Current mood: accomplished
Two big things happened today. One bigger than the other so I will start off with the smaller event first.
Providing for a Baby definately isn't easy on the wallet. Especially now with the economy being the way it is, we need to skimp and save as much as we can. One of things that has been slowly adding up is the cost of baby food. Since Mia graduated to stage 3 she has been eating ALOT! Each Gerber Baby Stage 3 usually averages about 70-80+ cents a jar depending on where we go to buy it. That might not seem much but consider she eats 1-2 stage 3 a day, 7 days a week, it adds up. So I have been meaning to try to experiment with making my own baby food for a while now. My Sis-in-law Lauren lent me her baby food processor awhile back and it has been sitting there mocking me as I drag in grocery bags full of baby food jars every other week. So once Mia ran out of food again and we ended up spending alot on restocking her shelves I decided I had enough! I was going to make baby food!!! So after some researched online I found some easy recipes. I decided to start small and with her two favorite foods, squash and sweet potatos.
I bought a few sweet potatoes (about 25 cents each) and a few giant butternut squashes (about 1.5 bucks a lb which I thought was pretty pricey, but they are seasonal and can be stored for at least 3 months). So I was ready to experiment. I have heard from lots of sources that steaming your foods is the best since they retain the most vitamins without losing them to boiling or cooking. So I busted out my brand new steamer (a wedding gift that ended up in the back cupboard unused) and made some sweet potatoes and squash. To my surprise I got two full stage 3 baby jars (I always keep them after we use them) of sweet potato from just one potato!!! Thats like a quarter for two jars! I was stoked! When I did the squash I got a whoppin 4 jars with some left over, from one squash!
Now the real test... will Mia like them? I am a strong believer in keeping Mia's food's as healthy, oraganic if possible, and processed-free as possible (at least for now, while shes young) I wasn't sure how she would react to fresh food but to my surprise after alittle getting used to the texture she liked them and ate them! YAY! I am all excited now. I want to make all her baby food... well most of it. It is alittle bit of work but I have fun doing it, its almost like I am already cooking for Mia... it really makes me feel like a real Mama! (I know I know, I am a real Mama, but you know what I mean) We will see how long this new trend lasts.
Ok onto the BIG new of the day! Today Mia graduated to the Big People's Tub!!! Thats right, I have retired her little blue baby bathtub and today she took her first big girl bath in Daddy's bathroom. (His tub is smaller than my master bathroom one, and since I was so nervous I wanted to use the smaller one first haha). She has been outgrowing her little baby bath for awhile now... she is just so long (she wears 18-24 month clothes) that she outgrew it sometime ago I just didn't feel she was quiet ready for the big splash into the grown up tub yet. Till today... actually I felt ready yesterday but decided to wait for a night when Daddy was working from home incase I needed help. So tonight I got all her bath stuff ready, busted out the camera and into the tub she went. I wasn't sure how she would react to it... being all spacious and roomy, but she LOVED IT! My little brave girl had no problem crawling around and splashing about. She even kept standing up on the side of the tub and I had to keep sitting her back down. Then she would stand up on the opposite side of where I was... that sneaky girl! haha She had a blast though. She even tried licking the water in which I had to stop her. Adrian kept reminding me to let her do her own thing and experience the bath without intervening so much. Ya, I was doing the typical overprotective Mama thing and was always there with a hand for support incase she fell or just holding on to her. Once I let go (which was harder for me to do that I can describe) she was just fine. She slipped once and a part of her face hit the water but she just brushed it off like nothing and kept playing. Another time she went to cough and she ended up putting her face in the water. It startled her a bit but again she brushed it off and kept exploring. It was fun to finally relax alittle and watch her explore and experience the bath for the first time. It was cute to watch her try to crawl on top of the water and not understanding why her hand would sink haha. She played with her toys, tried to pull down the shower curtain a few times, and was climbing on everything. It was a really fun experience. I finally had to cut the bath short when she started getting all pruney and red cheeked. Overall she did good, no fussing, no crying, she wasn't scared at all.. infact she had a ton of fun. I can't wait to do it again!!
My little Mia girl is growing up so fast!!!
