What's for dinner tonight?

I spent my evening making baby food for Eliot. It's very easy to do - you basically steam or boil the veggies until soft and then mash or puree them to the consistency of your liking. We're not completely pureeing most foods as our pediatrician recommended letting him get used to semi-solids right from the get-go. She said he will learn how to manipulate food in his mouth and lessen the risk of choking when we transition to a totally solid diet. It works...he has no problem chewing (or should I say gumming) a piece of banana, avocado or a bean. The things that I do puree, I leave a bit chunky. Today he was able to pick up the aduki beans with his thumb and forefinger and put it in his mouth - working on those fine motor skills!

So here's what was for dinner tonight: organic aduki beans, zucchini, golden beets (both locally grown & organic), organic carrots and sweet peas (locally grown & organic). Dessert consisted of mashed organic bananas and applesauce. He ate a little bit of each food - I'd say his favorites were the aduki beans and the golden beets.


The bambu spoon is great! It's softer than metal and not made out of plastic! The one thing that's no fun about making baby food? Cleaning up the mess afterwards - which is why I made Jason do it!




Thrush update: I'm feeling a bit better today. Back to breastfeeding with my eyes squeezed shut, a grimace on my face and a bit of leg thrashing to deal with the pain. Eliot had another relatively crabby day. Tomorrow we see the doctor again. Oh, and it turns out that yeast can live forever as spores waiting to be fed and reactivated by moisture. Nice thought, huh?

Thrush!

Last week, it suddenly became very painful for me to breastfeed or pump and I noticed that Eliot had some white patches on the back of his tongue. A quick bit of research on the La Leche League website indicated we likely had thrush. How bad could it be? was my first thought. BAD. VERY BAD. It can be VERY, VERY BAD. Thrush, or oropharyngeal candidiasis (OPC), is a fungal infection that occurs when there is overgrowth of fungus called Candida. Candida is normally found on skin or mucous membranes. However, if the environment inside the mouth or throat becomes imbalanced, Candida can multiply. It's a yeast infection, basically. In medical terms, it's not that big of a deal. It won't lead to any serious health condition and it may even go away on it's own without treatment. However, it is INCREDIBLY PAINFUL and can be persistent and recurrent. Here's a very comprehensive article about thrush. I would say that for me, this has been more painful than delivering Eliot naturally. I'm serious. If you'd prefer to avoid TMI, this is your chance. Stop reading now.

My nipples are cracked, peeling, swollen and bleed when I pump. I've stopped breastfeeding until this goes away because I can't deal with the pain. It was determined that the infection had progressed beyond my nipples, to both the milk ducts and breast tissue. When I'm pumping, it feels like glass shards coming out instead of milk and there is sharp shooting pain through my breasts and into my back. When I'm not pumping, it feels like my nipples are on fire even though I'm walking around topless as much as possible. I can't hold Eliot against my chest, which has made taking care of him a bit difficult. He's definitely not impressed that I'm not breastfeeding him at night when wants it. A bottle doesn't seem what he wants at night, although he will take it if he's hungry. I'm not sure if Eliot is in any pain, but he's certainly been more fussy and needy than normal. He wants to be held all day and has cried himself to sleep every night.

I'm on a 10 day course of Diflucan and Eliot is on a 10 day course of Nystatin, which I've read doesn't work as well as other drugs. After four days of treatment, my symptoms are only slightly better. The recommendations for getting rid of thrush are extremely overwhelming and include the following:

• Disinfect all bottles and toys after each use by boiling for 20 minutes - I've been using my Medela microwave sterilization bags instead. I hope they work...
• Wash all plush toys, cloths, towels, sheets and any other items that would have been in contact with the baby/mom in HOT water with a bleach or vinegar rinse. We chose vinegar. Boiling all of these items for 5 minutes is recommended, but I don't know how that is humanly possible. What would you boil them in?!
• Switch to disposable diapers until the infection is gone and wash cloth diapers with vinegar rinse. We can't boil our diapers as it would ruin the snaps.
• Dry hands using paper towels and only use a bath towel once and then wash it, with vinegar rinse.
• Replace toothbrushes during treatment and after. Done.
• Replace makeup. Seriously!? I don't know what I'll do about this one... it's an expensive proposition.
• Clean all hard surfaces in your house with either a 10-percent bleach solution or vinegar water. We chose vinegar water.
• Change your diet to eliminate sugar, yeast, dairy, & wheat. Done to a certain extent.

In addition to these measures, we're both taking probiotics. I'm putting vinegar water on my nipples regularly, which is known to kill yeast. We used gentian violet (pronounced jen-shun) for two days, which was unbelievably messy and turned both my breasts and Eliot's face purple. There is some indication that prolonged use of this treatment can cause cancer, but a two day course is recommended by many sources, including La Leche League, Mothering Magazine and Dr. Sears.

A couple of things have me stumped. First, how am I supposed to clean our wooden toys? They have many areas where it seems that yeast would thrive. I can't boil them or soak them. Any ideas? Do I have to throw them away? Second, if regular dish soap and laundry soap doesn't kill the yeast spores, how can you possibly hope to eradicate it from your house? Or doesn't it matter? How long can they live on an inanimate object? Once the infection's been cleared from our bodies, will we be reinfected by a pillow or a shoe, for example?

Maybe I'm being overly worried about this, but there's a lot of horror stories on the Internet and I cannot imagine having this again or for an extended period of time. Any advice? I'm seeing our family doctor on Wednesday so I'll be sure to bombard her with all my questions, too. In the meantime, say a little prayer for my boobs and Eliot's mouth.

Eco-Friendly Highchairs - Part III

If you need to catch up, read Eco-Friendly Highchairs, the first post and Great Customer Service from AnkaBabyStore, the second post. When we got our second high chair, it was immediately clear that the box had been pretty damaged during shipping. After we opened it, we found both shipping damage and the same defect as the first chair, but this time it was worse. The chair was also the wrong finish, so even if it had been in perfect condition, we would have sent it back. Take a look:



Since it was past business hours on a Friday when we received it, we had to wait until Monday to call AnkaBabyStore. They were very helpful and apologetic again. I spoke with a manager who promised that they'd ship a new chair the next day and that they would open it before they shipped it to ensure it didn't have the same issue. Well, I guess the third time's a charm! When we received the third chair, it had a couple of fragile stickers placed prominently on the box, which seemed to have helped because the box was in much better condition. The chair was the right color and had no damage, shipping or otherwise.

The verdict: We love it! Eliot is very comfortable in the chair and likes to sit in it and play. It was really easy to put together and it's easy to adjust the settings to fit your child perfectly. The tray cover washes nicely in the dishwasher or sink and is easy to take on and off. The chair pad can be thrown in the washing machine when dirty and washes well. Getting the theme, here? Easy Peazy. Also, feeding him has become much, much easier for us. Plus, the chair looks fantastic and doesn't take up a ton of space in our house! Take a look:




So, after all that, I would definitely purchase additional products from AnkaBabyStore. Their customer service was fantastic and they took care of both issues very quickly and with no hassle to me whatsoever. Things like this happen. What I cared about was how the store handled the situation.

I also submitted an inquiry to Scandinavian Child, the parent company of Anka, since the same issue with both chairs might seem to indicate a possible manufacturing or design problem. The Customer Relations Supervisor has forwarded my inquiry to their Product Manager. They indicated that they want to discuss the issues with me further. I expect to hear more from them soon and when I do, I'll post the results of our chat.

What life is all about

We spent the evening at a nearby lake sitting on the grass and playing with Eliot. It was absolutely gorgeous outside and I could have stayed there forever. There are certain rare moments in my life where I feel completely present and peaceful and everything outside of the moment just melts away. That's what happened tonight.

Great Customer Service from AnkaBabyStore

We received our highchair on Monday but after opening the box and looking at it, I quickly saw that it was cracked where the leg was attached to the seat. I was very disappointed, to say the least. I'd been waiting to use the chair so I could clean up pureed baby food from all surfaces of our kitchen and dining room... I called AnkaBabyStore and to my surprise, received absolutely fantastic customer service. I don't mean to be cynical but great customer service isn't the norm. Their representative apologized for the situation and put a new highchair in the mail immediately and arranged for FedEx to pick up the broken chair the next day. We'll get it on Thursday. I can't remember the last time I had such great customer service.

A Plague of Plastic be upon your home...

I...feel...a little bit guilty. Sick to my stomach guilty, like this:

As you know, we've resolved to not purchase anything made of plastic unless it's our only alternative. Well, this is a very, very difficult thing to do when you're used to buying whatever you want regardless of what it's made of. I could list a million examples of how we're breaking our resolution every day, but this one example is really bothering me. Last night, we were out and about running errands and we stopped to grab supper at Leeann Chin. The food was ok but between me and Jason, we used about 8 pieces of plastic that ended up in the garbage after only 15 minutes of use. Our plates, lids, silverware, cup - everything was plastic! So this doesn't make any sense to me. All the resources (water, electricity, etc.) used to make those plastic items which are used for about 15 minutes if they're lucky (the guy next to us ate in about 3 minutes!) and then they're tossed. Is it worth it? And we're contributing to the problem. Well folks, we're a work in progress - we are not even close to perfection. This change is hard! There are restaurants that offer quick food which do not require you to use disposable plastic - Chipotle is the first that comes to mind. The burritos are wrapped in paper backed foil, the burrito bowls are a paper product and their cups are paper, also. As long as we don't use utensils, it's an entirely plastic-free option. I'll need to try and come up with a longer list of options for us so that in a pinch, we can make a good choice.

Now, so of you may be thinking to yourselves as I often do, "Aren't there more pressing issues to feel guilty about? Like genocide in Darfur, the AIDS crisis, the healthcare crisis in America, etc., etc.?" The answer is yes and I feel just as strongly, if not stronger, about those issues. But that doesn't negate the seriousness of the problem of plastic. Keep in mind that the plastic currently existing in our world will NEVER go away. NEVER. It doesn't degrade. It only becomes smaller and smaller molecules of plastic which are filling our landfills, our lakes, our rivers, our oceans, our forests, our children's bodies and on and on. Hence, our resolution.

Beth Terry from Oakland, CA has taken this about 1000 times farther than we have and is doing an amazing job eliminating plastic from her life. Take a look at this list she compiled on her website (http://www.fakeplasticfish.com/) of ways to stop using plastic. We will continue to try and slowly make these changes and hopefully be more successful than we were yesterday. What's your take on this issue? Are you doing anything to eliminate unnecessary plastic in your life?

Eco-friendly High Chairs

Eliot is now eating solids and is ready for a high chair. Since we have resolved not to buy any plastic unless it's our only option, a plastic high chair was out of the question. However, there are lots of nice wooden high chairs on the market, so it wasn't difficult to find an eco-friendly and baby safe alternative. These three were our favorites.

Stokke Tripp Trapp
Chair Price: $229.99
Cushion Price: $39.99

Before we started researching high chairs, we thought that this would be the one we would choose. Both the seat and footrest of this high chair are adjustable so it can be used for kids 6 months of age through adulthood (it holds up to 300 lbs). It's ergonomically designed and made of cultivated beechwood. It meets US and international safety standards and has a five-point safety harness. It's JPMA certified. There are 9 different wood finishes to choose from including nice bright colors. A cushion can be purchased separately and there are 7 color/pattern options. There's a 7-year warranty on all wooden components. A really nice feature of this chair is that it is meant to be pulled up to your dining table so that your child can eat with the rest of the family. But there is no option for a separate tray, which was something we wanted. Overall, we found it to be a very well designed and attractive chair. It was also the most expensive option.

Kuster K2
Chair Price: $175.00
Cushion Price: $24.99

This new high chair from the UK is adjustable and can be used for kids 6 months of age through 6 years old. It's ergonomically designed and has a simple folding mechanism which makes it easy to store. It has a removable tray, a five-point safety harness, a basket for storing things like bibs (very handy!), self levelling feet and a completely adjustable tray that is removable and dishwasher safe. The chair comes in 4 different finishes and there are 3 cushion options (purchased separately). This chair is made of sustainable beechwood. We really liked the look and function of this chair but ultimately we decided that we wanted something that was made entirely of wood. Additionally, we weren't sure whether the tray was made of a safe plastic, so we chose the final of our three options, the Anka, by Svan. To be fair, I'm sure that we could have confirmed the tray material by contacting the manufacturer.

Anka, by Svan
Chair Price: $169.99 (Cushion included)
Extra Cushion $39.95

This chair was exactly what we were looking for. It's well designed and well priced, attractive, environmentally friendly and baby safe. The chair is made entirely of sustainable wood, except for the tray cover, which is made of phthalate and bisphenol A (BPA)-free plastic. The included chair cushion is made of PBDE-free foam. The tray is removable so it allows us the option of having Eliot sit at the table with us or use a tray of his own. It can be used as a high chair or a booster seat (through 5 years old or 50 lbs). By the time Eliot is 5, he should be able to sit at the table with us on a regular dining room chair. This chair has an ergonomic design with an adjustable seat and footrest which provides good support and it folds for easy storage. The tray cover is dishwasher-safe and the chair cushion is machine-washable which should help with cleaning! It comes in 3 different finishes and there are five cushion colors. It meets both US and international safety standards and is JPMA and ASTM certified. We really love this chair and can't wait to start using it. After we get it set-up and use it for a while, I'll post again to let you know how it's working for us. Also, if you were just dying to know: the strawberry rhubarb pie that I made for the 4th tasted fantastic, including the crust!

Summer Goals (and goodies!)

Three of our goals this summer were: (1) to have a successful garden, (2) to set-up a rain barrel for outside watering needs and (3) to begin composting. All three goals accomplished! Actually, we'll need to wait and see how well our garden grows...but so far, so good! Take a look at how it's doing today. The beans are up (under the peas stick?!) and they need to be thinned out in a couple of days.

Next to the beans are two heirloom tomato plants. Our raspberry bush is growing well and it looks like we may have a few berries this summer...I wasn't expecting any until next year.

The cucumbers have started to thrive and should hopefully crawl up the lattice instead of laying on the ground - this should make them easier to pick.

We've already picked the basil twice for pesto and pasta - so nice to have fresh basil whenever you want it! The green peppers are doing well and the cherry and Beefsteak tomato plants seem to grow inches every day!

And here's our patio tomato plant, also thriving.






The rain barrel is set-up (thanks Jason!) and ready to go. Now we just need some rain! Does our set-up look correct? I was wondering if we needed some type of screen over the opening?
















The compost bin is also set-up (thanks Jason, again!) and we're using it daily. I don't mind composting for the most part, but the one thing I really hate is the flies when I have to open the lid to add new waste. Ick! So gross!



Now for the goodies...tonight I baked two pies from scratch! We had tons of rhubarb that was ready (no picture because I had already cut it), so I baked strawberry rhubarb pies. This was my first attempt at making my own pie dough and I think it turned out quite well. I tried to make two little flowers and a leaf on the top - you can't really make it out in the picture. It looks nice in real life - I'll have let you know if it tastes good, too.

Happy 4th of July!