October

Tim and I talk constantly of the idea of selling our house and winter coats and moving south, to Texas, Florida or the Carolinas. What a life we could have - no more snow shoveling, no more scraping ice off windshields, no more windburnt cheeks and runny noses and chapped hands. We dream of sitting outside on a patio in January, drinking coffee and wearing sunglasses. We dream of weekends laying on sandy beaches and splashing in waves. We dream of daquiris and sunscreen and grilling out all winter long.

But the reality is that we're Midwesterners. We brave the ice and snow through the winter for the payoff of the other 3 seasons (which tend to make up only half the year, here in Chicago!) And the best of all these seasons - fall.

Oh how I love fall. Trees turning from green to red, yellow and orange. Pumpkin spice Hershey kisses. The smell of the cooler, crisper air. Colorful mums blooming. Lazy Sunday afternoons in front of a football game. Hooded sweatshirts and warm mugs of apple cider. You can feel the excitement in the air. It's as though the world is trying to squeeze in the final few weekends of joy and energy before winter hibernation begins.

So in honor of fall approaching and our lack of family pictures, we decided to venture out the other weekend to finally get some pictures. Our friend Jen graciously agreed to act as photographer for us and I am glad that we finally got some family photos. I find that we get so caught up in our day-to-day lives and forget to grab the camera and capture these moments together. We are going to try to be better about it though!

I love fall!!

Barrett - Nine months old

Dear Barrett

As usual, I am writing this letter late. Oh well! I have enjoyed you soo much this past month. You have become so much a part of my life that I cannot imagine life without you. Yes, it is so much more difficult to run errands and keep up around the house with a baby underfoot, planning around naptime and bedtime, but my life is so much better these days with you in it.



You are learning to feed yourself and get better every single day! We are still trying purees but you are definitely showing less interest in them and much more interest in feeding yourself. You love to much on cheerios and are working at getting them into your mouth yourself. Those little hands are getting more and more of a workout these days!



You have really developed into such a curious little thing. I watch you and see something catch your attention and you're off like a light to go get it. You love power cords, shoes, and Payton's water bowl. We have to always remember to pick up his dishes because the second you're on the ground, you love to race over to the bowl to stick your hands in them. Then you look up and me with a smile on your face and your hand in the bowl - like you KNOW you're not supposed to do it and are just smiling at me with a mischievous look. I can't get annoyed with you though because it's really cute!



You make me want to be a better mommy. I have surprised myself with how patient I am with you. While I have various virtues, patience isn't one of them. But with you, I'll sit there at your highchair and feed you for 30 minutes, while you decide whether you're going to open your mouth or not. I don't mind things taking longer or you insisting on being carried on walks, because I love being with you and anytime with you makes me happy.


The other day you were near the door at daycare. I caught your attention through the glass and your entire face lit up with such an enormous smile. You came crawling to the window, anxious to see me, and put your palms on the glass against mine. You love to be held and when I'm cooking in the kitchen or in front of the mirror drying my hair, I often feel little tugs on my pants and see a little face looking up at me, wanting to be picked up. And of course, I can never resist!

I can't believe you are 9 months and will be a year so soon! You are such a sweet little thing and bring so much joy to our lives!!

Love,
Mommy

Baby food 2

I have made what will likely be the final round of baby food purees. We've started eating real food - toast, cheerios, cubes of fruit. So I think we're getting ready to transition to real solids. But in the meantime, I made a few purees to have on hand for dinner during the week. Here's what I made this weekend:

Trio of Root Vegetables
1 1/2 cup carrots, peeled and chopped
1 1/4 cup potatoes, peeled and chopped
3/4 cup parsnips, peeled and chopped

Put the vegetables in a saucepan and just cover with boiling water. Cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes or until tender.
Blend to desired consistency.


Spinach, potato, parsnip and leek puree
2 T butter
1 1/2 cups leeks, white part only, sliced
1 1/2 cups potatoes, peeled and chopped
3/4 cup parsnips, peeled and chopped
1 cup boiling water
3 cups fresh or 1/3 cup frozen spinach
1/3 cup grated cheddar cheese

Melt the butter in saucepan, add the leeks and saute 2-3 minutes. Add the potatoes and parsnips, saute for 1 minute and cover with boiling water. Cover and simmer 12 minutes.
Add the fresh spinach leaves, if using, and continue to cook for 3-4 minutes. If using frozen, cook separately, then drain the mix with potatoes, leeks and parsnips. Drain the vegetables.
Blend vegetables together with about 3 T of cooking liquid and cheese. Puree to desired consistency.

Chicken with Mashed Potato and Carrot
1 3/4 cups potato, peeled and shopped
1 1/2 cup carrots, peeled and chopped
3 oz chicken, cut into chunks
1 cup chicken broth (I used water)
2T butter
3 T milk

Put potato and carrot into saucepan, pour over some boiling water, then cover and cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes or until veg are tender. Meanwhile, poach the chicken in the broth for 6-8 minutes or until cooked through.
Drain the carrots and potato and mash together with the butter and milk. Chop the chicken into small pieces and serve with mashed potato and carrot.

Chicken with Sweet Potato and Apple
1T butter
1/3 cup onion, chopped
4 oz chicken breast, chopped
1 apple, peeled and chopped
1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
1 cup chicken broth (I used water)

Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the onion and saute 2-3 minutes. Add the chicken and saute until it turns opaque. Add the apple, sweet potato, and broth. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes. Puree to desired consistency.

So there you have it! I can't give the verdict on any of these, since B hasn't tried them yet, but from the smells and the small tastes I took, they are delicious!

I was so nervous to start food at the beginning but it turned out to be kind of fun and really easy! I am nervous though to start the real finger food and still try to get him the healthy food he needs. It's tough, because we get home around 6pm and I try to get him dinner immediately. Defrosting from the freezer is a piece of cake. But trying to whip up real dinner is going to be much more challenging.

Doctors, shots and fevers

This week was a rough week health-wise for mommy and son. Barrett had his 9 month doctor appointment. He measured in at a whopping 18lbs, 2 oz and 27 inches. That translates to 22% for weight and 13% for height. What a munchkin! I don't know how we ended up with such a little peanut! I always assumed I'd have a big baby, so I'm surprised with how tiny he is. I am a little nervous because I bought a bunch of clothes in advance, at sales, and now I'm not sure he's going to be fitting in all these 12-18 month clothes for a while!

He did amazing with the shots that he got at the time. But the poor thing developed a fever the next morning. I suspect the flu shot. Daycare called me around 10:30 to say his temperature was 102.7. There is nothing worse than seeing your baby suffering and not being able to do anything about it. It took about another 24 hours before he was back to normal, but thank goodness it eventually passed.

And then onto me - I have been ignoring some pain in my ear for the last 2 weeks or so, because it never got worse and I really had no time to go see a doctor. Well yesterday the entire radius around my ear was painful so I went to an urgent care center nearby. Yep, an ear infection. Did I mention this is the 2nd one in 3 months? I don't think I got any as a kid but am not getting them as an adult? What is up with that?

On top of that, since I clearly couldn't be choosy about the doctor I was able to see on no notice on a Saturday morning, I think I got the doctor who got his medical degree online. He was an hour late to arrive at the office and either reeked of bad cologne or booze. Then, with a wedding ring on my hand and a baby on my lap, he started hitting on me. Interesting doctor's visit, to say the least!

B is back to his normal happy self and I am on antibiotics so hopefully will feel better too before long.

What a week!

Making baby food

I have really enjoyed making baby food for Barrett. I got recipes from online and from books from the library. At the beginning, I made simple purees - butternut squash, carrots, apples, pears, etc. Most of this has already been eaten, except everything green. He refuses to eat anything green. No green beans, no broccoli, no peas. Even with mixing a tiny bit in with foods he does like - yeah, he's not fooled. If he tastes one bite of green in anything, he spits it out, refuses to eat any more bites, and gives you a look like "nice try. how dare you do that to me?"

Some of the best recipes I've tried so far:

Potato, carrot and corn
1 T unsalted butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 cup water
1/3 cup frozen corn kernels

Melt the butter in a pan and saute the onion for 1 minute. Add the carrots and saute for 5 minutes. Add the potatoes, cover with the water and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes. Add the corn and continue to cook for 5 minutes. Puree in food processor.

Chicken with Sweet Potatoes and Grapes
2 T onion, peeled and chopped
1 T olive oil
1/4 lb chicken breast fillets, cut into chunks
1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
1 cup water
6 seedless grapes, peeled

Saute the onion in the olive oil. Add the chicken and saute for 3-4 minutes until browned. Add the sweet potato and pour the water on top.
Cover and simmer for about 12 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Add the grapes and puree in food processor until desired consistency.

First Chicken Casserole
1 T veg oil
3/4 cup carrots
2/3 cup leeks, washed and sliced
1/4 cup chicken breast fillets, cut into chunks
1 1/2 cups potatoes, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup parsnips, peeled and chopped

Warm the oil in a pan, add the carrots and leeks, and saute until softened, about 6 minutes. Add the chicken and saute, turning occasionally, until browned.
Add the potatoes and parsnips and just cover with boiling water. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until everything is tender and cooked through. Blend to puree.

He is eating about 3 meals a day now. We started cheerios this past week, which I actually didn't think he would eat right away, but he loved them immediately. Must be a sign that he's ready for something with a little but more crunch!

Halloween is a-coming

Halloween is just around the corner and I'm excited to dress up my little pumpkin for the first time!
From before the time he was born, I wanted to dress him up as a bear. Since of course, he's our baby Bear, it seemed perfect (groan - yes, I'm a cheeseball and freely admit it). Unfortunately I haven't found a cute but affordable bear costume as of yet. I haven't given up though.

Now, if we had an unlimited costume budget, THIS would be what I'd get:


But at $49.95 (!) I can't really justify that. Let's see, he'd probably wear it all of an hour, so I'm not sure we'd be getting our money's worth.

Check out those paws though - adorable! I did buy another costume that is pretty darn sweet so I think he'll still be pretty stinking cute for his first Halloween.

(As a sidenote, I think that little baby actually looks a lot like Barrett. Same chubby cheeks and coloring. Weird)

Our daycare is having a Halloween parade for the parents to watch, parties and activities, so it should be fun! You know, as much as I would love to have Barrett attending daycare at Mommy's Loving Arms, I couldn't be happier with the center we have chosen. He gets so much love and attention from his teachers, interaction with other kids, and lots of learning opportunities. The teachers really do love him and give him so much affection and attention. The women call him their substitute grandson and they are definitely substitute grandmothers for him. Since his own aren't really involved in his life at all, it's wonderful to have women who can give me advice, gush over him with me and give him added love. He has some mild stranger uneasiness that has started but since these workers have been with him since 12 weeks old, he's just as comfortable with them as he is with us.

I won't reveal his costume just yet so I know you all will be on the edge of your seats until Oct 31. But I'd be lion lying if I said it wasn't adorable!

100 days

1. In 100 days, my little baby Bear will be 1 year old. Huh?!?! And in just two weeks he will be out in the world as long as he was in my belly. This is craziness. I cannot believe that he's nearly 1 year old. I feel like he should be around 5 months, not 9. I feel like his babyhood is coming to an end. Now he's crawling all over the place, eating food, not nursing as much, and starting to seem so much more like a little boy, instead of a baby. Why is it that the older we get, the faster time seems to go?

2. Along those same lines, Payton, our darling and crazy puppy, turned 3 last week. He was our first "child" and so many people told us that everything would change once we had a baby and that our dog would be neglected and become an annoyance. Happily, he brings just as much fun and joy to our lives and the day we brought him home. He's not exactly sure what to think of the intruder in our house and I think he still longs for the days when he was an only child, but he still gets lots of love and attention and the two boys have started to play tug of war together. Although we did get Barrett a Sophie toy and Payton is convinced that it's his and we just are teasing him by not giving it to him. So we can't leave the toy unattended or poor Sophie would be ripped to shreds in 10 seconds. He may be cute, but he's definitely destructive!

A blast from the past of little Payton when we first got him. He's quadrupled in size since then, and half of which is probably fur!