Solids!

I thought I would do a little quick update since I have been so busy! I have been working every other day for the last week, and will continue to do so for the next 3 weeks. Ugh, it seems like I am always at the hospital! Every time I have a day off, it seems like I am spending it getting everything in order for me to be gone the next day (cleaning, cooking, preparing Gavin's breast milk bottles, cleaning pumping stuff, doing dishes, doing errands, blah, blah!). I really can't wait to be working less...there are so many things I have been neglecting, and I can't wait to re-focus myself on my family. and husband. and child. and house. and self.

Last night Derek and I decided that we would make Gavin some batches of homemade baby food to freeze. So far he has had rice cereal and sweet potatoes. Yesterday while I was eating an apple, Gavin was VERY interested. So I let him suck on my apple for a little while. He LOVED it. Would not stop. Cried when I took it away. Uh oh! So we thought maybe its time for G to have some applesauce! We went to my favorite market, Lunardies, because they have a great selection of organic produce. We bought some organic apples, carrots, and sweet potatoes. I baked the sweet potato, added water to puree, and froze in 1 ounce cubes. Then I boiled the apples and added some of the water to puree. I froze those in 2 ounce cubes. Then for the carrots, I steamed them and used the leftover water from the apples to puree them. I thought that would give them a nice sweet taste. (And I could not use the water I steamed them with because it has nitrates in it from the carrots...something I learned during my baby food research days on bed rest!) I was very surprised at how easy all of this was, and how MUCH food it made! It look less than an hour (Mostly because of the potatoes taking an hour to bake) and made enough food to last Gavin a month! We spent about $8 for the produce, so in the end this is a pretty big money saver! (That's not why I am doing it, but it is a big plus!)

So far Gavin is just sort of interested in baby food. He will play with the spoon, help feed himself, and smear the food all over. He does not really seem to be too interested in the actual eating part! Part of me loves the fact that he still really loves to nurse rather than eat baby food. I really cherish this bond that we have, and I feel blessed to be able to do this. Some can't and I can imagine it would be very disappointing. So, for now we will continue to give him some solids at breakfast and dinner...and one day he will catch on!