mar, 28th - chopsticks....

day 415:

good food is an integral part of our lives. both A. and i are interested in cooking, sourcing amazing ingredients and enjoying interesting dishes created by others. we live in a fantastic part of London where there is incredible diversity in terms of cuisines (especially asian and lebanese). we are spoilt with little restaurants that still seemed to be owned by families proud of their heritage and interested in the food and the community rather than the profit margin and turning tables. one of our favourite places is a typical eggs and baked beans English caff during the day but by night a Thai family takes over and serves up some of the best Thai that i've had in this city. the interior is very basic caff, it's b.y.o. (very rare in London), prices are economic-crisis friendly and the Laab Gai doesn't make allowances for the milder English palate....i love this place. and how brilliant that it's one building working perfectly for two restaurants.....wish that more people did this around the world.......

anyway, back to good food...... as i said on day 164, we're trying to expose Limi to a wide variety of cuisines (through what we eat and also what we cook separately for her)......she's now pretty good with trying different things and mainly feeds herself using three preferred implements - a spoon, a fork (very determindly when eating noodles), and both hands.....hey, we've certainly not perfected the whole solids thing yet and some weeks you just want to revert back to her firm favourites (grilled salmon, fishcakes or noodles for every meal) but we're trying to push ourselves to keep it interesting......i won't be surprised if at some stage we go through an i'll-only-eat-spaghetti-and-peas phase and this is not about turning her into some organic-pesto-only child......it's just about trying to instill some idea that food is about sustenance and health but also about flavour, texture and enjoyment......

the pics are from sushi on Sun.....where Limi ate her grilled salmon and avocado rolls (well not the seaweed obviously) but definitely enjoyed the chopsticks more.....

mar, 15th - feeding....

day 402:

Limi is loving feeding herself and is obsessed with her spoon and fork.......

jan, 29th - breakfast faces....

day 350:

three classic Limi faces during breakfast this morning.....

the one-raised-eyebrow-sceptical look....think that i may have to get used to this one.

this is in fact a mad grin and shows off all seven teeth.

this is not...and pure frustration at me for continuing to take pictures rather than pick up the spoon and finish breakfast.

ps. no babies went seriously hungry during the making of this post.

dec, 1st - bloom nano urban highchair....

[the bloom nano urban highchair]

day 291:

highchairs....hmmm....when you live in a Shoe-box like we do, the thought of a clunky, lurid highchair dominating our open-plan space...made me shudder and think that once we went down that road, we'd suddenly have an invasion of plastic and when i next looked at A. in the evening it would be across a 'made in China' (no offense China) sea of primary colours.

sometimes, when Limi is fast asleep for the night, we like to turn our living-space back into a simple, adult, slightly monochromatic space. so we had extremely high, high-chair demands:

• solid and well made - limi is an interactive eater so any wonkiness would results in crash, thud, whaaaaa....
• simple design
• able to fold (and prop away)

[Limi studying the next course offering]

i did some research and decided on the Bloom nano urban highchair, it's the folding version. they have a non-folding version which looks like this. the nano still has their same simple design and folds up fairly flat so that ticked two of the requirements. i was concerned that it wouldn't feel sturdy and that the leatherette would look a bit nasty but it's great. it's heavy and while the leatherette is not my favourite, it's practical (for cleaning) and not too shiny or nasty. it doesn't recline but that hasn't been a problem for us.

[first taste of scrambled egg]

my main thing is that Limi loved it from day one. 

[it will be awhile before she uses that foot-rest]

[food art]

nov, 20th - get this napkin off me.....

day 281:

Lissom will merrily sit and eat her food, humming along if she likes it...until....she's had enough...then it's

get this

bib

off

me

now

unless you then produce a piece of wholewheat toast or plain yoghurt........

oct, 7th - finger foods....

day 236:

stuck on healthy, delicious, new textures and fun finger foods for limi.....

today's selection was avocado, cucumber, wholewheat toast and organic, carrot 'quavers' (with rooibos tea - see day 232)

any ideas? anyone....anyone?

sep, 21st - solids, episode II....

[surprisingly tasty (and a hit), steamed courgette and raw banana puree]

day 221:

i've been thinking a bit more about the post on weaning and solids (day 213). one thing that i forgot to mention was the reasoning behind all the interesting combinations and spices.....it's not just a bid to be exotic. research suggests that babies enjoy spices and herbs (obviously not including salt or pepper) and that by introducing these at the weaning stage, they will develop a more sophisticated palate and therefore, they will eat a wider range of foods. this makes sense to me, as globally, kids do not all get raised on bland, wallpaper-paste-rice-cereal. plus, by adding these flavours to their food they get the added benefits:

• ginger - good for settling the stomach
• cinnamon - also good for settling the stomach and anti-bacterial
• garlic - anti-oxidant
• tumeric - anti-oxidant
• dill - aids digestion, hiccups and colic
• mint - helps respiratory issues and aids digestion
• coriander - aids gassiness, stimulates appetite and helps joint pain

i love the idea of limi being happy to try food from different countries. and hopefully it will keep the 'kids chicken nugget obsession' at bay....

aug, 24th - dream feed....

day 193:

so....we've introduced a dream feed. 

as the name suggests, it's a feed that the baby has whilst still sleeping (haven't we all wished that we could manage this at some point). here's a bit more info.

anyway...the idea is to give the baby a warm bottle between 10:30 and 11pm, just before you go to sleep and preferably without waking them...in the hope (beg, pray) that they will sleep for longer.

up until now....although the yoga mums have all been advocating the dream feed since week 3, i've been a bit reluctant to introduce it. to me, it seemed a bit foie-grasesque to feed a sleeping baby, especially when they're not hungry, just to get them to sleep longer for your own benefit. i liked the idea that limi was setting her own patterns and waking and eating only when hungry.

but...*groan....over the past week, she's started waking up twice a night (2am and 4am) instead of just the once (4am)....and i'm feeling the pain....i need sleep and that's more for HER benefit than mine.

so, after debating for awhile, i decided to give the dream-feed a go. and.....my foie-gras-baby is now sleeping through the night (well, except for the strange dream that she's having at 11pm of being chased by a bottle). the interesting part for me is that although i am waking up with a bounce that's been a bit stunted for 6 months,  limi also appears to be enjoying the longer, uninterrupted sleep and is waking up looking very rested, with an even bigger smile....

now, we just need to discuss the 6:30am start time!

jul, 26th - starting solids....

day 164:

Big Step! today we start solids.

[so hungry she has to eat her toes]

i have actually given this ALOT of thought. it's probably because we've spent the first 5.5 months focusing on the other senses and i want Taste to also get a look it. but also because socialising over meals is what our family does and i would love Limi to develop an appreciation of good food and be adventurous with her taste-buds..(as i said...ALOT of thought!!!)

i have been particularly interested in Baby Led Weaning (BLW) and promoted (read - evangelised) it to anyone who would listen. but after all these months of aiming for BLW,  Limi suddenly developed a Hunger last week and i decided to start her on baby cereal....(she trips and falls at the first BLW hurdle).

although we generally come from the avoid-forums-trust-your-instincts school of parenting. i decided to go looking for guidance around introducing solids and found the following 5 step plan in my book called Baby Sense....(at least it gives me some ideas to adjust around Limi's needs) 

5 step plan for introducing solids:

step 1: begin with a baby cereal as an evening meal. introduce it between 4-5 pm. gradually increase the amount and adjust the consistency depending on the babies' needs. continue for 2 weeks and then move on to step 2.

step 2: introduce a breakfast feed at 8am. offer the same amount in the morning as the evening meal. continue with cereal both morning and evening for the next two weeks.

step 3: substitute the evening cereal with vegetables. stick to vegetables with yellow or orange flesh, moistened with formula milk, if necessary. if older than five months, continue with step 3 for a week and move on to step 4.

step 4: if the baby becomes hungry at lunchtime and cannot stretch from the mid-morning feed to the mid-afternoon feed, introduce pureed fresh, raw fruit. moisten with formula. offer the same amount as for breakfast and dinner solids. milk feeds should remain the same. continue with this meal plan for a further two weeks.

step 5: introduce one tablespoon of natural yoghurt into any one meal of the day. either mix it into the cereal, or add it to fresh fruit, or give it separately after vegetables.

[this is an abbreviated version of what is found in the book]

so today we're starting on a 4-grain-multi-baby-cereal for dinner...wake up Taste Buds!

p.s. can you tell that i've been reading far too much Winnie-the-Pooh to Limi lately. i can't stop talking In Capitals....i'm loving it....Limi's more amused by trying to Eat the story.

jun, 18th - test the formula....

day 129:

we started formula today. with work possibly looming in the future and freedom (well the odd morning) beckoning....it's time for Limi's independence. although she was very interested in the bottle...she just wasn't convinced by its' contents and mostly just swirled the formula around her mouth and then let it dribble out with an expression of disdain. we're starting (well trying) formula on one morning feed and aiming to replace one feed a week...hopefully this will give her time to adjust and us time to get our heads around bottles, sterilisation, formula, boiled water, bibs and remembering to pack it all in the bag too!