beautiful baby food

I remember seeing Jennifer Garner on The Martha Stewart Show. It was probably half a dozen years ago and she was very pregnant, as was everyone in the audience. The show was geared towards expecting mama’s and all that they should know before having that baby. Martha was interviewing Jennifer and asked if she planned on making her own baby food. “No,” she said sweetly “you know, I sort of think it would be one of those things that I’d try at first and then tucker out along the way.” Martha was aghast, “oh it’s so, so easy. You must make your own baby food!” Martha’s tone was a little much for me, but Jennifer just laughed back, “No. I feel no pressure. I figure if Gerber has been making it for this long, I’ll let my baby eat what they’re making.” Or something like that.

It is so weird how much I remember about that episode. Maybe because I never watched Martha all that often, but I think it had more to do with Jennifer’s likable honesty. She felt no pressure to pretend she was going to puree her own cooked squash. And not only was she this honest about her baby food plans, but she was basically making Martha look like an overbearing mother-in-law. (I can write that because I don’t have that mother-in-law!)

I swear to you, in that moment I made a mental note that I, too, would let Gerber do their pureeing for me. I would purchase those cute little jars and enjoy the fun readymade combinations like cherry-apple and blueberry banana. So this is how we started.

But then I got a voicemail from my friend Meta asking me if I had any tips on making baby food because she was “sure I was the type of mom who must have tried this before her.” And it dawned on me. I am totally the type to try making my own baby food. Not because of anything against gerber, not even really for the financial reasons. But because I might actually enjoy it. I like cooking and baking. I like creating. I’ve heard it involves lots of ice cube trays…why wouldn’t I give it a try?

And then Meta posted these pictures. Had I known rainbows of beautiful color would be involved I might have jumped on the wagon a bit sooner. I think I might have to go and make Martha Stewart proud…

9 months

Dear Ivar,
Today you turn 9-months. And you just get more fun.

You delight us every day. Like the day I came back from walking around Lake Harriet with you and while giving you a bath found that you had tan lines in the rolls of your thighs. You are a very healthy eater and love all foods so far, though you give us a good gag show with avocado (but you still eat it!)

You are not crawling yet, but still get to where you want to go by barrel rolling side to side, all the while kersplatting on the hardwood floors. In the early mornings I set you up in the living room with all of your favorite toys and then head back to bed, and just this week I found you had almost made it to the kitchen! You also can scootch yourself backwards but tend to get stuck under the couch a lot because of this maneuver. And that is very frustrating for you.

You have acquired a scream that would rival any middle school girl sitting in the front of a roller coaster. It is high pitched, abrasive and terribly unnerving. Unfortunately, you have learned that it is effective. So we’re trying to ignore the pterodactyl that has moved into our quiet little home, but it’s harder to do than you’d think. Hopefully the scream is just a stage.

The flip side of the scream is that you have an opinion and are really starting to show us some personality. You’re still fantastically social. Today your dad and I took you for a walk around Lake Harriet and you stuck your arms straight out and waved your wrists and smiled at the runners as they ran by. You gave sweet smiles and we got lots of quick remarks of “cute baby” “he’s waving at me” or “hi buddy.” It tuckered you out and after a while you fell asleep in the stroller.

It was odd to have you lying back in the stroller, because your normal posture is very upright. Especially in your umbrella stroller, you rarely sit back. You’re very interested and eager to see what is up ahead In fact, when I see you playing with your toys on the floor I am often reminded to roll my shoulders back and sit up straighter myself..

You sing our names as a sweet background to our days. Mamamamamama and Dadadadadada are babbled lovingly all day long and you often times will make us stand quiet for a bit as we listen to you talk to your toys.

We love you more and more Ivar. I’ve stopped lamenting your changing and growing because your new tricks, ever-growing thighs and new sounds just give us that much more to love. And we love and adore you like crazies.
Love, Ma mama ma ma mamama

you know what the world needs more of?

Hula Hoop contests! Mara entered the Shamrock Days competition in Rosemount yesterday. She was amazing and made us all so, so proud. She makes it look easy, just moving her hips a tiny bit.
There were a lot of kids in the competition and so the woman running the program had the kids do special tricks to find a winner. Mara was able to clap, hoola on one foot, then the other, kneel on each knee and finally they were asked to sit! That's when Mara's hoola hoop hit the bricks :)
Well done, Mara. You make life more fun.

how does your garden grow?

We have had so much fun with our garden. The strategy for this year was to plant a little of everything, learning what we like to eat, what we wish we had more of, and what just didn't turn out. If that was the goal, then we have completely succeeded. The only serious issue we have had was with the zuccini and squash that were both enjoyed by some sort of gross worm. Unfortunately, the days they started to wilt were those horribly hot days last week and we just assumed it was the heat that was making them look so sickly. But it was the worms. Bummer.

Other than that though, we have been enjoying this garden with our whole hearts. We eat salads from the lettuce, used the peppers in taco meat, roasted the broccoli, picked the raspberries for our cereal, and eat the sugar peas like they're candy.
You can read more about the building of this garden by clicking here.

the sweetness of summer

We were treated to a great dinner at our friends house the other night and I was asked to bring dessert. I had a hankerin' for chocolate chip cookies and thought I'd dress them up a bit for the occasion and stuffed them with vanilla ice cream. Yum and yum. I highly recommend making sure the summer doesn't slip by before you have a chance to make your own ice cream sandwiches.

And you better do it fast, because this summer is flying by. I hate that feeling. I was trying to figure out why this summer feels so different than other summers. I feel like I'm really taking in each day and appreciating all that this season brings. I realized that this is the first summer in a while that I haven't worked at a camp, and it's also our first summer back in our neighborhood, soaking up Lake Harriet and taking lots of walks with a baby in the stroller. There is lots to appreciate.

But I think the biggest difference in this summer is the fact that I am sharing it with my sister. She's home. And she brought her lovely family with her. :) I love this new normal more than I can say. Recently Annika and I left our kiddos with two former flbc camp counselors who were both St. Olaf grads, nurses and around 25 years old. Could you imagine any greater peace of mind as a new mom leaving her baby with a babysitter?!! Annika and I took off for Target, childless and giddy. We got starbucks when we walked through the doors, and I proceeded to impulse purchase all sorts of stuff I never knew I needed before. Pretty folders, a new journal, invites for Ivar's first birthday party that is still three months away. We stayed for a long, long time, roaming the aisles, laughing hard belly laughs. And the whole time I had this amazing awareness that this time I don't have to brace for goodbye. She's here to stay. It's a dream come true.

Now, if you don't have your sister home with you this summer let me recommend the next best thing: go make yourself a homemade icecream sandwich.