6 Months Old

It's hard to fathom that Linus is already 6 months old.  I just can't believe how fast time goes!!!  

6 months?!?!?!?!?!

Strawberry Jam

Today I made strawberry jam for the first time!  We went over to Mike and Michelle's and helped pick strawberries and they gave us some to take home.

It was super easy and soooo good!  Basically put 1 quart strawberries into a pot and add water until its about 1/2 way up the berries.  This is very scientific, no?  Then add 2 cups sugar and bring to a simmer, mashing the berries throughout this time.  

Once you are simmering, add 1 package fruit pectin and stir until dissolved.  Heat a few more minutes, stirring often.  Remove from heat and let cool a few minutes, then poor into jars/freezer containers/whatever you have to put it in!  

Yum!

Homemade Baby Food

We make our own baby food.  Pretty much because it's cheaper, but I also like that Linus is getting (mostly) fresh foods.  I tend to set a weekend and make a ton of baby food at once that should last us about a month and a half.   It's a lot easier for me to cook ahead so I don't have to spend time at night after work making his food.  I steam anything that needs cooked and use the water from the pot that has juice drippings from the veggies/fruits as they steam as the liquid to thin them as I puree them.  It's easy peasy! I know there are a lot of guidelines as to what fruits and veggies to feed babies at what age, but I follow those very loosely.  The only exceptions are if the food is highly allergenic such as strawberries, nuts, honey, etc.  Those he will not get until he's a year old.

We give Linus a new food every Saturday.  We serve it to him once or twice by itself to get him used to the taste, then we mix it with other foods he's already been eating.  That way if he happens to have a reaction to a food, we know which food it is.  He also gets cereal at every meal.  Yep, my baby gets three course meals, lol!  We've been really lucky because Linus loves everything he tries!  He's had no negative reactions with the exception of bananas, which constipate him a little and peas which give him a rash.

We use the Baby Bullet for pureeing his food.  I really love it as it is so easy to use and comes with a freezer tray and a tray to use in the fridge.  The freezer tray is nice to make 2 ounce servings of staple foods in like sweet potatoes and apples.  I also like to use it to make 2 flavors together!  I just fill the bottom with one flavor and then top it with another!  

I like to freeze most of his food in these Tovolo Perfect Ice Cube Trays.  They make one ounce servings and because of the cube shape, they stack nicely for storage in the freezer!

For a few foods that we consider add-ins for flavor (blueberries/plums/mangos) because they are a little pricier and you have to buy a lot to make a little, we use this OXO Tot Baby Food Freezer Tray.  It also makes 1 ounce servings, but they don't stack because they are half moon shaped.  They work great for foods you will use less and have smaller amounts of.

Mommy Favorites: 6 Months

1. Sophie the Giraffe - I know this one is super popular and there is a reason why!  Linus LOVES his Sophie!  Chewing on this soothes his poor gums better than any other teether!

2. Nose Frieda - I wish we had this when Linus was born!  I had heard about it but everyone told me nothing could beat the hospital aspirator.  WRONG!  This thing is awesome!  It is on my mommy holy grail list to buy anyone I know having a baby!

3. Baby Bullet - We chose to make all of Linus' baby food instead of buying the jarred kind.  It saves us a ton of money and it's super easy!  We got the baby bullet system as a gift and I would recommend getting it!  It is totally worth the money!  You get a lot of storage and the blender is awesome!

4. OXO Tot Baby Food Freezer Tray - Since we are making all our own food I wanted a way to make bulk amounts so I can make food once a month and send frozen servings to our baby sitter.  This tray makes 1 ounce servings so you can easily track how much your baby is eating!

5. Tovolo Perfect Ice Cube Trays - I also love these trays for freezing baby food!  The make 15 one oz servings and because they're squares, they stack really nicely for the freezer!

6. Orajel  - Do I really need to explain why we love this?!

7. Dove Soap (bar) - Linus has extremely sensitive skin and Dove doesn't irritate it or make his eczema flair up.  

8. Excersaucer/Bouncer/Jumper - GET ONE NOW.  

A Little Bit Green

So our dryer broke.  Considering its summer and we have a LOT of bills coming in due to me being giving birth, then getting sick, Jon having to have surgery (more on that later), the brakes going out in Jon's car, and a plethora of other unpredictable expenses we've had this year, we are putting off buying a new dryer right now.  Instead we are doing this...

Jon tied a couple of clothes lines between two trees in our back yard and we are going a little bit greener this summer by drying our clothes on the line instead of using a dryer.  I'm actually really loving hanging clothes!  I grew up with clothes off the line so it's a bit nostalgic plus they smell amazing after hanging in the sun and breeze!  So all in all, we are turning lemons into lemonade with this!  Score!

Homemade Teether Biscuits

1 cup flour
1 cup water or juice
1 cup baby rice or oat cereal

Mix it all up and roll out onto a cookie sheet.  Bake 20 minutes at 350.  Cut into sticks!

Life Updates

Spring has arrived and seems to be rapidly turning into summer!  2014 has been a tough year for us and it doesn't seem to be looking up just yet.  We've had quite a bit of sickness and bad luck, but I'm trying to remain optimistic that it will look up soon.  Jon has had a growth on one of his fingers and he finally went to the doctor about it because it has been causing him pain.  The good news is its probably just a cyst, but he still has to have surgery to have it cut out.  I swear this year is setting us back financially on purpose!  It seems like every time we think we can start saving money again, something else pops up.  I've been racking up doctor bills with my intestinal problems, our dryer broker, Jon has to have surgery, and my sister is getting married and Linus, Josh, and I are all in the wedding!  Sheesh!

In good news, Linus has two teeth and has rolled over for the first time!  He's eating cereal and other pureed fruits and veggies and he loves eating!  At 5 months he was 27 in long and 17.5 lbs.  He is getting big far too fast for me, but I'm glad he's growing and learning.  I just don't think I'll ever be able to put into words how much I love him.  I suppose that's normal, lol!  Anywho, that's about all I can think of at the moment.  Life just keeps chugging right along and I don't know how time can possibly be passing by so fast, but it does! Carpe Diem!

Teething Bites

Linus has now popped two, count em, TWO teeth!  He's only just 5 months and I was really hoping this wouldn't happen for a bit but my mom said all of her kids go their first tooth around 5 months.  Linus has been experiencing pretty much all the symptoms you can get.  Irritable, drooling, rash around the mouth, excessive spitting up, lack of appetite, coughing, diarrhea, fever...he's had them all.  He will chew on anythign he can get his hands on but after a minute it doesn't feel good on his gums anymore and he wants something different.  We have actually run out of toys and had to start the cycle over again at times because he has been so fussy.
I have been scouring the internet and asking everyone I know how they handled teething.  I seem to be the only lucky one who has a baby with every symptom under the moon, but what can you do?  There are a few things we've found that seem to help and some that just plain don't work.  So here's what did work for Linus...at least for a little while.

1. Cold wet wash clothe wrapped around a frozen teether.  
2. Sophie the Giraffe
3. Vibrating teethers
4. Infant Tylenol - We used this as a last resort but he was in so much pain sometimes this really was all that helped especially if he also had a fever.
5. Ora-gel
6. Receiving Blankets - He loves to chew on these!