cloudy with a chance of meatballs

Tuesday 7th August

Out walking the newest member of our household (only for a few days) The boys are really enjoying walking her and feeding her, they are a bit nervous of walking past her in the house especially when she is in doorways. But mostly she spends her time sleeping/ resting so it's hard to notice she's even with us most of the time.

The hour long dog walk was followed by a bike ride into town, a visit to the bank, camping shop (spontaneous sale buy of sleeping bag and roll mat for Pumpkin,) and buying wooden spoons to make puppets with (Bean's idea.) The boys have both used the spoons to make their own puppets this afternoon and I am enjoying watching them use the craft space we have made in the house. 

Our road is closed for two days so that it can be resurfaced and a zebra crossing put in between the opposing schools. It is a small boys heaven. The number of different machines travelling up and down our road, all shapes and sizes, it really is quite fascinating. We got caught in a rain shower on the way home but this didn't stop the boys from wanting to stop and watch the work going on.

There was a lot of watching iplayer this afternoon and Bean was looking particularly gaunt, our mornings run around had certainly worn them out. 

Spaghetti and meatballs for dinner was enjoyed by all, one of the most fun aspects of baby led weaning has to spaghetti!

Plum

Saturday 7th July


Mummy and Plum had a girls day today and daddy took the boys to Amberely Museum with SGS and his grandson. We went shopping in town where Plum wooed the crowds with her big saucer blue eyes and curly hair and winning smile. We drop roasted a freezer and hoovered and made a lovely sausage flan for tea. I was most intrigued to discover that her sleeping is not altogether improved by the lack of boys. I have been wondering if her daytime sleep would be better/ longer if the boys were not disturbing her and we were not constantly moving from car to sling to car to buggy etc. sometimes she will be happy with ten minutes and sometimes 2hours, sometimes half an hour and sometimes an hour. She doesn't seem to have any repeating pattern to them. Nor does she have a standard 'bedtime,' not even variable within an hour of each other, sometimes it's 6.30pm and other times it's 9.30pm or anytime on between. She definitely moves to her oun rhythm! 

During the afternoon we went to a birthday party. Plum enjoyed sampling yellow and orange pepper and some carrot sticks. She has also eaten this weekend, avocado, porridge, rhubarb muffin and broad bean risotto. She particularly liked the broad beans. 


 We did end the day with a family movie night. We struggle to find films that Bean will get past the opening sequence of. He gets very nervous about anything mildly traumatic or frightening and doesn't like it when things go wrong. But today we watched the Disney version of Robin Hood and he loved it. It was funny enough that even in the frightening parts we could show him the funny side of what was happening and tell him how things were going to work out. I should also mention that I found a copy of Cars on the market this morning (which we know he loves) so that has been put aside for the next movie night.

A Rose by any other name

Thursday 5th July


We said goodbye to Km today but before she went we managed to fit in a game of pirates, hiding treasure around the house and going in search of it, dressed up and cutlass in hand. Bean also built a train track and we managed two breakfasts.


Plum had had another disturbed night, waking every two hours. She is starting to take in some of the food she is playing with and I'm wondering if her stomach and digestive system are in shock! But you can never be 100% sure, it might be a growth spurt or just the need to find mummy.


After saying goodbye to Km and dropping her off at 9am, fav Auntie #3 has come to play. We took her to one of my current favourite places, Nyman Gardens. Today's children exploration included a flower spotting quiz which both the boys took up and a flower art creation which I have collected the pieces for and hope to complete with the boys later. We explored many a flower, leaf and tree and ran around the rose garden whilst mummy and fa#3 collected handfuls of fallen rose petals. The aroma was overwhelmingly delightful.
The house as always was beautiful and both the boys were able to recount the story of the burning roof. They have a great game for the children, 'find foxy' which is as simple as it sounds. The staff regularly move a toy fox around the house and you have to find him. It originates from the days of the last owner who played it with visiting children of family members. It's a great way of getting the boys to look at each room and discover a multitude of other things along the way. 
We also managed to explore some new areas and found a round house, where the boys climbed trees, swept the floor, spied on passers-by and played mummy's and daddy's. Pumpkin was the daddy, got the breakfast and swept the floor.


The rest of the afternoon was helped along by some I player and fa#3 going for a walk with Plum. I managed to squeeze in making the dinner, baking snacks, and cheese scones. Daddy surprised us by arriving home early and we all had dinner together. This was followed by some playing in the garden with fa#3 and daddy bathing Plum. I was suddenly childless! Plum has been continuing her food journey and has been enjoying the smell, taste and texture of nectarines, plums, porridge, soup, celery, sausage and chicken.

You've got a friend in me

I'm guessing that those of you who have read the blog more than once will have noticed that my boys, Bean and Pumpkin, are pretty much inseparable. It is rare to find them following their own pursuits or doing their own thing, although it does happen. Even when you would assume that the two different things they are playing would not easily come together, they find a way. Today it was cowboys and pirates! 

The other pursuit that has dominated our day is Bean's need to clean everything! Particularly the windows. Pumpkin and him spent happy hours this afternoon washing down the conservatory windows.

The boys each have a doll. Pumpkin has been playing with his lately. Last week we even took the buggy to the library with us. This week Bean found a collection of baby doll accessories in the bric-a-brac shop at Amberley Museum and today it inspired a baby feeding session, then nap time with dummies.

There has also been a lot of sticking and painting and drawing and making following our trip out to Little Builders where they had a Father's Day theme. Sometimes it is a good job we do visit the mainland occasionally otherwise certain events would pass us by and whilst we're not into big celebrations it is a nice idea to show some appreciation to daddy. I just happen to think that maybe this should be a natural habit rather than a once a year, inspired by commercialism, event.

Plum is continuing to enjoy her playtime with food. Today included peaches (which Pumpkin had picked up to try and declared too hard, it probably was but waste not want not!) cucumber, apple, avocado and carrot. I'm enjoying catching up with the how's and why's of Baby led weaning and am always a bit apprehensive (maybe relieved) at how easy it is. I've copied a bit more of the web pages I shared yesterday. It sometimes looks like a lot of reading but basically it comes down to the natural development of your child, you will know and they will know when they are ready. 


Baby Led Weaning shouldn’t be started before your baby is ready, i.e. showing signs of interest in solid foods (which can start as early as four months, but hold out for six), is able to sit up on their own, and is six months old.
Baby Led Weaning is about the experience of food, rather than the nutrition only of it. Food is fun till one. Until they are around one, milk should be your child’s primary source of nutrition, and food should be introduced for the touch, feel, smell factors. Food should be mushed in the fingers, sucked, gummed, smelt and experienced, and how much is eaten is rather irrelevant. Around the first birthday, your child will automatically start eating more of the food.
Baby Led Weaning doesn’t mean you give your child food and then walk away. It’s not ‘hands off’ in the way that scares parents looking in to it. It’s still weaning, there’s still parental involvement. It’s just baby led.
Babies don’t need teeth to eat. They are perfectly capable of breaking down foods with their gums – be smart though. A 500g rump steak isn’t a good idea.
A baby’s gag reflex is in the middle of their mouth, unlike an adults, which is more towards the back. Your baby might sound like he or she is choking, but it’s unlikely. The gag reflex is precisely there to prevent chocking. At the same time, don’t leave an infant unattended when they are eating.
If your child doesn’t like something, it doesn’t matter. Remove it from the plate, and offer it again in a few weeks time. Tastes change as taste buds develop.
Try to use organic foods, and don’t boil them. You’re trying to maintain the flavours – bland food isn’t very interesting. Steaming works best for hard vegetables, or we often pan-fry in a non-stick pan with no oil.
If there is a history of allergies, asthma or eczema in either parent’s family, try to avoid milk products (cow’s milk, cheeses and yogurts), shellfish, citrus fruit and their juices or eggs, until your baby is around eight months old. If there are allergies, also avoid sesame seeds or peanuts. If you’re really concerned, do a blood allergy test, so you know for definite what to avoid and what not. There is also a school of thought that says avoiding these things increases the risk of allergies, rather than reducing it – do your research and decide for yourself.
Honey, salt and wheat products are not recommended until the baby is a year old. This is a strange one for me, as, for example, in South Africa we give babies œbiltongâ– dried, cured, salty meat for teething. ‘Regulations’ and ‘recommendations’ vary from country to country and over time, so do what you feel is right for your baby.
You can change to baby led weaning at any time, even if you’ve already started puree feeding, but be aware that babies used to swallowing purees first may be more likely to try to swallow and then gag on finger foods.
We’ve never puree fed, and you don’t have to start with mush.
When you were pregnant, your baby became accustomed to your way of eating. If you’re breastfeeding more so.

Pump it up!

Arundel Museum is a boys' heaven. Lots of people in sheds (mostly men) following time old pursuits and hobbies. Today we saw the blacksmith, wood turner, wood whittlers, print workshop, train enthusiasts fixing the brakes, a bus, and a trailer pulled by a machine that looked and sounded like it belonged in the film 'one of our dinosaurs is missing.' 

The museum also has historic artefacts and machines galore. Everytime we go we find something new and you could probably go a hundred times and still not have seen all of it (or learnt it all or understand it all.)

Today we kept coming across different water pumps: hand pumps, wind pumps, electric pumps, machine pumps. It seemed that every time Bean asked me 'what's this?' It was another pump! The hand pumps in the picture below actually worked and the boys spent the whole time I was breast feeding Plum pumping water.

The whole museum is set out over quite a large space, brilliant for a run around or walk along. We took the train to the far end of the museum grounds and then walked back. We played around with the telephone exchange a little and managed to coordinate Pumpkin calling the exchange where Bean answered. It really is quite complicated!


In another exhibition we saw three electricity displays behind a screen in a room. I'll be honest, I didn't really understand what the volunteer was saying but he used a lot of technical words and large numbers and there was a lot of sparks (I mean 4 ft long sparks) and some white flame and cracking and banging. Definitely ticked an awe and wonder box.

Plum is becoming more and more interested in food. Watching our every move, beginning to grab things and put them in her mouth. Crying when we sit at the table to eat and she thinks she's been left behind (not true) and being very happy when she comes to join us. She's beginning to be able to hold herself up sitting too. All moving towards the introduction of solid foods. We first heard about 'baby led-weaning' (not sure about the title myself but let's focus on the process) when coming to the weaning stage with Bean. It's something we embarked on very happily and successfully with both Bean and Pumpkin and now our journey continues with Plum. I have had to refresh myself a little just to make sure I don't miss something obvious. The basic idea is that babies eat whenever you eat and whatever you are eating, not puréed or chopped or mushed anymore than you would do for yourself (i.e.soup is generally whizzed and porridge is what ever consistency you enjoy your porridge.) They have the control. They feed themselves. I'll be honest (again! Second time in this post!) we do tend to eat more chip shaped food during the initial stages as babies find it easier to hold a stick shaped item (see cucumber above.) 
Found this on someone else's blog along with a few other bits that I might re-post.

Some of the great things I love about the concept behind BLW are that:

• There is no additional cooking needed, i.e. no separate meals
• Babies are involved in the experience from the start
• As there is no force-feeding occurring, eating doesn’t have a negative connotation (so no here comes a train, open the tunnel, the aeroplane wants to land!)
• They can eat till they are full and then stop.
• We can eat as a family together. No separate mealtimes required (according to Sue Palmer in her book Toxic Childhood what the modern world is doing to your children and what you can do about it, all children in a merit class she was involved in, without exception, had one thing in common they all had dedicated family meal times at the dinner table).
• BLW babies are more adventurous eaters as they’ve learned to explore new textures and flavours. 

A few other bonuses of BLW mentioned that I had not thought about before are:

• Long term health. If a baby is breastfed and BLW, they still have breast milk for much longer than a baby weaned on to purees (as they are fuller and require less milk)
• No stressful meal times
• Fewer food phobias etc
• Less need for games or tricks
• Eating out is easier as baby can eat something off your plate, making it also…
• Cheaper

The only downside to BLW is the mess. And boy, can it be messy.