Food for Baby...

I made all my babies first foods....I used ice cube trays with a lid and a plastic bottom & I bought something like this http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=537637&parentCategoryId=85181&categoryId=85206 She is all about snacks now, so those containers work perfect for cheerios, and are great to throw in the diaper bag as I run out the door! 


But, I did try some store bought puree's for travel...
I LIKE:
*Sprout Organic Baby foods--they taste GREAT, nice simple ingredients and flavor--plus get baby used to our tastes and spices and they travel well,  and the big plus is they are made by  chef Tyler Florence--such a cutie! :)
http://www.sproutbabyfood.com/resources/2011/06/14/butternut-squash-macaroni-and-cheese/ 
*Gerber Organic Smart Nourish Foods--taste good, simple ingredients, good little containers and travel well.
http://news.gerber.com/pr/gerber/gerber-smarthnourish.aspx


I did NOT like Ella Baby food, my daughter always seemed to get sick afterwards :(
Taste OK, Travel Great, but I don't know why..baby always got a sick tummy after the food!!
http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=ella+baby+food&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=7158341139&ref=pd_sl_dtvkcgwaa_e




For my babies  first foods, I made all of her first foods. It made me feel good, since I worry non stop...plus have you tried to eat that stuff they make for kids? YUK. Baby  loves mango and avacado!  So weird, I bet I did not have avacado or mango until I was in high school! I would take the food, cut it up in tiny pieces, cook it with a little pre-boiled water  on the stove top or roast in over....and then puree it. let it cool and put in the freezer! Easy!


The left over cubes of pureed food work great now as a fruit ice pop for her teething--http://www.amazon.com/Mesh-Teething-Baby-Feeder-Feeding/dp/B000056JCY.

And, have you read Jessica Sienfiel's cook book? http://www.amazon.com/Deceptively-Delicious-Simple-Secrets-Eating/dp/0061251348

I have made a few of her recipe's and they ARE GOOD!

I bought one of those small cuisinart's for her food. Works great. She is just moving up to table foods now, I take our meal and just chop up a little portion--she is "stage 3" and doing really well with most foods.She has the mashing and the finger grasp down. I always laugh when I feed her, she likes to play in it--I let her get all messy, it is too funny not to let her have at it!  I think she might be allergic to pumpkin or curry, she had a little rash after she shared some soup i made with me last week, but it could have just been coincidence...I will try again later and really watch to see.  I was nervous about eggs but we just tried egg yolks and that went fine , so far so good! 

Hush Little Baby by Sylvia Long

http://www.amazon.com/Hush-Little-Baby-Sylvia-Long/dp/0811814165/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316814994&sr=8-1
I love this book, it took the mockingbird lullaby and changed the lyrics to a loving, sweet and nurturing bedtime story. illustrations are soft and win as well.

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 Stamford Stay at home MOM of 9 month old seeking Stay at home MOM to be my new MOM Best Friend--We can have play dates and Plus, I really need someone to get a glass of wine with on a random Saturday Night and also swap babysitting needs when appropriate so I can get my hair cut

Review: Goodnight Moon Video by Scholastic Storybook Treasures, A sign language DVD with Read along.

Review: Goodnight Moon Video by Scholastic Storybook Treasures, A sign language DVD with Read along.

I love going to the library with my daughter, and we always leave with a handful of books and one or two DVD's....

I love how Scholastic Storybook Treasures makes DVD's of books that are being read, this one especially--my 8 month old daughter was fascinated by. Now, truth be told, this is a favorite book of ours, and we are signing at home (she is starting to get a little signing vocab down) so maybe that is why she paid extra attention, but it really was very well done and fun for me to watch too! Plus the other books on the video A Creature was Stirring and Gladys Goes out to Lunch were great too!

Highly reccomend...So for the stay at home mom who teache's...I would give this video a 3.5 star rating out of 4!

a poem-the abundance of motherhood.

daughter is sleeping in my arms, 

making my eyes so heavy-flutter be

as i lsiten to her breathing in and out.

feel her warmth against my chest 

very at peace, in the moment, 

as it is.

knowing she will never be this small again,

i will never have this moment

again,

i revel in each moment of her life from dawn till dusk

each day she grows and evolves

more and more independence

as she discovers the world outside of me

fascinated by every single thing

great and small

i see the world in a whole new light

the joy

the brilliance- the beauty

the mystery-the complexity of it all

i may not have riches and yahts to sail

but i have this:

an abundance of magic

of life

of motherhood.

daughter is sleeping in my arms, 

making my eyes so heavy-flutter be

as i lsiten to her breathing in and out.

feel her warmth against my chest 

very at peace, in the moment, 

as it is.

~paige johnson

Stay at Home Mom's TEACH!

I recently made a funny observation. A lot of Mom's now call daycare SCHOOL. I think that is great. I know daycare's have curriculum's and childcare professionals working every angle. I was a women's studies minor in college. I certainly think every woman has a right to work and career,  and would never judge a woman for putting her child in day care or "school". But, there is a backlash. It used to be that men looked down on women who stayed home to raise their children. Women looked down on women who worked outside the home. Feminist's spent most of the 60's ( and 70's) for that matter writing thesis after thesis about the undervalued and overworked stay-at-home mom. Feminists to this day write articles that break down what a stay at home mom does and how much it would cost to hire an outsider to do these things that seemingly go under the radar with barely a THANKS. Women fought to be valued. And, to a large degree I think it worked. You would never catch a man saying a woman who stays home with her children is lazy. In fact in has turned into a luxury more then anything else. Women who stay home (in the middle class at least) are seen as being well-to-do. But for others, it is a huge financial sacrifice. We COULD go to work, but CHOOSE not to. I myself am choosing to stay at home. It is not easy. I could make A LOT more working, but I am trying hard to stay home because I want to see my child grow, and because as of right now, I can. I think it is sad that most women say "I wish I could but, I can't" when it comes to staying home with their babies. But, it also seems like a lot of women, just DO NOT want to "be stuck" at home. They feel it is a 'waste' of their brain. Alas, their is still the subjugation of the stay at home. Some things never change? Now it seems stay at home mom's also have to compete with an idea that we are not TEACHING our children and that they are better off in "school".  I recently made a joke on facebook that I was going to start referring to myself as "home schooling" my daughter and women, mainly women who put their kids into day care basically told me that I was not qualified to teach my child. At least that is how I took it. I am hurt, I am angry. A man would never get away with saying that to me. Women would be all up in arms, but because another woman does--it is fine. We can't judge a woman who puts her kid in "school" but she can judge me for staying at home. The point was made that most stay at home Mother's just "observe" their kids and don't do much past keeping them safe, and can't call it school unless we 'teach'.
teach·ing  (tchng)

n.

1. The act, practice, occupation, or profession of a teacher.

2.

a. Something taught.

b. A precept or doctrine. Often used in the plural: the teachings of Buddha.

adj.

1. Of, involving, or used for teaching: teaching materials; teaching methods.

2. Working as a teacher or in teaching: teaching assistants.
The art, practice, occupation of profession. Well, I may not be certified in early childhood education, but I most certainly practice daily, hourly the act and practice of teaching...Every moment with a child at home is one on one advanced study. Children listen to you speak, sing, they observe you, mimic, you. I do not sit back and watch cable and soaps  all day, in fact, I do not have cable! I am sad, that another woman assumes that those of us who choose to stay at home, sit back, and do nothing all day--or merely observe. I would like to ask them, on the weekends, do YOU do NOTHING? Merely observe your child? Certainly not! Being a stay at home Mom is very involved, and a LOT of work! I am very active and playing with my daughter. I talk to her all day. I read to her. I sing to her. I am teaching her sign language and vocabulary. I hold her. I love her. I give her one on one attention and love that she can not get at "school". I feel very hurt and angry that I have to justify my choice as a stay at home Mom and now I have to explain and clarify what I do all day so I can say she is learning?
So for those of  you who are not stay at home mother's, I thought I would type up an example of my "typical" day as a stay at home Mother who TEACHES....

3:30 am-wake up and breast feed the baby. nap.
6:00am-wake up and breast feed the baby. nap.
7:00am-wake up with daddy--daddy/baby cuddle play time
7:30am-I usually put the baby in her pack and play while I make breakfast (pack lunches) and make coffee
8:30am-baby gets her breakfast cereal and finishes off with a cuddle and breast milk.
9:30am-music time--while we dance and sing (learning songs! and nursery rhymes!)
10:30am-picture book and reading/cuddle
11:00am-nap
12:30-baby lunch time (home made puree'd with love food, at that!)/breast milk
1:00-2:30-walk around block or trip to library/store (where I talk to baby--"see the car? what sound does a car make?..."what color is that?" "red!" where else do we see red?!" see the doggy? what sound does a doggy make? "woof"---etc)
2:30/3:00 breast milk/snack and a nap
4:00pm-independent play with TONS of educational toys...while I start  clean/dinner. (here we usually listen to music or she will watch some video in background--like signing time--http://www.signingtime.com/?gclid=CIiC77G0mKsCFUuK4AodwQ48Dw--that we just took out from library, keep in mind i also sign with her all day as we talk!)
5-6:00 dinner we all sit at table baby in high chair, and we talk about day and life and eat!
6pm-7pm- baby and daddy play
7pm-bath time
7:30--book and cuddle before bed
8:00--bed time

11pm--breast milk?
4am--breast milk?

I don't know about YOU. but I see A LOT of learning and teaching in there....