1 Mother 2 Another

When the weather turned gorgeous and mild today for no discernable reason, Madeleine and I wisely asked no questions and ran out of the house to enjoy ourselves.  We went to our local greenmarket; our supply of frozen baby food’s pretty low and it’s time to replenish.  Having been on solid foods for about three weeks now, Madeleine’s developing quite the diverse diet; she’s getting the eating thing down, throwing both arms out stiff to her sides like an airplane and opening her mouth wide baby bird-style.  

I can’t stand how cute she can make something like eating.

We’re adding new foods every five days, watching for allergies, and about to start moving the new food introductions a day closer together.  Here favorite is still sweet potatoes, hands down.  Today carrots took their bow and won a rave review.  I suspect she’s got a partiality for foods that can make the most permanent mess, but I can’t prove it.

We returned from the greenmarket well-laden and ready to cook for the afternoon.  Unloading my bags full of sweet potatoes, pears, apples, prunes, bananas, and avocados while eating a Christmas cookie, it occurred to me: my kid eats way better than I do. 

I make most of my own baby food not because she’s too precious for anything except that which I craft with my bare hands, but because it’s cheaper.  What can I say.  I’ve been using ice cube trays for each food, freezing a portion and then bagging the cubes for later, but I’ve asked Santa for some of those baby food trays that look like ice cube trays but pop out into individual containers replete with lids.  Freezing in a regular tray will be great for most instances, but I’m guessing those plain cubes get a bit messy when you’re on the go.

And as a heads up to other mommies – I said I make most of my own baby food.  Our pediatrician advised me not to make carrots, turnips, or beets – basically root vegetables.  Apparently those vegetables can absorb harmful amounts of nitrate from the soil, so unless you’re 100% sure of where those carrots came from and what the soil’s like, stick to the jars.  She said potatoes and yams are fine, though I’m not quite sure of the difference.

Anyway, we spent the afternoon peeling, steaming, food processing, and freezing.  There’s a great deal of satisfaction to be felt when you survey your freezer and realize you’ve put up food for your child for a good two weeks.

And if I’m hungry in the middle of the night, a stray banana cube may find its way to my side.  She’ll never know.