My Take on Baby Food

I don't think of myself as one of those mothers who "knows" everything. I'm NOT one of those mothers who studies and reads up on all the latest baby nutrition tips etc. However, baby food has always bugged me.

(Plus, Holynd pediatrician is really pro-table food. He thinks baby food is a scam.)

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Here are my problems with baby food:

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1. Expensive. Baby food is expensive, especially when your baby is eating four to five jars of the stuff a day. Plus, you have to store it and live in fear that one day the stack of baby food jars in your pantry will come crashing down leaving you with a big mess.

2. Not enough variety. I wanted Holynd to taste everything and really love food. Baby food has maybe five or six different ingredients used 56 different ways. Apples, Apples and Blueberries, Apples and Bananas, Apples and Oatmeal, Oatmeal and Bananas, Bananas and Blueberries, Bananas.... And the list goes on...

3. You have to sit there and feed them bite by bite. Yes, this was fun for about the first two weeks and after that... it got boring for both Holynd and I. Either I couldn't feed her fast enough or she was too distracted to be fed. It was not fun! Plus, at mealtime I want to eat my own dang meal!

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I read up on other solid food options and there really was only one other way. To make your own baby food. Yeah, to sit and steam as much as you can, freeze it and store it.

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My problems with making your own baby food:

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1. I have to make it. Who wants to spend an entire day steaming carrots and green beans every month or so. Not me!

2. You still have to feed them the mush.

3. You still have to store it!

4. From what I read, there are only so many veggies you can do this with... NO VARIETY!

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Com'on! Is there an easier way?!

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ENTER THE CHEESE-GRATER!

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Yes, the cheese-grater. With the cheese-grater, Holynd gets a ton of different fruits and veggies (i.e. Carrots, Cucumbers, Celery, Tomatoes, Peaches, Pears, Necarines, Pineapple, ALL KINDS OF APPLES, Raddishes, Turnips, ALL SORTS OF SQUASH, Corn, Blackberries, Grapes, Cabbage, Califlower, and the list could go on). She can eat them raw or cooked and the conveniently-small-cut-up pieces let's her feed herself (Which she loves). I feed her the same store-bought produce Matt and I eat. No jars, no storing, no cooking, just nice fresh raw fruit and veggies for my Hol-e-bean.

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Now, I haven't thrown cooking for her completely out the window. She also eats some of whatever Matt and I eat. Usually I chop it by hand or throw it in the food processor for a quick spin. Small enough for her to eat, but big enough pieces so she can feed herself. I also keep a few containers of homemade chicken-goolash and homemade chicken noodle soup in my fridge for her. I just reheat it on the stove, it takes a total of six minutes. She also LOVES brown rice, plain, nothing added. Just steam and serve.

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You may be thinking that this just leaves me with a huge mess. NOPE! Her face stays relatively clean because of the lack-of-mush baby food and the pieces she leaves leftover get sucked up by my vaccum hose. Takes five seconds to clean up. Seriously.

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Confession: Every once in awhile I let Holynd have a can of Campbells' Chicken Noodle Soup. She loves it, it's her splurge. I think she likes the whole egg-noodles. I make my homemade chicken noodle with egg white-only noodles, so the whole egg-noodles are a nice change. Plus, their stringy and easy for her to slurp. I also love Baby Mum-Mums Rice Snacks for church. They keep her really entertained and they don't make a mess. She also loves Cheerios & Raisins/Craisins for a snack.

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Baby food was fun for a starter, but I have officially moved on.

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That's my take on baby food.

Teach Them While Their Young!

This is Holynd R Peterson, PhD. Ask her anything about outcomes research, death panels, neoclassical policy in regards to healthcare, the pros & cons of deregulation of healthcare markets and she'll be able to brief you. She was the reason I did so well on my Health Economics mid-term.

PS! I found the CUTEST Halloween costume.... I'm keeping it a secret until Halloween (Hopefully, secrets and I don't get along).

PPS! I bought Holynd a 94 cent pumpkin head to carry around on Halloween. She won't let it go. It went to the doctors office with us today. Everyone kept staring at me and the baby with the big pumpkin head in her lap.

Check Out!

Check out my mom's blog for posts about Tevyn's Homecoming!

She looked amazing!

www.tannerfamily2009.blogspot.com

:)

Do You Ever...?

Do you ever say something and then think... What the crap was I thinking?

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Yeah... I had one of those experiences.

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I took Holynd to her nine-month appointment. She weighs 16lbs and is 28 inches long.

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SHE'S TINY, but very healthy and active. Her doctor isn't worried and says she'll probably just be petite.

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As we were talking about her growth, the doctor made the comment that she was "just a little peanut".

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I then said, "That's okay. I like peanuts."

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??????????????????????

Yeah, apparently me liking peanuts has something to do with Holynd's size.... I don't understand myself sometimes....

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Anyway, this post is just an effort to record Holynd's growth.

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She's in the 5th percentile for weight and the 51st for height.

She's very very very active and won't hold still for anyone including her doctor. She had her first flu shot and is taking steps around furniture while she holds on tight. Her doctor said it won't be long before she taking steps everywhere! He also can't believe how flexible she is.

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He wasn't even worried when she crawled underneath an end-table and got stuck.

Holl-E-Wood Goes Halloween!

G-Ma took us to Gardner Village. It was a Witches Weekend! We met lots of fun witches and took a hayride to the witches' house. It was really fun. Afterward, we went to the Mayan for lunch.

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Here are some pictures of our trip!

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Isaac insisted on being the one who pushed the stroller.

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The first witch that we met!

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Here we are on our hayride!

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Holynd, Aunt Twitch and Isaac. Isaac had to jump off once to rescue Holynd's shoe.

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One witch was camping along the way!

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Here was the witches house! The sign out front read, "We Train Witches!"

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Another witch! Holynd was less nervous for this picture.

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Holynd and her Aunt Twitch next to the bushel of Poisoned Apples!

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G-Ma couldn't handle the day-off from housework, so she had to help the witches with their laundry.

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Here is another witch who gave us the tour of their home! Her name was Queen Hyperspeed Helga.

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Holynd decided she wanted a nap on the witches bed.

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Here's Aunt Twitch in the witches living room.

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Holynd in the witches living room.

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They had the little house decorated so cute!

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Next was our trip to the Mayan. We had lots of fun and Holynd ate lots and lots and lots of rice!

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After we were done with dinner, they came out and sang to Aunt Twitch and G-Ma. Aunt Twitch just celebrated her 17th birthday and G-Ma 27th birthday is coming up! They brought us a cake with a firework on top. Unfortunately, I went to the bathroom and no one else cared to take pictures. (Losers!)

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Cliff-Divers! Holynd wasn't too interested, but Uncle Ike and Mac thought it was AWESOME!

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Waiting for Aunt Twitch to bring the car up!

We had a lot of fun! We are really excited for Halloween now!