Ivy is going to have some weird hair. I'm pretty sure it's going to be wavy. She has a swirl and a huge cow-lick just like me. And you can't do anything to it unless it's wet. Oh gosh. Later in her life, I hope she has girlfriends who will show her how to do her own hair and will let her do their hair. Until then, I hope I can do what she wants or likes to an acceptable standard.
See, here's what I wasn't considering at all. I always thought (and completely accepted) that I would have boys. This hair thing never entered my mind.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Let's Make Baby Food!
Today, I decided to finally document the baby food adventures. I started at 1:30 pm and finished at 2:45 pm. An hour and fifteen minutes... That's a shopping trip. For today's baby food cooking mini-session, apples.
Gather your equipment.
Cutting board, pot, vegetable peeler, knife (use a chef's knife, not a steak knife - this was the only knife I could find... I'm not at home) and apples.
Ryan saw an article that if you're making baby food, there are certain things you buy organic. Apples are one of them. These are fuji apples, a mildly sweet taste.
Grab your vegetable peeler and get to peeling.
(This is my intense work face)
If you're going to be making a lot of your own baby food, you should definitely invest in a good peeler. I used an old one that was completely made of metal. Not fun. This red one has a great handle. Very comfortable.
Don't worry about getting all the peel off at the top and bottom. We'll just cut that away later.
Cut your apples in half.
This is where the chef's knife would come in handy. It was such a pain cutting these large apples with a steak knife. Not made for this job.
Lay the half down and cut into fourths.
Then remove the core with a slight diagonal cut.
Cut the quarters (eighths really) into chunks. Make sure you cut away any questionable areas and leftover skin.
Feel free to taste test (uh, I love apples).
Give them a good rinse and just cover with water.
Boil on high for... oh 10 minutes.
This is the perfect time to clean up what you've used so far. This is a concept that my advanced foods class couldn't quite comprehend even after several time management essays. They lost kitchen privileges.
Ah, look at that perfect boil.
Still a way to go, get one of these out. You can use a food processor or a blender (which is what I use at home). Do you see any specialized equipment here? No. No hand food grinders. No specialized baby food steamers. And later, no special prepared baby food freezing containers.
Test for done-ness. If you insert a fork, does it give? Is it soft? Here, not so much.
I'm furiously texting my mom at this point.
When I cook, I cook by smell. Can I smell the food? Then it's done. I can smell apples in the air! (This is my intense food-sniffing face.)
Apple chunks into the food processor.
Reserve the cooking liquid.
Boiling food releases vitamins into the cooking water and water seeps into the food. Reserving the liquid helps you retain some vitamins. You can add those vitamins back into the food during the processing by adding that water if the food isn't moist enough.
I'm ready. Machine is ready. Are YOU ready?
Here we go!
No more apple chunks.
Looks like applesauce. That's what it should be.
I think it's a bit dry though so I add a little of that reserved water.
Go ahead and taste it. My motto, I won't feed it to Ivy if I won't taste it. I did taste this. I also tasted so I could do this...
Yes, it was cool enough. And yes, she seems to like it.
I pour the applesauce into a more manageable container to better pour with.
And then I pour the sauce into cleaned ice cube trays. Oopsies, I forgot to rotate this picture.
I actually pour as much as I can on one side of the ice cube trays.
And then smooth it all out which pushes excess into the next cup.
Perfect.
Into the freezer it goes!
Once it's frozen, pop the food out of the trays and store in large freezer zip bags.
Clean everything else up and you're good to go!
Okay... I mentioned this in an earlier post... about the green beans being very different from each other. I forgot to rotate this one too. Poop.
Gather your equipment.
Cutting board, pot, vegetable peeler, knife (use a chef's knife, not a steak knife - this was the only knife I could find... I'm not at home) and apples.
Ryan saw an article that if you're making baby food, there are certain things you buy organic. Apples are one of them. These are fuji apples, a mildly sweet taste.
Grab your vegetable peeler and get to peeling.
(This is my intense work face)
If you're going to be making a lot of your own baby food, you should definitely invest in a good peeler. I used an old one that was completely made of metal. Not fun. This red one has a great handle. Very comfortable.
Don't worry about getting all the peel off at the top and bottom. We'll just cut that away later.
Cut your apples in half.
This is where the chef's knife would come in handy. It was such a pain cutting these large apples with a steak knife. Not made for this job.
Lay the half down and cut into fourths.
Then remove the core with a slight diagonal cut.
Cut the quarters (eighths really) into chunks. Make sure you cut away any questionable areas and leftover skin.
Feel free to taste test (uh, I love apples).
Give them a good rinse and just cover with water.
Boil on high for... oh 10 minutes.
This is the perfect time to clean up what you've used so far. This is a concept that my advanced foods class couldn't quite comprehend even after several time management essays. They lost kitchen privileges.
Ah, look at that perfect boil.
Still a way to go, get one of these out. You can use a food processor or a blender (which is what I use at home). Do you see any specialized equipment here? No. No hand food grinders. No specialized baby food steamers. And later, no special prepared baby food freezing containers.
Test for done-ness. If you insert a fork, does it give? Is it soft? Here, not so much.
I'm furiously texting my mom at this point.
When I cook, I cook by smell. Can I smell the food? Then it's done. I can smell apples in the air! (This is my intense food-sniffing face.)
Apple chunks into the food processor.
Reserve the cooking liquid.
Boiling food releases vitamins into the cooking water and water seeps into the food. Reserving the liquid helps you retain some vitamins. You can add those vitamins back into the food during the processing by adding that water if the food isn't moist enough.
I'm ready. Machine is ready. Are YOU ready?
Here we go!
No more apple chunks.
Looks like applesauce. That's what it should be.
I think it's a bit dry though so I add a little of that reserved water.
Go ahead and taste it. My motto, I won't feed it to Ivy if I won't taste it. I did taste this. I also tasted so I could do this...
Yes, it was cool enough. And yes, she seems to like it.
I pour the applesauce into a more manageable container to better pour with.
And then I pour the sauce into cleaned ice cube trays. Oopsies, I forgot to rotate this picture.
I actually pour as much as I can on one side of the ice cube trays.
And then smooth it all out which pushes excess into the next cup.
Perfect.
Into the freezer it goes!
Once it's frozen, pop the food out of the trays and store in large freezer zip bags.
Clean everything else up and you're good to go!
Okay... I mentioned this in an earlier post... about the green beans being very different from each other. I forgot to rotate this one too. Poop.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
In a Quandry
I don't know what's going on. Before we left for The Massive Vacation, Ivy was eating sweet potatoes and carrots really well. We got "down here" and I made more of the same. And she got sick and refused to eat anything besides cereal - which was also a bit of a test. I've finally gotten her back to sweet potatoes. But carrots are still a no go with her for some reason. I started bananas too which she likes. I don't know if I want to try the fresh green beans again. I was planning on making apples for her soon so she can have another taste of something.
Ivy finally learned how to sit up. We had been working on sitting her up on her bottom for a while and she enjoyed sitting with support. I was able to get her to sit up with even less support and she's been really great about it ever since!
Other than this, there's not much else to talk about.
Ivy finally learned how to sit up. We had been working on sitting her up on her bottom for a while and she enjoyed sitting with support. I was able to get her to sit up with even less support and she's been really great about it ever since!
Other than this, there's not much else to talk about.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
On Massive Vacation!
Alrighty! So we didn't get as much done on the Freakout Cleaning Session - but that's okay. I'm neurotic, but I can totally ... just procrastinate! Tuesday I had a dentist appointment. Two fillings. Done in 20 minutes. We headed out of town right after that. The drive didn't seem quite nearly as long as it has felt in the past. I think it has to do with the book on CD the man downloaded and the book I finished reading.
Poor Ivy ended up with an ear infection and quite possibly an upper respiratory infection. This would only happen once we're five hours away from our doctor. Naturally we called and they said don't worry. My baby was lethargic. Not eating. Not acting herself. We called the doc back and got no answer so we went to the ER. We're trying to keep her fever down. She's on antibiotics and has ear drops.
You know, there's something I used to think about when I was younger (like late teens, early 20s). I had the ever present thought that if I were to have kids, people would get on my case or whatever because I look so young. I hadn't thought about this ...thought... in quite some time. And you know, I have never had anyone judge me for my (seeming) age and pregnancy/motherhood. I guess I don't look as young anymore? Or society has really desensitized itself about very young mothers. Here's another thought, I think Ryan is with me 99.9% I'm in public with Ivy (and when I was pregnant). Ooooooorrrrr, I just never saw people talking about me. Anyway, whatever.
Homemade baby food versus the stuff in the grocery store.
Okay, I can totally tell you my sweet potatoes and carrots are a hit. So I decided to move on to something new. Green beans. Not a hit. We tried it a couple of times. And we had to actually buy the jar food because I didn't have time to cook. So... the stuff in the jar was a dull gray green. Not pretty. And then I made my own green beans. Extremely vibrant. So pretty! But still not a hit. Granted, Ivy wasn't feeling well. She didn't even want to eat her sweet potatoes. So after we tried the green beans (fresh and jar) I thought that carrots would be a hit since she eats what I make. I opened the jar and the carrots were RED. Not orange. Red! And they didn't smell like carrots, but very strong and bitter. Not like the sweet smell of carrots we're used to. Of course, she wouldn't eat it. Yeah, she doesn't feel well. Yeah, it's a new flavor. But there's another thing too. I took a look at the ingredients of a jar of sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes, water and ascorbic acid (to preserve color). Uuuuhh... my frozen sweet potatoes are the same color as the day I made them and I didn't add anything but water to them.
And that's where I leave it for tonight.
Poor Ivy ended up with an ear infection and quite possibly an upper respiratory infection. This would only happen once we're five hours away from our doctor. Naturally we called and they said don't worry. My baby was lethargic. Not eating. Not acting herself. We called the doc back and got no answer so we went to the ER. We're trying to keep her fever down. She's on antibiotics and has ear drops.
You know, there's something I used to think about when I was younger (like late teens, early 20s). I had the ever present thought that if I were to have kids, people would get on my case or whatever because I look so young. I hadn't thought about this ...thought... in quite some time. And you know, I have never had anyone judge me for my (seeming) age and pregnancy/motherhood. I guess I don't look as young anymore? Or society has really desensitized itself about very young mothers. Here's another thought, I think Ryan is with me 99.9% I'm in public with Ivy (and when I was pregnant). Ooooooorrrrr, I just never saw people talking about me. Anyway, whatever.
Homemade baby food versus the stuff in the grocery store.
Okay, I can totally tell you my sweet potatoes and carrots are a hit. So I decided to move on to something new. Green beans. Not a hit. We tried it a couple of times. And we had to actually buy the jar food because I didn't have time to cook. So... the stuff in the jar was a dull gray green. Not pretty. And then I made my own green beans. Extremely vibrant. So pretty! But still not a hit. Granted, Ivy wasn't feeling well. She didn't even want to eat her sweet potatoes. So after we tried the green beans (fresh and jar) I thought that carrots would be a hit since she eats what I make. I opened the jar and the carrots were RED. Not orange. Red! And they didn't smell like carrots, but very strong and bitter. Not like the sweet smell of carrots we're used to. Of course, she wouldn't eat it. Yeah, she doesn't feel well. Yeah, it's a new flavor. But there's another thing too. I took a look at the ingredients of a jar of sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes, water and ascorbic acid (to preserve color). Uuuuhh... my frozen sweet potatoes are the same color as the day I made them and I didn't add anything but water to them.
And that's where I leave it for tonight.
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