Battle of the Puree

We were late to the solids game.  The AAP recommends babies start solid food at 6 months.   At least I told myself this while Fisher gazed longingly at other babies eating real food while he enjoyed a nice serving of mother's milk for the millionth time.   But let's be real . . . I'm super lazy.  I don't feed myself three meals a day.  Solid foods = more mess, more hassle.  I held out as long as possible. 


To add to the feeding pressure, before Fisher's birth I promised myself I would make ALL his food from scratch.  I'm really good at fulfilling promises to myself. . . see below table for reference.

PROMISE	END RESULT	NOTES
Medication free delivery	11th hour epidural	Praise Jesus for anesthesia
No use of pacifier- ever	Pacifier- always	Never underestimate the power of silence on sanity
Baby sleeps only in crib	Baby thought crib was jail	Baby and I enjoyed a 2 hour nap on the couch today
Buy only wood/metal toys	Baby prefers playing with plastic	Buy stock in Fisher-price
Keep all toys in nursery	Must be able to walk in nursery	My living room doubles as a Buy Buy Baby showroom
Nurse exclusively for 1 year	3-5 formula bottles/wk at 6 months	Baby STILL alive . . . Miracle
Make ALL baby food	I think I can, I think I can	I hate puree

Seriously making my own baby food should be easy.  After all, I have this nifty machine . . . I used it to make asparagus risotto Monday night.  It was delicious, but not Fisher friendly.  And so I woke up this morning determined to puree.  A package of organic baby carrots taunted me in the fridge all week- screaming at me for feeding Fisher glass jars of carrots from Meijer when it could be so, so much better (says the fresh, whole carrots and the super moms who do things like EC their infants).

Here's what Fisher thinks of my hard work in the kitchen.

Pretty sure he thinks I poisoned him.  However, I learned long ago to always have a back up plan when I'm cooking.

I can't wait to move on to "real" solids.  In the battle of the puree vs. Jane, the puree clearly has won.  They make me want to puke.  Thankfully I have my trusty canine assistant to help with clean up and offer moral support. I need it. 

Nick came home right as we were wrapping things up.  He always has excellent timing.  He thought Fisher's "situation" was a joke . . . like I want my baby to look like he just rolled face first through the mud . . . or worse.  

Seriously disgusting . . . I feel the need to mention this was the worst mess ever before your further judge my feeding skills

The lesson here is no more promises to myself.  This parenting thing is tough and clearly I have no idea what I'm in for. 

St. Patty's

It's still March so I think I can still post about St. Patty's. 

We started the day in the middle of no where Michigan . . .literally.  I don't even remember the name of the town.  Anyways . . . this random town had a fun little parade to the local Irish pub and a marching band.  Everyone loves a marching band playing jig music.  Well everyone but Fisher.  He managed to sleep through the whole thing.  This was impressive considering the drum line stopped 2 feet from his head.

Julianne and Isaac- I was super jealous of Isaac's spirit gear

Fisher sleeping like a baby through a marching band

After the parade we rendezvoused  at Julianne's house for a block party.  I was impressed by our on theme food.  Julianne made a rainbow of fruit emptying into a pot of gold, I made a batch of Carolyn's delicious mint brownies and displayed them on green moss grass.  We were cute.  Although I think the only people who thought so was us.  . .typical.

Who knew a red wagon was so versatile?  I think I need one.

All my little man needs is a gold chain and some hair on that chest

I love that these three get to grow up together. . .the big guys were so cute with Fisher

We did laugh that the last St. Patty's we spent together was under far different circumstances.  I thoroughly enjoyed them both.

Gross. . .Julianne and Jane circa 2004- I think we have gotten better with age, you can judge for yourself below

Have we gotten better with age or do we just have the good sense to cover up with sunglasses in old age?

Sunday Crepes

Nick's mom, Jann, is an amazing chef.  Me? not so much.  I try to humor Nick and make some of the Lardo family recipes once in awhile with varying degrees of success.  Last weekend we made crepes.   Thankfully they were easy and turned out delish despite my involvement.

This recipe is from Nick's grandma in Argentina:

• 4 eggs
• ½ cup milk
• ½ cup water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons butter gently melted
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 cup  all purpose flour

Easy ingredients

Place all ingredients into blender container.  Blend on medium speed until just combined.  Preheat an 8” sloped pan. Grease pan lightly.  Pour a scant ¼ cup batter into pan to coat interior.  Fry until edges turn light brown and batter no longer steams.  Using a fork or spatula, gently loosen edges.  Remove from  pan.  Stack on plate.  When cooled, fill with dulce de leche, sliced sweetened strawberries or sautéed apples and roll into a cylinder.

 

My sous chef measures ingredients EXACTLY

We filled our crepes with dulce de leche.  Yum.  Dulce de leche only came into my life after I met the Lardos.  It is one of the many reasons I am thankful for them.

Nick's sister Alison gave us this bottle of yummy goodness for Christmas.

I ate two crepes, Nick ate eight.  I guess this means they were a success.  Now if I could only figure out how to fold my empanadas like Jann.