For a few months now, I’ve been keeping a list of all the crazy puns I’ve been making just by using Mark’s name.
I’ve been cracking myself up (and feeling a bit sorry for Mark and anyone else named Mark.) So to all the Marks out there, I’m sorry that you all have to go through this for your whole life.
Several people have asked me recently about what food exactly we feed Mark. I haven’t blogged much (or at all) about Mark starting solid food. I did with Ellie (you can find all those posts here) but somehow, so much of Mark’s first few months has escaped me. Anyway, one thing I did manage to do was to keep a running list of [mostly all] the different kinds of food that Mark has been eating and in roughly what order we introduced them to him.
So, if you’re interested in Baby-Led Weaning (and you should be if you’re not! :)), here is the list of food from Mark’s first couple months of eating (in roughly chronological order) to give you some ideas:
sweet potato (roasted)
Mark tries sweet potato (and solid food) for the very first time (at 6.5 months)!
(and there’s more but I stopped writing them down awhile ago so I don’t remember!)
Some notes on this list:
1. We tried solids with Mark at 6 1/2 months and he cried whenever we put him in his chair. So we stopped and tried again at 7 months and then he seemed ready to dive in.
2. We don’t follow any of the introduction rules for foods. So we certainly do not wait 3 days between each new food and we also don’t worry about introducing more than one food at a time. We don’t really have any family history of allergies (other than one cousin with an allergy to sesame and a grandmother allergic to shellfish) and so we just watch carefully whenever we give him a new food (or foods)
3. There is some controversy over giving eggs to kids under one. It used to be thought that the egg white protein could be aggravating to the stomach. When Ellie was starting solids, our pediatrician told us not to worry about it. So Mark has scrambled eggs for breakfast every morning, just like we do and he hasn’t had any trouble.
4. What is [perhaps] conspicuously missing from this list is any grains. I’ve read in a few places (such as here) that because babies do not produce the necessary enzymes to digest carbohydrates until around age one, there’s no reason to feed them to babies. It’s also a good discipline for us because it’s far too easy to just throw some bread on the tray and consider that a meal. Not feeding grains helps me think more about how to provide the food that Mark’s body really needs for growing up strong. We’re not super strict about this. He’s certainly eaten crumbs off the floor containing grains! And the sweet potato burgers that I linked to above have oatmeal and millet in them, which I didn’t remember until after he’d eaten them. But, probably 99% of the time, he’s grain-free. He eats black beans and lentils a couple times a week too. We’ll introduce grains slowly after his first birthday.
5. Yes, he’s also eaten tahini and peanut butter. With Ellie, our pediatrician told us that the new wisdom is that introducing those earlier rather than later is actually better for preventing allergic reactions so that’s what we’ve done. He doesn’t eat very much of either but he has had them.
6. The only food rules we follow strictly are no honey before age one and no shellfish before 18 months (and I think even that one is up for debate). Pretty much “no honey before 1” is the only one that I’ve heard of every pediatrician talking about!
7. Also, you may have noticed that bananas are missing from this list. We don’t buy bananas (here’s why) but also, when Ellie was a baby, someone told me that all babies HAD to eat bananas and so I had to feed them to Ellie. And, as my mother may attest, when someone tells me that I HAVE to do something, my tendency is to say, “OH YEAH?!?!?!? Just watch me do the opposite!!” and so on principle, Ellie didn’t taste a banana until she was close to two. And guess what? She’s a happy, thriving 3-year-old so I guess there wasn’t any harm done! (There’s really nothing wrong with feeding your baby a banana of course, but because our family doesn’t eat them, I don’t see any reason to buy some just for the baby. Plus they can be constipating.)
8. Generally speaking, we just feed Mark whatever we are eating. The only thing I worry about is limiting his salt intake. I’m less picky about it now that he’s getting a bit bigger but I still try to limit him to only one food per day that has salt in it and I don’t give him much of it. Also, if he has a food with salt in it, I try to make sure he drinks water.
9. Speaking of drinking water, if a baby is allowed to nurse on cue, then he doesn’t really need to drink water (at Marks’s age). (This is not true for formula-fed or schedule-nursed babies.) So although Mark is learning how to drink from a glass, just like Ellie, we don’t worry too much about how much he’s drinking in any given day. We also don’t give our kids juice until they’re much older so he hasn’t had juice. (We really only drink apple cider in the fall/winter and occasionally orange juice as a treat. Juice is generally just a treat/luxury for us.)
10. We try to eat seasonally so you’ll see that Mark has only had summer and fall fruits and vegetables. He’ll have to wait until next spring for peas, strawberries, and asparagus. Those were among Ellie’s first foods but she was born three months earlier in the year than Mark was and so starting eating in spring, rather than the middle of summer! 🙂
11. Here’s one more reason to love feeding your baby this way: IT’S SO EASY!!! I throw some food on Mark’s plate and then I pretty much ignore him for the rest of the meal, unless I need to put more food on his plate. We all feed ourselves at the same time and it is lovely. I highly recommend it!
This post is part of my series, “Kickin’ It Old Skool: Why and How We Are Old-Fashioned” or KIOS for short. If you’re new to the series, please read my disclaimer before continuing on. I’m keeping a table of contents to this series here so you can see what I’ve already written about and what more there is to come.
My guess is that those of you who come to my blog for the KIOS posts may have given up on me. Rightly so – other than a side note on fragrances and a couple guest posts about the DivaCup, I haven’t published a KIOS post in five months.
Yes, I’ve been busy, lost my productive self, and all that. But also, I’ve really had a hard time continuing to write this Grooming portion of the series. I’ve had the makeup post in draft form since May and I haven’t been able to make myself work on it. At first, I just thought we were still finding our footing as a two-kid family, then I blamed it on summer vacation craziness, and then…well, I had nothing else to blame it on other than the truth.
Here’s the truth: I’m dreading writing the next few posts in this series. What I have left to write about is makeup, hair styling products, shaving products, nail polish, deodorant, and clothes. Deodorant and clothes, I’m not too worried about writing about them. But the other stuff? All I want to say about it is, “Don’t use it. It’s all bad. There’s nothing redeeming about it. Stop fueling the industry that’s inherently predatory and evil.” That’s a bit (or a lot) of an exaggeration. There are some redeeming products to be found and reputable companies to choose from. And I do plan to write those posts.
But underlying this is a deeper issue for me, something I’ve struggled with for a long time. Makeup, hair, shaved legs, pretty nails – all that really comes down to is body image. Do I think I am enough the way I am, the way God created me? Do I trust that the world will see me as I really am and value me for it? Do I need to change my appearance to get other people’s approval? Do I need to look a certain way so that the other girls will think I’m cool? Am I pretty enough? Am I enough?
It’s been a long road for me. Largely thanks to my parents’ influence on me when I was younger and Nik’s healing love for me and his insistence on my beauty sans anything else, I’ve come to accept that I’m enough although I still have to speak the truth to myself consistently.
Why do I continue to need to speak the truth to myself? Unfortunately, what does our media tell us? “Ladies, you need to have perfect hair, makeup, and clothes to succeed in business! No one will respect you in the boardroom if you don’t have makeup on! (Never mind that the men don’t have to wear makeup.) You need to wear makeup even to go out with your girlfriends! That’s why you should buy at least two sets of makeup – the casual stuff, the business stuff and while you’re at it, the glamorous stuff for parties. No man will find you attractive if you don’t shave your legs and armpits. You need to make your hair something that it’s not (if curly, then straight, if straight, then curly) in order for it to be considered ‘done’. So go out, spend lots of money, support the American economy, don’t feel good about yourself unless you’ve ‘put your face on’, done your hair and your nails. Don’t let yourself go, moms! That’s the way you’ll lose your husband.” (lies, lies, lies, on and on – not in so many words but it’s all there in the ads and shows if you’re looking.)
I am determined that Ellie will not associate her worth with what she looks like and what she buys to put on her body. I refuse to perpetuate the cycle of the inferiority of women that has gone on for centuries. And so, I will write those posts but just know that I’m really saying, “You don’t need this at all. If you do want to use it, then make good choices about what you do buy. But do so with eyes wide open, knowing that you are beautiful without it. You don’t need it. If it’s fun and you want to do it, great. But you don’t have to. Because dear friend, you are perfect the way you are.”
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I realize that these are my particular issues when it comes to body image and they may not be yours. I’m guessing, however, that I”m not the only person who has ever struggled with these things. So I’m putting them out there (with a bit of trepidation) hoping that by speaking the truth, you may know that you are not alone.
And this post, my friends? I wrote it in about 20 minutes and I’m just going to press publish because if I allow myself to edit this much, it will probably be months more before I do it. So I know I have not said this perfectly and my apologies if I have inadvertently hurt any feelings.
Mark took a six minute morning nap so he’d already asleep for his second nap of the day.
Ellie is sick (poor girl) and so she’s sleeping too.
I’m sitting here not quite sure what to do with myself. I’ve been working really hard to get a good consistent rhythm to our days, particularly in terms of consistent mealtimes and naptimes. This is mostly to help Ellie take a short nap and have a good bedtime and it’s been working – hooray!
So right now, we should be accomplishing stuff and preparing for lunch and instead I’m sitting here, not quite sure what to do.
It feels like back when I only had one kid and if she was sleeping, the house was quiet.
Imagine that.
Well, I’m off to file some papers or write some thank you notes or some other task that’s been neglected for far too long.
I’m sure Ellie would appreciate your thoughts and prayers to feel better very soon!
From last week, when everyone was well and yes, that’s Mark pulling himself up on things. Nothing is safe anymore!
My dad came to visit on October 3rd (from Alaska) and just left on Sunday. [Perhaps not so] coincidentally, my productive self came to visit on October 3rd also and she appears to have gotten on the plane with Grandpa and left me again.
I’ve figured out the secret to being ultra-productive. Just have someone around to hold your children! It’s amazing how much you can get done!
We did have a lovely time with Dad/Grandpa. Here are a few shots from his visit!
grapes from the farmers’ market, Dad’s treat (We never buy grapes because they’re on the dirty dozen and they’re pretty expensive locally so they were big treat! Ellie and Mark were especially in love with them!)
Lots of wrestling and drooling with/on Grandpa (Cue Laura being productive!)
in the middle of a photo shoot primarily for Mark
playing on the couch while Mama gets stuff done – fun for everyone! 🙂
Ellie’s birthday present from us this year was a dress that I sewed for her. This was the first piece of clothing (other than some simple pants) that I had sewn for her and now I’m hooked! I want to sew all her clothes now. I just need a nanny to watch my kids! 😉
the front view
I used the “Family Reunion” pattern from Olive + S and fabric that I bought for Ellie while we were on vacation in Montana. I can’t say enough good things about this pattern. It wasn’t cheap but it taught me so much about dressmaking and was really easy to follow. I now have a whole set of new sewing skills, thanks to this dress!
while eating cake with Yiayia
while eating grapes with Grandpa (Note the red polka dots for the hem facing – love it!!)
I took the rest of these pictures while she was coloring with sidewalk chalk so the pictures aren’t super clear (too much industrious coloring).
The front of the dress has a series of pintuck pleats along with a little placket with four buttons. The pintucks are what attracted me to the pattern first!
pintucks on the back too with a button placket! (Sharp eyes will notice that I still have one buttonhole and button to finish – after she put it on this past Sunday, I just sewed it closed with a couple stitches. I’ll finish it soon!)
puffed sleeves!
It’s hard to see but the hem has six lines of top stitching for detail and to give the hem some weight – I love doing multiple lines of stitching (like on baby blankets or bags).
All in all, this was a super fun project. I stayed up way too late for 3-4 nights to get it done but I’m glad I did! And I’m especially glad she consented to wear it on Sunday for Mark’s baptism (more on that to come). I was afraid she would mutiny!
And yes, about the blog post title – I also did some sewing on this while Ellie was awake because I never would have finished it otherwise. I was trying to be sneaky about it but at one point, she looked at me and said, “Are you sewing a dress for Ellie’s body?” I had to answer, “Yes,” and she just nodded as if to say, “I knew it,” and went back to playing!
Nik said that yesterday’s family picture post was one of those, “Isn’t our family perfect?” kind of posts that proliferate on the Internet, just like the perfect marriage on Facebook.
So, in the interest of keeping it real around here, here are some outtakes from our family picture photo shoot. I’m not showing you the really bad picture of me because it’s my blog and I don’t have to show you everything! 🙂
Mark stares off into the distance pensively while Ellie proves that she’s three.
That’s her “I”m smiling” smile – cute, huh? 🙂
“Why are you making me do this, Mama?”
Mark inspects the other side of the wall while Ellie is sick and tired of smiling.
Ellie refuses to look at the camera and Mark chews on his hand.
A lovely picture except that the camera decided to focus on the grass in the front rather than Mark’s face, a problem which we didn’t discover until we got home. Aarrghhh!!
See? We’re not perfect, at all! 🙂
Bonus tip: I’d like you to notice one thing about all these pictures – Nik and I never change. We just keep on smiling and looking straight at the camera (although you can see me getting a bit tired in the last family picture, just above Mark’s solo one.) If you ever do a family photo shoot, that’s the A-#1 rule you’ll need to follow – never talk and never stop smiling. The adults have to be perfectly consistent for every picture. That way, on the off chance that all the kids in the picture actually are smiling and looking at the camera, an adult doesn’t mess it up. Particularly NOT useful is for the adult to be hissing at the kid to “smile at the camera” because inevitably, that’s when the kid is smiling but the adult’s lips look weird. Just keep smiling! Just keep smiling!
and yes, he’s climbing!
Salmon and Souvlaki 