I didn't find what I really wanted for Joseph's birthday, so I just got a pair of "twin" babies from Toys'R'Us. I gave them to Joseph, and he promptly gave them kisses, and then began chewing on their heads.
Sigh.
There is certainly a baby boom going on amongst many of my friends this year! I'm doing my best to keep up, but failing so far. I need to get these out before the babies grow too much!
I made this sweater for my friend Jackie's baby, Sophia (surprise if you read the blog, Jackie!). I'm hoping they can use it through the summer since it's short sleeved, and then pair it with a long sleeved onesie in the fall if it still fits. It turned out a lot smaller than I'd anticipated, so we'll see how long it lasts. I'm planning to aggressively block it to try and make it a bit bigger.
Joseph's not only mastered getting down from a standing position, but he's also able to get down off of the bed feet-first now. He is so proud of himself, and we're proud of him, too! This is a very good development, as he's learning to climb *UP* on things as well!
We took Joseph to a local Easter egg hunt yesterday. It was pretty crazy - hundreds of people. We did not actually attempt to hunt eggs. Really, do we need the candy? Not so much. But we met some friends there and had a fun time. It was a beautiful day.
I've been sort of off the wagon on baby food preparation lately. Joseph's been more interested in finger foods, so he's been eating a lot of cooked chicken, hummus on crackers, banana, and yogurt. He is/was teething so he just really wasn't eating very much (but nursing more).
Now things seem to be picking up again, so I decided to do some ice cube trays of food today. I'd cooked and mashed some sweet potato the other day, so I put that up. I had also turned some apples into sauce and froze that into cubes as well. Then I figured I'd try to get some more green veggies in again. We've been seriously lacking on that score, unless you count avocado. I cooked up a bag of frozen peas and gave Joseph a few since he was eating dinner. He gobbled them right up! So I gave him a bunch more, and he ate them all before eating his other food! He didn't really care for whole peas before, so I was seriously impressed.
I also got a tip from my friend Cate that her son, Jackson, loves chicken sausage with apple. I was at Publix yesterday and saw them (Chicken with maple syrup and apple) so I grabbed a package. Oh my goodness those things are GOOD. Joseph liked them, and I have to make myself not eat them all before he gets them!
He's also enjoying mango, melon, oranges, and kiwi as of late. I'm so excited that yummy stuff is showing back up in the stores! I can't wait for strawberry season.
For Joseph's birthday, I wanted to make a more "baby friendly" cake that was low in sugar. None of the recipes I found sounded very appetizing, and I used to make a great pumpkin spice muffin with a boxed spice cake mix and can of pumpkin, so I thought I'd try to duplicate a scratch recipe for that. It still doesn't get as light and puffy as box mix, but it tastes pretty good!
Jen's Pumpkin Spice Patty Cakes
3/4c butter
1/2c sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2c applesauce
15oz can pumpkin
1.5T pumpkin pie spice
2c all purpose flour
1t baking soda
3/4t baking powder
1/2t salt
Combine flour, spice, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and set aside. Beat butter for 30 second on high. Add sugar slowly, beat for 3-4 min. Scrape down the bowl, and beat 2 more minutes. Add eggs one at a time. Add vanilla and applesauce and mix together. Alternate adding pumpkin and flour mixture while mixing on low. When it comes together, beat 20 more seconds. Pour batter into cupcake cups, filling almost all the way to the top. Bake at 350 for about 20 min. Makes 18 cupcakes.
Ice with a cream cheese frosting - beat 8 oz of softened cream cheese until smooth. Add powdered sugar slowly until you get the right texture. Add a tsp of vanilla and mix in. I think I used about 4c of sugar. Normal recipes call for 6 or so.
Joseph is getting good at waving! He waves goodbye to Daddy now in the morning. So cute!
Even more adorable is when T.J. gets home from work if Joseph is awake. It just makes my heart explode. He'll hear the key in the lock and stop what he's doing, waiting. When T.J. walks in Joseph starts laughing and speed-crawls over there to be picked up. Oh my word. There is no better time of the week.
Joseph's getting tooth #7. It started breaking through the surface yesterday and is slowly peeping out.
He's also really enjoying starting games of hide and seek. He'll cover his eyes (you know, because that makes him disappear) and then uncover them and I'll comply with a "Peek-a-boo!" He laughs, rinses, and repeats 20 times. It's cute. I got a video of it that I'll upload.
The changes are coming fast, now. I feel like almost every day deserves the "milestone" tag on the blog!
We have a small balcony off of our kitchen. It's about 5' x 5' and has a corner, so we have 2 ledges (nice!). I purchased some railing planters and some flowers to spruce things up a bit around here. T.J. hauled up the 2.5 cu ft of potting soil, and it was beautiful out, so I figured it was time to get down to business.
Since I have a small child that needs supervision, I first thought I'd plant on the patio with the door to the kitchen open, so I could here him. But it was quite windy out and it seemed I'd make a big mess out there, so I figured I'd just do it in the kitchen and sweep up the floor afterward.
Note to self: Always buy organic soil in the future even if it's not for edible plants.
Then he took off for the living room, dragging the dirt through there as well. As I went to head him off, I climbed over the new baby gate, stepped on a mother effing plastic ball and fell. Ironically T.J. and I had just debated who'd be the first to go down over that thing. I lost.
On the bright side, my kitchen got a nice deep cleaning - floorboards and all, and the living room did, too. Just in time for mom's group today.
Auntie Debbie convinced me to do 30 day shred with her long distance. I convinced a few of my mom group friends, and now I'm letting you know, dear reader, in case you want in on the action.
I started yesterday, weighed myself today and I'm going to have T.J. help me take my measurements tonight for comparison in 30 days. In an ironic twist of fate, my weight is less than it's been in several years. That's usually not the time that I start exercising!
On that note, I may breastfeed forever, because I eat like a horse but I'm still losing weight. I thought that was a bunch of hooey for a long time, but it turns out that it just takes a while! It took me about 9-10 months to get to my pre-pregnancy weight, and I'm pretty much at my "goal" weight now, though I'm sure that's because all my muscle turned to fat over the last few years of slacking off. Yet another reason to nurse one year and beyond!
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