Friday, October 21, 2011

Finger Food Tip...

This is just a simple tip I read on another blog (I can't remember which one now).  But basically you cut up your fruit into small pieces (fruits precooked or not needing cooking) and then you can coat it with yogurt and then some baby cereal.  This makes it so that your child can pick up the slippery fruit.  I tried this with mango today (something we had problems with before) and it worked great.  I didn't have any yogurt on hand though so that was left out and it worked fine still.  No problem getting it to their mouths and they loved it too.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Oranges

According to my "instruction manual" from the pediatrician it is okay to give babies oranges from 8-10 months.  I purchased some clementine oranges (I have a hard time picking sweet navel oranges and I wanted the first orange taste to be a good experience haha).  I peeled the orange and broke each wedge into a few pieces and placed it in front of the girls for finger food.  Kendall didn't seem to have any issue but I will report that Seren (my "stuff as much food in at one time" child; babies and children often "chipmunk" food in their cheeks too) had her first real choking experience.  Not fun.  She gagged and I could see from her reaction she couldn't breath (no whine, cry or cough and a look of panic).  The orange peels that were in my lap went flying and I reacted a lot faster than I thought was possible.  I had her out of the high chair and was ready to whack her on the back when she must have gotten it to the right tube and swallowed it.  What a relief to have her start crying.

**Just want to emphasize again...always keep an eye on your children when they are eating finger foods (especially new ones) until they are very experienced and even then don't allow children to run around while eating as this causes distraction and choking risk.  Take an infant/child CPR class (most hospitals offer community classes for FREE or a minimal charge) and if you ever feel foggy on the details take a refresher.  I can't imagine having to deal with a day like this thinking "man I wish I would have taken a class" and not knowing what exactly to do.**

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Give Me Texture Please...

I think my girls have finally hit the stage (or are at least fast approaching it) where they don't love purees anymore.  They still love the flavor of certain things as they will still gobble them up.  But recently they have been turning the other cheek (literally) to some of the purees I offer.  They do however love their finger food so I've been focusing on this and adding new things to try.

Last night I brought home a rotisserie chicken.  I cut up some of this chicken into little pieces for the girls.  They loved it.  They had cheerios and chicken for lunch again today (with their usual 6 oz bottle).  I gave them cooked peas the day before and tossed some carrot puree in the middle of it just for good measure.  They mostly played with this meal but it was great just the same.

I haven't found love for my food mill still.  But I am thinking that some beef stew (with some of their favorite veggies) thrown through the food meal might do the trick.  I think I'm ready...I think they might be ready...to basically just eat more of what we have (with a little help from my small blender or the food mill).  Looking forward to some fun and flavor.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Always Changing...

I was reading through my "owner's manual" we received at the girls 9 month appointment.  It seems you can never be 100% on top of things.  You do your best of course.  I noticed under the juice portion of the table for food that it now states that the AAP does not recommend juice until a child is 1 year old and older.  Interesting.  So I suppose we will be cutting out the apple juice and not planning on trying out other juice until next year now. It also doesn't recommend cheese beyond cottage cheese now until 10 months of age and older.  Another change I will probably debate on adapting too as the girls have been enjoying their cheddar and are less than a month away now anyway.  Anyway...I'll have to really compare them and see what else is different.