We've had some delays with the construction of the addition to the house, but the bits are finally constructed and installed, yay!! So here's a quick review of the process for your viewing pleasure, broken into three posts.
OK, we are totally hooked!! All of us are thoroughly enjoying this baby led weaning thing. Kate is having fun, we're amazed at what she'll try and what she actually manages to consume, and mealtimes are just so joyful. I know that Dave & Mom were both quite skeptical, Mom especially worried about the choking hazard possibilities, and while that's not completely eliminated (hey, we eat & breathe out of the same hole, choking is a risk for everyone), Kate seems to be developing the skills needed to successfully maneuver her food around safely. As long as we provide her with safe shapes and textures within reason, she's been pretty good at managing her food very well. She does gag now and then (much more at the beginning) as she would hit her gag point and try to move the food around, but she's definitely figuring things out very well.
I have been grappling with the dilemma of choosing between the order of foods I'm supposed to be introducing Kate to and following the concept of letting Kate try different things. We're balancing it somewhat, and I'm not being a very strict adherent to the order, although I am keeping her away from cow's milk products until she's at least a year (as she's demonstrated a reaction to milk proteins), and probably will wait until she's at least a year before introducing legumes & wheat due to intolerance demonstrated in our family. Other than that, we're having a great time exploring new foods together.
We are hugely enjoying parenthood. Yes, we're exhausted, yes it's an enormous challenge physically, mentally and psychologically, yes it is overwhelming. And it's fantastic. It is so much fun watching Kate develop and to see the changes as she gets more and more control over her actions. We didn't have any experience with babies, and I figured that babies were just lumps until they were a few months old; so I was sure surprised to find that Kate had a definite personality right from day one, and it's only got stronger.
What we've just started recently is introducing Kate to solids, and we're doing it through the "baby led weaning" methodology (thanks to Mila's Daydreams for the inspiration, otherwise I would never have known about it). So instead of spoon feeding her mush, then graduating up to solid solids, we're giving her pieces of whole food with appropriate shapes and "handles", and the argument is if she can support herself sitting comfortably, has sufficient development to pick up the food and bring it to her mouth, and be given the opportunity to work out how to move the food around her mouth on her own, she'll be able to feed herself when she's ready. Obviously, we have to provide her with healthy choices, and to not give her physically dangerous shapes or textures, but otherwise, if she's given the opportunity to figure it out on her own, with plenty of time, then she'll manage ok on her own. I really liked the idea, so here we are trying it.
Kate has been sitting up quite well for some time, but I didn't want to introduce her to solids until she was at least 6 months. Instead, we've been sitting her up at the table with us when we eat, and we gave her a baby spoon (plastic & silicone) to play with on her tray along with some other toys. She worked on getting it to her mouth, and figuring out how not to gag herself with it. Then we progressed to raw carrot sticks that she could do the same process; once she got something with flavour to suck on, the spoon was history. I was going to keep up with the raw carrot sticks for a bit longer, but yesterday we got some sweet potato fries on the ferry, and she was all eyes, so we thought "what the heck". We found one long enough for her and let her grab it and straight to mouth and suck suck suck, and grumpy pants when we didn't want to give her any more (they were a bit too salty so I didn't want to overdue it; besides, it was just an experiment).
Hmmm. OK. So last night, her Grandma prepared her some separate roasted veggies (with the appropriate dimensions and no added salt), and I cut a stick off for her from my steak, and she was hugely happy. She noshed on the squash right away, then tried the French fingerling potato (white shot with pink), then really sucked away at the steak, and finally tried the purple potato. We were fascinated at what she wanted to pick first and the fact that she ignored the purple coloured food until last, but once she tasted it and realized it was the same as the potato she'd been enjoying, she really got into it. This morning was some apple, banana and mango slices. She tried them all, but banana was the first and primo choice. The mango produced some consternation and a decision that she wasn't really that interested in the mouth feel or taste but loved the hand-squishiness of it! The apple was a bit of a challenge to get a handle on but she did enjoy sucking on it.
A whole new dimension has been opened up, for her and for us! What fun (and what a mess!).
We had our first snow of the season (Kate's first snow!) and it's still sticking around as the Arctic outflow is keeping temperatures down. Rather unusual for here in November; that's more like January. So we're all suffering from really dry skin and chapped lips & cheeks this week. So off to the pantry to mix up some winter relief.
Rich Body Lotion
A beautiful thick lotion that feels silky going on and smells even better.
Step one:
Steep about 1 tbsp herbal blend (I use 1 tsp rose petals, 1 tsp comfrey root, and about 2 tsp calendula petals) in:
100 mL boiling water (distilled is recommended)
for at least 15 minutes. Drain into a ceramic dish or glass measure to cool. Once cool, add:
2 tbsp aloe vera juice
2 tsp witch hazel extract
Step 2:
Melt in non-reactive double boiler (I place the oils in a ceramic bowl over a pot of water and simmer):
100 mL carrier oil (I use grapeseed oil)
1/2 tsp grated cocoa butter
2 tsp grated beeswax
2 tbsp shea butter
Once the oils have been melted, get the temperature up to 175 F (I use a candy thermometer), keep stirring & heating for at least 20 minutes to properly and completely melt the shea butter, otherwise it'll crystalize into little bits in your mixture once cooled.
Let the oils cool down once finished, so that they're still at least mushy if not totally liquid, but not still super hot.
Step 3:
Gradually pour your herbal liquid mixture into your oils while using a stick blender to thoroughly beat everything together until creamy. Make sure to do this part gradually and thoroughly so that a proper emulsion forms, otherwise you'll get separation of the oil & water. You may wish to add essential oils at this point; I use about 10-15 drops altogether, but you can use up to 25-30 drops. Suggested essential oils would include lavender, citrus, rose geranium, depending on what you need or what the purpose is for.
Lip Balm
...which also doubles as a great baby bum balm!
Essentially, you want these proportions:
20% beeswax
25% solid at room temperature (e.g. coconut oil or shea butter)
15% brittle at room temperature (e.g. cocoa butter)
40% liquid at room temperature (e.g. pomace olive oil or grapeseed oil, cold pressed for either)
So when I make it, I use:
20 g beeswax
25 g shea butter
15 g cocoa butter
40 g grapeseed oil
plus
1 tbsp total of rose petals & calendula petals
10 drops of essential oil (e.g. lavender, tea tree, rose geranium)
I heat up the grapeseed oil separately in a Pyrex measure in the microwave, then infuse about 1 tbsp altogether of rose petals and calendula petals while the other oils are melting & heating, then strain it. If you're coordinated enough, you could do this a few days in advance so that the herbs have some opportunity to infuse into the oil; if you do, keep the oil in a warm spot, like a sunny windowsill (hah! around here?) or on top of the refrigerator.
As with the lotion, I heat up the beeswax, shea and cocoa butters in a double boiler, heat to 175F and hold for 20 minutes, stirring regularly. Once that's done, I add the strained oil infusion to the hot mixture and bring it back up to 175F, stirring. You can remove from heat, let cool a little, and stir in any essential oils at this point if you wish. I pour it into clean plastic jars that I got for the purpose (a long time ago), but I'm sure Tupperware/Rubbermaid or margarine/cottage cheese/cream cheese containers would be just fine. Let cool, and it'll solidify quite solidly. You have to scrape it a bit with your finger or thumbnail and rub it in your hands to soften it a bit before applying, but it works really well once warmed. If you want it a little less solid, you can always change the proportions by increasing the amount of grapeseed oil in the recipe.
Whipped Shea Butter
This is now my favourite dry skin relief.
10 oz Shea butter (preferably unrefined, cold pressed or however the equivalent works for it)
6 oz carrier oil (I used grapeseed oil)
essential oils
Melt the shea & oil in a double boiler (as before, I use a ceramic bowl set over a pot of boiling water) and bring up to 175F. Keep at that temperature, stirring regularly, for 20 minutes.
Cool over a bowl of ice water, add your essential oils, then whip using a hand mixer or stand mixer, until it reaches "soft peak" stage (like whipping egg whites or whipping cream). I didn't wait that long; mine got just to the equivalent of "trace" when making soap (which means you can dribble some of the mixture over the surface and write with the dribbling). Pour into your clean containers, and it'll set up into a mousse/paté like consistency.
This makes a HUGE batch, so feel free to halve or even quarter the recipe; although with one family member that has psoriasis, one with eczema, and all of us with dry hands, we'll go through it pretty darned fast. The consistency when cool is fabulous, creamy smooth, it melts into the skin instantly and stays moisturized for a long time.
Dave & I visited family in Ottawa a couple of years back, and while we were there, we went to the Canada Agriculture Museum. While we were there, one of the demonstrators was canning up pickled carrot sticks. Before I started preserving the harvest, I wasn't that huge of a pickle fanatic; I mean, I like some pickles, but I know that some people like all kinds of pickled things. These pickled carrots were absolutely marvellous. So I knew I had to have the recipe, and lo! they had the recipe right there for us to take away.
Pickled Carrot Sticks
4 lbs carrots, peeled & cut into 4" sticks
6 fresh dill sprigs or 3 tsp dill seed
18 peppercorns
6 cloves garlic, peeled & thickly sliced
3 1/2 cups cider vinegar
2 1/2 cups water
1/3 cup honey
