Baby Food - Zucchini

Since Farrah is now eating solids, very well I might add, I decided it was time to get out my Baby Bullet and start making some baby food.  Now, I in no way intend to make all of the baby food Farrah will eat.  I simply want to make food for her when I can.  To my surprise, it was very easy.  I have made yellow squash and zucchini at this point.  I decided to share my zucchini making process to show just how simple it really is.

What do you need?  Not much really.

• Something to prepare the fruit/vegetables in
• A blender/food processor of some type.  I received a Baby Bullet as a shower gift, so that is what I use.  Any blender, food processor, stick blender, etc. would work fine.
• Containers for storage if you plan on making more than just one serving

Ingredients: Fruit/vegetable of choice and water. I used Certified Naturally Grown zucchini from Jack-O-Lantern Farm (a local farmers market).  Zucchini is $1.50 per lb there.  These two zucchinis were not even a pound.  So I made 5 servings of baby food (at 3-4 TBSP each) for less than $1.50!

Step 1:  Slice or chop the fruit/vegetable.  It is not necessary to remove the skins from most fruits/vegetables.  I did read that babies under 7 months have a difficult time digesting the skins, so I peeled my zucchini.

Step 2:  Cook the fruit/vegetable.  You can bake, boil, or steam.  I steamed the zucchini with a little water in the microwave for about 5 minutes.

Step 3: After the fruit/vegetable cools some, blend adding a little water as you go, until you reach your desired consistency.  I added about a tablespoon of water.  From the two zucchinis I used, I ended up with just over 1 cup of baby food.

Step 4: Place your baby food in storage containers.  Any baby food stored in the refrigerator needs to be used in 2 - 3 days.  You can freeze the baby food in ice-trays and store in a Ziploc bag for up to 30 days.

Of course the last and most important step is to see if your homemade baby food passes the test.  Farrah loves her squash and zucchini!

There you go.  It is really that simple!  I have found that yellow squash and zucchini contain so much water that you really do not have to add much, if any, while you are blending.  If you do need to add water, use the water you cooked the fruit/vegetable in since it contains nutrients pulled from the fruit/vegetable.  I plan on trying green beans next.  Check back to see how that goes!

The Fifth Month

With Poppa and GiGI

The fifth month has been another exciting month (like I am sure they all will be)!  This month was our second round of vaccines.  Farrah did very good.  She only ran a low fever for one day which was much better than the two days with the first round.  She did have bruising from the shots this time though.  I was finishing up the last little bit of the school year and looking forward to my summer off with Farrah.  Farrah was busy finding her feet, figuring out how to get her new found feet in her mouth, and trying new foods.  She also started making a new noise and grabbing/holding things.  But, the big excitement was starting solids this month (around 19 weeks).  We started with a tablespoon of rice cereal at her 6:00pm feeding.  Our doctor told us to replace a bottle with a solid.  For the first few days, we still gave her 2 ounces of formula after the cereal since, from the look of her bib, she may not have been swallowing all of the cereal.  She quickly got very good at eating from a spoon.  After about a week, we upped the cereal to two tablespoons and stopped giving her the formula.  After two weeks on the cereal, we added in squash.  She did not seem to like it at all for the first couple of days.  Now, she loves it!

Farrah's First Solid

Got it!

Farrah's Schedule 

6:30-7:30 - Bottle and Wake-time
7:30-9:00 - Nap
9:00-10:30 - Bottle and Wake-time
10:30-12:00 - Nap
12:00-1:30 - Bottle and Wake-time
1:30-3:00 - Nap
3:00-4:30 - Bottle and Wake-time
4:30-5:30/6 - Nap Sometimes (This is around the time we are getting home.)
6:00-7:00 - 2 Tbsp. Cereal and Wake-time
7:00-8/8:30 - Nap (sometimes)
8/8:30 - Bottle and Bedtime

The Fourth Month

First Easter Outfit

Farrah's fourth month was a very busy month.  Wow!  These months are going by fast!  I was back at work, and our new little family was trying to establish a routine.  The month was full of smiles and a little laugh here and there (if you worked hard enough for it).  I also think Farrah started teething.  My mom was keeping Farrah since I was back at work.  When I picked her up one day, she told me that she thought Farrah was teething.  She was cranky and was drooling a lot.  This has continued off and on.  She also had an exploding diaper, which I have read is a sign of teething.  Some days she needed a bib all day and some days she was fine.  But, still no teeth.  I do see what looks like little white lines in her gums where her front two bottom teeth would be.  So, maybe they will break through soon.  Easter also fell during the fourth month.  It was the first (of many I'm sure) difficult holidays to schedule.  I just thought holidays were hard to schedule when I go married.  Boy does throwing a cute little baby in the mix make it even harder!  We had my in-laws over on Saturday to celebrate.  Then celebrated on Sunday with my family.  My grandparents, who live out of town, always come for Easter.  So, it was a nice time for Farrah to get to visit with all of her living great-grandparents. 

Easter Bunny Came!

Four Generations (My Dad's side)

Four Generations (My Mom's side)

Farrah's Schedule 
6/6:30-7:30 - Bottle and Wake-time
7:30-9:00 - Nap
9:00-10:30 - Bottle and Wake-time
10:30-12:00 - Nap
12:00-1:30 - Bottle and Wake-time
1:30-3:00 - Nap
3:00-4:30 - Bottle and Wake-time
4:30-5:30/6 - Nap Sometimes (This is around the time we are getting home.)
5:30/6:00-7:00 - Bottle and Wake-time
7:00-8/8:30 - Nap (sometimes)
8/8:30 - Bottle and Bedtime

Looking for Leo

My husband and I are both alumni of the University of North Alabama, and my husband just recently began working for UNA as a web developer.  UNA houses two live lion mascots on their campus, Leo and Una.  Recently a book called Looking for Leo was published.  The author, Dalen Keys, and illustrator, Walt Vandiver, are both alumni of UNA.  The proceeds from the book go directly to care for the lions.  A book signing was held a couple of weekends ago at the local Books-A-Million.  So, we decided this would be a good opportunity to give back to UNA as well as get a new book for Farrah that was signed by both the author and illustrator.  Of course Farrah was asleep when we got there, but she still got her picture made with the author and illustrator by the university photographer.  The book is a very cute story about Una and a group of children looking around the campus for Leo.  As a former member of the UNA band, I was excited that the band got a shout out in the book!  To find out more about purchasing the book and helping maintain the lion habitat check out the University of North Alabama's website.

The Third Month

Practicing My Smile

 The third month was full of new things and more sleep!  We took Farrah on her first big trip when she was 9 weeks old.  We went to Newport News, VA with a pit stop in Knoxville, TN.  See my post, First Big Trip, for more about our trip.  Farrah started smiling this month, and the smiling has not stopped!  She also found her hands and started holding things.  Toward the end of her third month I went back to work.  We had planned on sending her to daycare.  We visited the daycare we had picked out while I was on maternity leave.  After the visit, both Thomas and I could not picture our tiny 11 week old in daycare.   My Mom offered to keep her for us.  Which was such a blessing.  It has made it so much easier to go back to work knowing she was safe and being taken care of.  I do not know if my parents will ever know how much Thomas and I appreciate them keeping her.  I know it has not been easy for them and has made for some long nights, though they would never let on that it has.  They have a business in which they do all of the work.  My Dad has to do a lot on his own since my Mom has Farrah.  They also work after I pick her up in the evenings to catch up on what they could not do during the day.  I know they love spending time with Farrah, but they have had to make some sacrifices as well.  With that said, Farrah started going to Poppa and GiGi's this month, also!

Ready to go see Poppa and GiGi!

Farrah started sleeping through the night at 9 1/2 weeks.  What a welcomed milestone!  At this point, Farrah was eating on a combination 2 1/2 - 3 hour schedule.  She had a bottle at 8:00 PM and then went to bed.  I would wake her at 10:00 PM for one last feeding.  This was supposed to be her "dream feed", but I never was very successful at keeping her from waking all the way during this feeding.  During the second month, she had stopped waking to eat in the middle of the night.  The next big step was to cut out the 10:00 PM bottle.  I had not even thought about trying to cut out this feeding in fear that she would start waking to eat in the middle of the night again.  One night while we were in Newport News, VA, I fed Farrah at 8:00 PM and put her to bed.  I typically would stay up until her 10:00 PM feeding.  Well this particular night I accidentally fell asleep.  I woke in a panic scrambling for my phone to see what time it was.  It was 4:00 AM, and Farrah was still asleep!  So I decided to just go back to sleep and see if she would sleep until her first bottle which was usually between 6:00 AM and 6:30 AM.  Of course I figured as soon as I got back to sleep she would wake up, but she didn't.  She slept through the night!  So, that was the end of her 10:00 PM bottle, by accident.

March Madness with Daddy!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

GiGi got a hat for sitting by the pool.

First Big Trip

 

 Thomas had to go on a business trip to Newport News, VA just a few weeks before my maternity leave ended.  We decided to make it a family trip.  Up until this trip, the longest trip Farrah had been on was about 2 hours.  Newport News, VA is around a 13 hour trip for us.  This trip was our first experience with public restroom changing tables, feeding Farrah in public with our fingers crossed that she would not scream bloody murder when we took the bottle away to burp her, and eating out with Farrah every meal.  I guess it was pretty obvious that we were new parents because everyone would say, "Oh, she is so cute.  She must be your first.".

Great-Grandfather

We decided to stop in Knoxville, TN on our way and spend the night.  This was still about a 6 or 7 hour trip because of having to stop to feed Farrah.  We knew we could not do the whole trip to Newport News in one day with a 9 week old, and my Mom's family lives in Knoxville.  So, it seemed like a good pit stop.  Farrah got to see her Great-Grandmother, Great-Grandfather, and Great Aunt.  Farrah was great in the car going to Knoxville.  She slept most of the time.  We visited with family, then made our way to our hotel for the night.  The next day we drove the rest of the way to Newport News, which was still a LONG drive.  We were in Newport News for several days.  There was nothing in walking distance from our hotel, so Farrah and I hung out in the hotel room while Thomas went to his meetings.  We got to know the waitress at the hotel restaurant very well.  Farrah and I would go down for breakfast every morning.  She gave us a bag full of fruit and bottled water for the trip home.  We did have time to visit Colonial Williamsburg and do a little shopping while we were there.  The trip home seemed to take forever.  We ended up stopping in  Chattanooga to stay the night and finished the drive the next day.  The following are the lessons we learned on our first big trip with Farrah.

Great-Grandmother

Great Aunt

• Bring a soft towel for baby's bath.  We really did not think about having to give Farrah a bath or packing for it.  We got some baby soap while we were out one day but did not think about the towel.  Hotel towels are not very soft.
• Always use a changing pad under baby.  You never know when she will decide to go number 2. i was changing Farrah one day in the hotel.  I put her changing pad under her as always.  While I was making the change from wet diaper to clean diaper, Farrah went number 2 with absolutely no warning.  No grunt, no red face, nothing.  Thomas's comment was, "It's a good thing you put down that changing pad.".
•  Bring dish soap for washing your bottles.  We learned this on our first little trip with Farrah to Nashville.
• Packing a car for two adults and a 9 week old for a seven day trip is not easy!

The Second Month

During the second month, things started to slow down a little.  Farrah and I also established a better routine.  I had read the book On Becoming Babywise, and felt more confident and knowledgeable.  Farrah started staying awake a little longer during the day.  During the first month, she pretty much feel asleep after she was fed and changed.  During the second month, she started staying awake a total of about 45 minutes including feeding and changing.  Farrah also started sticking out her tongue and was much more alert.  The big accomplishment during the second month was more night time sleep.  She started sleeping a six hour stretch after her 10:30PM/11:00PM feeding.  We were still having to get up to feed her around 4:00AM, but it seemed like we were getting so much more sleep!  We also went on our first overnight trip with Farrah.  Thomas wanted to go to a conference Jon Acuff was hosting in Nashville, so Farrah and I tagged along.  Farrah slept while we traveled.  The most difficult part of the travel was stopping to feed her.  We arrived in Nashville a little later than planned, so Thomas had to drop us off at the hotel and go straight to the first part of the conference.  I was left to figure out the pack-and-play (this was the first time we used it), and try to keep a 7 week old quite so we would not disturb the entire floor!  The next day Farrah and I stayed at the hotel while Thomas went to the second part of the conference.  He cut out a little early for some family time and shopping before we had to head back home.  Check out the blog post Thomas did about the Quitter Conference.  We also had some very special visitors all the way from Knoxville, TN!

6 Weeks

7 Weeks

Aunt Kathy Joe Came to see me.

7 Weeks in Nashville.