The Main Course

This one goes down a treat despite what it lacks in visual appeal. Quick and easy if you pre steam, mash and freeze on less busy days. This guy is getting into his finger food now 

which is pretty cute stuff! 

Roasting cauliflower makes the whole flavour richer and more appealing to the taste buds. I always taste his meals before serving to make sure it is actually quite delicious - and this one passes both mine and Arthur's taste test. Ceres Organics do pre-cooked Adzuki Beans in a can which speed things up. 

Adzuki Beans (also known as Aduki or Azuki beans), are a great source of nutrition for babies (and adults). They tend to be quite gentle on the digestive system and aren't as likely to cause gas. It's a great source of protein and high in iron, potassium, and thiamine (a member of the B vitamin family). They also provide a bit of fibre and calcium too which is always welcome. 

So all around I'd say it's a pretty good bean. 

Plum & Pear Cereal

Here's a current favourite in our house. Our friend gave us a large crate of delicious plums, which I steamed, pureed and froze into cubes. They are going down a real treat over here! If you don't have frozen fruit you can easily substitute for another puree or fruit. The plum and pear to be a great combination, and the vanilla takes it to a whole new deliciousness level - I find myself 'sampling' this dish quite frequently before serving...

"Mummy will just check it's not too hot Arthur"
yum.
"Mummy will just check that it's not too tart Arthur"
yum.
"Mummy is just checking that the rice is cooked Arthur"
yum.

We use formula milk to make ours - but you can use breast milk or cows milk depending on your own baby's diet and age. With breast milk you probably will need to add some extra rice flakes to thicken.
It's a great texture for when they start playing around with the lumpy stuff. If they aren't quite ready for texture foods then the baby ground rice cereal will work just as well. I use the REAL FOODS natural brown rice flakes.

I'm not a chef,  just a mum... so this is by no means revolutionary. Just sharing for those of you struggling to think of something to make for your screaming hungry child at 7.30am.

Remember, always consult with your pediatrician regarding introducing solid foods to your baby and specifically discuss any foods that may pose allergy risks for your baby.

Working life

Working with a baby can be hard.

I went back to work when my bear was 8 weeks. Granted it was from home, so I didn't need to leave the house (i.e. show my face in public), but I was still switching from mum mode to work mode on a daily basis. I actually wanted to go back to work, despite the plunket group thinking I was mental and perhaps selfish (I got some VERY disapproving glances).

So. I work. I LOVE my work. I don't just work for a pay check. I pride myself on my successes in my career and I found that having a baby didn't fill or eliminate that need for professional development and the challenges that provides. I want him to grow up seeing his mother work and understand that he fits into our family. I also want him to see that we've had to make some sacrifices in order for him to live in this home at the beach, in this amazing community. It may seem selfish, but it's important to us both that he integrates with the life we have created together prior to his arrival, and so far so good. He is a very adaptable and complacent baby.

So. As I said. Working with a baby can be hard. You have to be very organised. You need to really have a baby on a routine who can be cared for by others and it's definitely easier to be in a flexible working situation (to cope with days where you have a sick, teething child, or a baby who just wants their mummy day). 

I'm still learning how to play all of these different roles but it's slowly starting to come together. I'm beginning to pack his day bag on auto pilot, streaming the inventory list through my head, while slapping on some makeup, heels and cooking Art breakfast. Motherhood takes multi tasking to a whole new level!

Wednesdays and Fridays are Mum and Art days, and I love these days together now and look forward to them. Wednesdays are often errand running days and housework unfortunately, but Art likes to watch me try to cook him up purees and vacuum... I think?  It's definitely made more entertaining for him when I'm blasting Caspar Babypants on the stereo...Fridays are now becoming our more social days.

I actually don't think this would be of interest to anyone, so I'm sorry if you've dragged your eyes through these words only to think "shit that was boring". I can't give you those two minutes of your life back, but I can post some photos of Arthur? 

SEVEN.

This little man is just over 7 months old now. WHAAAAAAAT? I realise I've been a little absent in the posts as well. Life has just become VERY busy. I work three days a week, with him in care two of those days, and the other days off are filled with washing, park time, paddling pools, baby food making, social events and BBQs. The weather has been insane and I'm thankful we aren't on tank water - this little person creates a serious amount of washing.

So 7 months. Where are we at?

He's still sleeping through the night 7.30-7am and doesn't THAT feel amazing. He's down to 2 naps a day... although as I type I've tried to sneak him in a third one because both naps today were in the back seat of the car and weren't what I'd consider quality sleep time. Given his current monster growls and daddadadadada-ing I don't think it's going to happen... but I'm forever hopeful. 

Last week we decided it's time to wean him out of his beloved swaddle bags and experience arms out freedom sleep. Ahhhh... yeah... .not so good. He woke up during the night once in confusion and made a few noises throughout the night. We're currently at the one arm out, one arm in stage. So far so good.. so I think we will work slowly towards both arms. Patience....

FOOD is GOOD! He is yet to reject anything I've given to him to try which is a plus. We're mixing and matching several flavours for each meal which seems to be going well. I need to start probably advancing the flavours a bit more in the next few weeks and he doesn't seem to be minding the introduction of texture too. His current favourite is his plum, pear and brown rice cereal.

He has started vocalising a lot more now. dadadadadadad bababbabababa. Dare I taketh away something he loveth and the boy will protest. It's pretty cute. The bottom lip drops and the tears start... and just as quickly evaporate when he discovers something else or I relent and give it back to him... great parenting. 

Arthur loves kids and kids love Arthur. It's adorable watching kids rush over to hug and kiss him and see him. He is pretty relaxed about being smothered too. It makes leaving him in care two days a week so much easier. He can't get enough of the kids and attention - so much excitement!

I could keep going, but that's pretty much where we're at come 7 months. It is an adorable stage and I am loving watching his personality emerge more each day.

He is actually incredible. 

Here are some photos I took in his room the other day while he was desperately practicing his crawl position...

I've nearly got this...

Crawling is tiring

Love that happy little face.