New Year's Resolutions

I recently read that parents should have resolutions for their kids...or that kids should have their own resolutions. I''ve also read that resolutions don't work, that you should instead have something that you can really follow and implement consistently.

With all these things in mind, I am resolved to the following for 2015:

Kiddo can play with any safe toy he wants. Pink. Turquoise. Bedazzled. Glitter coated. If he loves it and it is age appropriate, it's good.

I will continue to honor his preferences - however they may change or develop.

I will continue to cloth diaper...intermittently as his body's needs and our water shortage shift and change (this way I don't feel too guilty for using so much water on laundry or throwing away disposables).

I will try to expose him to a variety of good foods and hold off on junk as long as humanly possible (despite the mockery of various people in my life as I refuse to let him have chocolate etc).

Kiddo can have as many bananas as he wants.

We will have dance parties once a day to music like Pentatonix.

Kiddo can nurse as often as he likes.

I will continue to help him develop various skills by playing games, singing, talking, and reading with him.

Kiddo will continue to have routines, boundaries, and rules appropriate for his age.

I will make sure I get my needs met so I can be the best mom I can be.

We will snuggle at least twice a day.

Here's to a fantastic new year of reasonably raising an alien!

Night Nursing Happens

If you're planning on breastfeeding - which you should because of a gazillion benefits to mom and baby - you need to be prepared.

I don't know why people are delusional when it comes to feeding schedules, but they are, particularly at night. I have read all kinds of things about night feedings. I have read about the time babies should sleep through the night (Sleep through the night?! What does this even mean?!). Some people say babies should stop night nursing at 6 months. Some say 9. Others a year.

Here's the thing folks - the average breastfed human baby across the world doesn't self wean (day or night) until anywhere between 3 and 5 YEARS. That's NORMAL.

Ahem.

That means everyone talking about months is just plumb crazy. Get over the month thing! It's not happening. Get comfy! The baby belongs at the breast and the toddler too! Day and night!

My family makes fun of Kiddo saying he'll nurse until he's a teen. Well...that is another kind of crazy and NOT happening. He'll wean on his own some time in the next few years...just as all human babies do. And I will be sad when that happens.

I will be sad because I like night nursing. I like the cuddling and closeness. I like the sweetness. I like that Kiddo will curl up to me even if he's warm and I'm cold. I like his satisfied sigh as if everything is right in the world.

And it is. I can tell it is when he wakes up with a smile on his face and blows me kisses. Then he snuggles in close to sing to me. These are the moments mothers live for. Night nursing is totally worth it.

Baby-Led Weaning: An Alien Update

The self feeding/eating solids thing is going reasonably well except for a few little bits...

1. I hate the mess. I really do. I hate having to clean him up. I haven't mastered it yet. Kiddo gets goo in his legs' fat folds, under his butt, down his shirt, and on every piece of furniture in a 3 foot radius. On spectacular days, his arms are covered in a thick layer of food which extends to his torso, chin, mouth, and of course his hair.  I'd rather Kiddo eat naked and then hose him off which doesn't work at this point (unfortunately!). For now I try to keep the messiness to a minimum and at night before his bath. This is marginally practical.
2. Sometimes I forget to plan his meals. I am so used to him nursing all the time, I forget he needs something else and I end up scrambling at the last minute. It makes me feel guilty - like I'm neglecting him and therefore I'm an unfit mother.
3. Kiddo doesn't like "baby foods." He likes adult foods with spices and herbs and oil. This means he no longer eats plain anything. He just plays with plain food leaving it all around him in a 3 foot radius. This means I have to be a little more conscious about his food and making it tasty...which I am sooo good at! *rolls eyes*

So what does he like?

• Grandma's red sauce
• Tomatoes - plain, unripe, doesn't matter. He LURVES them.
• Pasta - all kinds
• Spanish rice
• Fried rice
• Sweet potato
• White beans (in things or herbed up)
• Carrots
• Garlic (in things of course)
• Dal (lentils)
• Refried beans
• Pinto beans
• Black beans
• Red beans (sensing a trend?)
• Applesauce
• Banana
• Bean cakes
• Multigrain pancakes
• Peas
• Ground turkey
• Salmon
• Watermelon
• Peaches
• Plums
• And fresh Cheerios

white bean, carrot, and garlic cakes - yum!

Things he isn't crazy about

• Corn
• Zucchini
• Broccoli (though if I flavored it, he might like it again)
• White potatoes
• Green beans
• Old Cheerios (sitting in the travel case too long?)
• Strawberries (though it may have changed)

Things he drools over from afar:

• Gelato
• Ranch dressing
• Yogurt
• Kale salad
• Green salad
• Anything brightly colored or unusual (in texture or shape)

Things we're getting ready to try:

• New recipes from BLW sites (veggie cakes, muffins etc)
• More green or root veggies with herbs and spices(I want him to like vegetables dang it!)
• Chicken (canned without salt if I can find it)
• Tuna (canned without salt if I can find it)
• Scrambled egg
• Bell pepper (roasted?)
• Mushrooms
• Fresh fruit dipped in plain yogurt

I am determined to get better at this feeding thing. Having declared it, I'm sure we're bound for success.

What success have you had with transitioning to solids? Favorite recipes? Favorite plain foods? Leave a comment below!

Baby-Led Weaning: Aliens with Solid Foods

You may have gathered Kiddo is eating solids these days...well, we've introduced solids. He was lunging for my food, so I figured he was ready to try them.

He doesn't really eat them. Well, sometimes he does. Sometimes he plays with his food and then licks it off his fingers. Sometimes he just plays.

You see I want Kiddo to regulate his eating himself. I don't want to be one of those food pushing moms that inadvertently makes my child fat because I taught poor eating habits (like eating past full). That's why I decided to try baby-led weaning.
This is where you give baby table foods (healthy whole foods) of a consistency and size baby can handle (mushy for example). You let baby feed himself and only intervene if there is an emergency.

It's messy. Really. And Kiddo is more curious about how foods feel between his fingers than eating. His tasting face always looks like he hates it (The texture? The taste? Not sure). We're pretty sure it's his "thinking face" which makes the whole thing pretty entertaining, even if he decides to throw his food on the floor or squirrel it away in his chair.

So far we've tried the following:

• Rice cereal (before BLW, but Kiddo wanted to feed himself which was...ahem...interesting...see above pic).
• Banana - more fun for fingers.
• Squash - finger fun, moderate tasting action
• Carrot - LOVES to gnaw on large hard carrots. So far the fav.
• Strawberry (frozen in mesh teether) - moderate tasting
• Broccoli - loves. This resulted in the most eating, particularly of the stem from a larger stalk.

Things we plan on introducing soon:

• Zucchini
• Salmon (can't wait!)
• Green beans
• Avocado
• Possibly peas
• Possibly sweet potato
• Possibly apple (in some iteration)
• Pasta is on the radar...as are eggs (though I think I have to wait until he's a year old for those).

I wish he had a few more teeth so I could feel good about Cheerios, but I'm not sure about that at this point.

And you know what? He still prefers to nurse. Actively. He seeks it out. I know there will come a day when he no longer wants to. The thought pains me because I just love cradling him as he eats, staring into his big blue eyes. It's a precious moment and I will mourn it's passing into early childhood.