Almost 10 Months

My boy is almost 10 months old! I know everyone says it but I just cannot believe how fast he’s growing up! Lately he’s been doing such little-boy-things. I catch him ‘reading’ a book by himself, trying to unscrew a lid, interacting with other babies and so on and I just think “wow” this time last year I hadn’t even met him. Now I can’t even fathom my life without him.

The difficulty in the car has been solved by rings attached to baby car keys. Driving is now an enjoyable thing! I wish I had have tried it earlier although I’m not sure that it would have got his attention until now anyway.

We have started up at Kindergym where he’s attending a crawler class twice a week. He is the only boy which is rare; most activities that we go to is mostly boys. He is loving it and learning lots of little things. He’s developing skills that we already work on at home but also other things that I hadn’t considered or do not have the resources for here. It’s so cute to watch him work things out (they have fine motor skill activities) and play with the girls.

We got our baby sign dvd the other day and it’s aimed at teaching me more which is great. Cameron is signing Dad, Milk (boobah), bird, finished, hello, bye and up. He’s saying Dadda, Mum (even though I say “mama”) and bird (“bir” while signing). We’re still working on ball, bath, and car. I am so proud of my boy. Signing is second nature to me now.

We have just restocked our freezer full of foods for Cam. It is so full! His breakfasts are:
1. Apple, strawberry, prune and dried apricot puree with baby vanilla yoghurt, baby muesli and flaxseed.
2. Pear, raspberry, blueberry and blackberry with baby vanilla yoghurt, banana rice cereal and almond meal.
3. [make on day] healthy banana pancakes

His lunches/dinners are:
1. Chickpeas and rice with swede, corn and brocolli.
2. Lentils and quinoa with chia seeds, pumpkin, sweet potato and pea.
3. Cheesey pasta with carrot, zucchini, beans and tomato.
4. [make on day] pasta spirals with avocado mix

He is loving these and eating really well since I’ve made them. He still doesn’t eat loads but he’s eating way more and enjoying meal times lately. It’s such a relief! He’s still breastfeeding regularly (6-7 times in a 24 hour period)

Our biggest milestone is that Cameron now can stand alone for 5 or so seconds at a time!! He’s also making progress with walking with help and scaling furniture to get certain things. He looks too tiny to be standing by himself! The first time he did I almost missed it and my sister and friend were with him as I ran to catch the last two seconds. It’s too cute!

Cameron is constantly pulling himself up on furniture and is a pro at lowering himself down to a seated position with such control. He’s constantly pulling at my legs and standing and watching whatever I’m doing.

Anyway, here’s some recent shots of us:

Spare a vote?

Fun Baby Activities Two

Since my previous post here on fun baby activities, Cameron has become even more interactive and is constantly on the move and has started scaling furniture and spends loads of time standing.

Clearly, both structured and free-form play contribute significantly – and in different ways – to a babies development. Some of the more structured activities we have been starting recently are:

1. Pegs: putting pegs in and out of bags/buckets and I put them on Cameron’s clothes so he has to unclip them which helps his fine-motor skills.

2. Hammering: you can use loads of different things for this – drums, xylophones, sticks with buckets, toy hammers, hands with tables. We sing songs and tap with the beat or while I make myself food or get Cam’s ready I let him loose with a pot and wooden spoon.

3. Stairs: best to do this when you have minimal stairs, a confident crawler and stander and padding around the stairs. Cam loves climbing and this obviously helps his gross motor skills.

4. Sink or float: this one is a bath game we play sometimes with various toys/objects.

5. Ball throwing: Cameron has just started to throw a ball and go to retrieve it which means loads of repetitive play.

6. Tunnel crawling/peek a boo: Cameron loves his tunnel (ikea one) now and takes to carrying items through it and playing peek a boo with me.

7. Threading: obviously, this one is done with the babies dexterity in mind so for Cameron I use something with a large hole that is easy to put a rod through but he’s slowly getting the hang of it. Once he’s older I’d love to get him some wooden threading buttons and lacing shoes.

8. Magnets: this I saw over at The Activity Mom where you use some simple magnets and your bub takes them off and puts them back on. This is great for toddlers too where you can use the alphabet magnets to spell simple words and play letter games and number games.

9. The “button bag”: fabric stores carry extra-large buttons (buy the biggest you can find, a minimum of 2 inches across) that make safe and satisfying play-things. They’re great for fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. Choose eight buttons or so in matching pairs and try find a widely varying selection of colours and textures. Put them in a small cloth bag, and let your baby take them out and put them back in, over and over. Help bub match them up, or make a pattern. This bag full of buttons is perfect to tuck in your purse or nappy bag to pull out when you’re away from home and your baby is getting bored.

Aside from this there’s lots of labelling going on here where I’m talking about body parts, actions, foods, etc to get Cameron onto the idea that everything has a name/place/purpose.

Cam is a lot more talkative now so it’s easier for me to ‘talk back’ to him and encourage him to have conversations with us. He’s loving waving, hi 5ing (although, he’s only done this around myself, Mike and my sister), signing [now regularly signs Dad, boobah (milk), finished (his version), and more recently bird (a lot like waving but he knows the sign and looks for them when I do it)] and we’re trying to teach him to clap.

It’s been rainy and gloomy so it’s spoiled our fun lately but just prior to this weather Cam and I had been going out everyday and having so much fun at parks with friends and his cousins. It’s so adorable to watch him play and get dirty, sandy and wet. You have to watch him though because he likes to eat anything he can grab so I just follow him around

Cameron is doing brilliantly at swimming and loves the socialisation wherever we go. He has to learn how to be gentle though – it’s so hard with young babies! He’s so rough with everyone and likes to follow older children.

I’ll do a post soon on how to make your own pretty recycled handmade paper and one on how to make a ‘key chain’ of sensory fabric flash cards which I’m working on at the moment.

Thank you to those voting and reading! I love hearing from you:

Baby Finger Foods

If you’re like me and dealing with an independent, fussy, picky eater who would prefer to feed themselves much of the time then you’re probably trying to find nutritious, easy-to-prepare, bake and take with you that isn’t too messy or wasteful.

Too many times I’ve slaved away and created amazing baby-friendly foods (like the baby cereal fruity healthy breastmilk pancakes that took me forever) that have been thrown on the floor and smooshed into hair. It’s ok for experimentation, learning and enjoying food but it’s frustrating when you’re out and about or dealing with a skinny bub and just wanting them to consume something decent.

Here’s some great recipes that I’ve came across or adapted that are not too difficult, involved or messy and are easy to put in a ziplock bag and have as snacks too.

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[Healthy carrot sticks]

1 cup carrots
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped finely

1. Preheat oven to 220 deg C
2. Top and tail the carrots, peel them and cut them into sticks
3. Put the carrot sticks into a bowl and toss them with the rosemary and oil until well coated
4. Spread them out in a single layer on a non-stick baking sheet and cook for about 20 mins, until tender.

[Cheesy vegie nuggets]

1 cup broccoli florets
1 cup breadcrumbs
1 1/2 cups cheddar (grated)
2 1/2 tbsp water
2 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Heat the oven to 190 deg C
Cook the broccoli, drain and chop well
Combine with the remaining ingredients and mix well
Form into nugget shapes and place on a greased baking tray
Bake for 20-25 mins, turning halfway through cooking time

[Tofu nuggets]

1 package firm tofu
1/4 cup flour
2 egg yolks
1 cup fine bread crumbs
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika

Cut tofu into fingers/dice
Spread flour on a small plate or flat dish. Beat egg yolks in a shallow dish
Mix remaining ingredients in shallow dish
Coat each piece of tofu in the flour to cover, then into the egg, then crumbs, and then to tray
Bake at 180 deg C for 15-20 minutes until crisp

[High iron teethers]

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tbsp butter
1/4 – 1/3 cup milk
1/2 tsp blackstrap molasses

1. Rub the butter into the flour until it is like breadcrumbs
2. Add the molasses, then gradually add as much milk as you need to give a soft dough
3. Knead for 2 minutes, then roll out to 1.5 cm thickness
4. Cut into fingers
5. Put on a baking tray and cook for 30 mins at180 deg C until lightly golden

[Wholesome wheat teething bikkies]

1 beaten egg yolk
3 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tbsp canola oil
1/4 cup breastmilk
1 tbsp oatmeal
1 cup whole wheat flour
Optional but adds nutrition:
1 tbsp soy flour
1 tbsp wheat germ
1 tbsp dry whole milk

1. Blend wet ingredients then add dry ingredients and mix well
2. Knead dough then roll and cut into shapes
3. Bake at 175 deg C for approx 15 mins
- Freezes well -

Dips:

[Baby hommus]

can chick peas, drained and rinsed
1/2 of one ripe avocado
1/4-1/2 cup plain whole milk yogurt
2 tbsp cream cheese
pinch garlic powder, pinch smoked paprika, pinch cumin, squeeze of fresh lemon juice, olive oil or more yogurt may be added for creamier texture

Blend all ingredients in a blender until desired texture is reached. It can be used as a spread, or for baby to dip with veggies.

[Brainy baby]

1/2 ripe avocado
1 tbsp olive oil/flaxseed oil
the yolk from 1 hard boiled egg
breastmilk/water if needed

Mash ingredients together – voila!

Some other tips that have helped me:

1. soak sultanas/dried fruits overnight for easier finger foods for babies confident with chewing
2. coat slippery foods (eg. banana, avocado) with nutritious wheatgerm or crushed cereal powder to make them easier to handle
3. dip half a banana in baby yoghurt and freeze for teething bubs
4. use vege purees for dips
5. let baby eat in own time whilst you eat without pressure

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I know how hard it can be with a fussy eater who isn’t keen on food in general. Even with great foods that he loves Cam is still not a huge eater. He’ll drain breastmilk like it’s going out of fashion but isn’t so keen on solids

I hope that helps someone!

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Oh no! Racheous has dropped – help me out and click below to vote – it is very much appreciated!: