How to Make Zucchini and Yellow Squash Puree for Baby

How to Make Zucchini & Yellow Squash:

Wash, peel, and cut into cubes or circles. Steam. Usually after boiling it’s about 5-10 minutes on low/simmer depending on the amount for it to be soft enough. You will have to check with a fork.

If you use a microwave steamer (which I recommend doing because it is a major time and work saver) then you probably only need to steam for 2 minutes but you will have to check because it will depend on how powerful your microwave is.

Wait to cool

Blend/process and you are done

How to Make Butternut Squash for baby (and other squashes)

How to Make Butternut Squash/Spaghetti Squaesh/Acorn Squash…:

Ask the produce person at the grocery store to cut it halfway lengthwise. They will gladly do it for you.

Use either a disposable aluminum pan or Pyrex large enough for the squash that you have.

Scoop out all the seeds and nasty stringy stuff. The put them with the open side facing down so that they don’t dry out. Add about ½ cup of water. pre-heat oven to 350F and bake for anywhere between 40 minutes to 1 hour or as long as necessary. Acorn squash is the smallest I think so it would be closer to 40 minutes and spaghetti and butternut squashes would be close to an hour. For example, the butternut squash I made today was bigger than usual so it took an hour and five minutes.

The way you know if it’s cooked enough is that you put a fork through it and it goes in easily. You then want to wait for it to cool down before you do anything else

Once it has cooled down enough you can run it through a blender or food processor. If the consistency doesn’t become smooth enough use some of the water from the pan you baked it in to smooth it out some more. The benefit of that is that the water it was cooked in now has the nutrients as opposed to just using fresh water.

When he’s about 8-10 months old you will no longer have to run it through the blender. You’ll be able to just mash it with a fork for him.

You can scoop it into the ice cube trays, freeze over night and then pop them out to a freezer zip lock bag and just microwave before you serve so it’s not too cool.

Once you have cleared him for allergies for each of the squashes you can start mixing them together for a more interesting flavor and can start mixing with other things he has been cleared for allergies. Butternut squash is really good with chicken for example but that doesn’t come till about 7-8 months.

And the Allergy Saga Continues

So we got baby Aiden tested for allergies yesterday. For those of you who are just starting to read about our lives, you should know that Liam has life threatening allergies to peanuts and sesame to the level that he should not be touched by someone who ate anything with nuts and sesame and has not washed his hands and brushed his teeth before touching him. Those allergies make life very difficult when purchasing groceries and when being anywhere outside of home where it is safe for him. Any tiny mistake can result in the loss of his life.

So for baby Aiden there are some good and bad news. The good news is that none of his allergies are as life threatening as Liam's. The bad news is that is allergic to 18 things thus far. We have only tested him for 22 things because there's just so much you can do at one time on such a young baby.

So he is level 2 (Liam's allergies are level 4 which is the highest) for salmon, tuna, cow's milk and goat's milk. That means I can't have any of those in anything for at least 4 months and then I can try to add one thing at a time in very small quantities and document any reactions.

His level 1 allergies are for beef, eggs, apples, avocado, barley, corn (which is in everything), oats (meaning he can't have cheerios), rice, mustard, peanuts, and soy. That means I have no milk source other than coconut milk which tastes nasty to me. For all of these I have to be on a small-quantity, rotation diet. So I can have some rice once a week, 1 egg per week, and so on and so forth and document the reactions.

I have to keep a food log of everything I eat and everything the baby eats (he is starting solid foods). He will also have to be on a rotation diet. I have to document every strange poop or new eczema or anything that is out of the ordinary.

Not really sure what kind of milk other than my own milk I'll ever be able to put him on. The options out there are goat's milk, rice milk, almond milk and soy milk. We haven't tested him for almonds but since we can't have anything with almonds in the house because of Liam that's not an option even if he is not allergic to it. And he is allergic to the rest of them.

I went grocery shopping today and it took so long to read all the labels for all the additional stuff to nuts and sesame. It was difficult and exhausting.

It is very frustrating to open the fridge and pantry and know that there's very little that I can eat. And what I can eat today I can't eat more than once per week.

I am mostly scared of the things we have not tested him for yet. I hope nothing is going to be a level 4. To be constantly afraid for the life of one child is enough to live with and we hope to at least not have to be constantly afraid for Aiden's life as well

I am currently overwhelmed and a little bit depressed. I'm supposed to have a healthy diet because I am breastfeeding yet I can't have the things that are the healthiest for me.

Ok, I am done venting. I just need to take the time to process this and get used to this and not to starve in the meantime.

Random Thoughts

I was planning on writing some about how much I appreciate my husband and glad to have one that helps with the kids and all. I know too many moms who have to do it all on their own and I couldn't even imagine having to do that. It would be so physically draining and emotionally, well, I don't even want to go there. But tonight I'm a bit pissed off at him... I have some sort of a stomach virus so I am not at my best. I didn't get much sleep last night between being in the bathroom and nursing the baby.

This morning we had Liam's first Gymnastics Extravaganza! Let me explain...

I signed Liam up for extra classes at his day-care for gym and music. Thought it would be good for him to expend some of that endless energy he has in a gym class and music is something ALL kids just LOVE. Well, he has been taking this gym class since February or March I think and today they had a show at our town's cultural center. We had no way of knowing if he was going go clam up and be all shy or be a star performer. Turns out he was a star performer. Whereas all the other kids were attached to either mommy or daddy and not at all happy about performing in front of an audience, our little (or should I say BIG) boy Liam was loving all the attention and being in the spot light. Pictures and videos will be on his blog once they are done uploading (link to the right). I have to admit it was really emotional and wonderful to see my baby be so confident and sure of himself and having no trouble being in the spot light, especially since I hate being in the spot light and I freeze when I have to speak in front of an audience. He made us really proud.

After that we got home and I put the baby down for a much needed nap seeing how he missed his morning nap because he was so excited about watching his big brother perform. After that I had to put Liam down for a nap. Maybe now someone who is reading this is wondering why daddy isn't putting one of the kids down for a nap. I wonder that myself sometimes. I seem to do so much more. The baby won't really calm down enough for anyone other than me and sometimes for his babysitter Lindsay. It probably has something to do with the fact that he gets to nurse before nap or bedtime. And Liam just doesn't take daddy seriously enough when daddy says no more reading or talking or whatever it is that Liam does when it's time to go to sleep. I think Scott doesn't get the whole being firm but kind thing that I do. I don't feel Liam ever feels like I'm the bad cop - I just do as I say and he knows I mean it. Anyways, I got to take a short nap with the baby later in the afternoon which was nice but then my stomach virus hit me again. So you would think that if mommy is so sick and has a 2.5 year old and a 4.5 months old to take care of, that daddy would decide that going away for the night is not such a great idea. Scott had a surprise birthday party for a childhood friend in Northern Virginia to go to tonight. He gets to go and have fun, spend the night at a hotel with two childhood friends and drink and have a great time while VERY sick mommy gets to stay at home with two kids who don't sleep through the night. You would think that it would occur to him that going away isn't the greatest idea. But NO! He thought I would get through it ok I guess. You see, I know exactly what was going through his mind. He probably thought that because I was walking around and getting stuff done that I was not that sick. He doesn't get that mommies just keep on going because we have no other choice. When he gets sick he gets in bed and doesn't really come out until he gets better. When I get sick I keep on going because I have a husband and two very young children who depend on me. So in his mind he isn't doing anything that bad by leaving me home alone for the night with them. In my mind, well, let's just say I am beyond angry.

So the sitter who helped me through bath and bed times left and I am here, writing this in between sprints to the bathroom. I am praying really hard that both boys will cooperate and will sleep well. I am praying that Liam won't wake up when the baby is nursing. I am praying that the baby won't wake up to eat while I'm in the bathroom and can't get to him. I am just praying for this night to go ok. And I plan on taking a really long shower and nap tomorrow when Scott gets home. But I also know myself and know that I won't let myself rest because there's always so much that needs to get done.

So I was planning on writing a really positive post with how blessed I am and how much I appreciate having a husband who helps a lot, but I'm too darn mad to do that so it will have to wait for another day.

A Mother's Day Update

So the day did end up getting better...

Scott and Liam went to Lowe's and on the way home stopped to get me a Mother's Day card that says: "What's the difference between you and a light bulb? You can't be replaced". And they also stopped at Starbucks for me and got me an allergy proof (for baby) decaf, cinnamon dolce Americano which was delicious. I couldn't have it with milk or soy milk but it was good nonetheless.

Later I made stir-fry for dinner and the baby sat in his high-chair with us while we were all having dinner.

Baths went well. Bed time was long but was without drama.

So hopefully Liam will sleep well tonight, the baby won't wake up to nurse more than twice and tomorrow I will have more energy

A Mother's Day Special

I wish I could say this Mother's Day has been wonderful so far but it hasn't. I barely got any sleep. When we went to bed last night Scott had some random health insurance bad news for us. They are trying to get group insurance (so far we've been on Cobra) but since there still aren't that many of them, it is going to be one of those very high deductible plans until they get more people. Now, I appreciate that it's better than not having insurance at all, but for some reason that stressed me out really bad and I wasn't able to fall asleep. Do your husbands fall asleep with no care in the world as well? That drives me absolutely nuts! How do they do it? When I go to bed is when my brain starts working over time. All the thoughts about all there is to do the next day and all I never managed to get done during the day start creeping in and it takes me a while to just settle down to sleep. Also, there's always the stress of wondering if the baby will wake up to nurse all of 5 minutes after I manage to fall asleep. Last night was just worse than usual for some reason. So I didn't fall asleep till about 1 am. Then, all of 15 minutes later Liam wakes up screaming. Must have had a bad dream. Scott goes to him. He wants mommy. So I go in. He calms down instantly. But it takes him a while to go back to sleep. My son alright! So I just spent about 25 minutes staring at the ceiling in Liam's room because I knew if I fell asleep, the baby's cries will wake all of us. I go back to our bedroom while praying that Liam doesn't notice that I left his room. I go to the bathroom. I get back to bed and baby Aiden wakes up wanting to eat. He nurses well. I actually manage to get enough energy to put him back in his bassinet. I take forever to fall back asleep. About 2 hours later baby Aiden decides he needs to eat again. I never regain enough resolve to put him back in his bassinet so I spend the rest of the night in a twisted position and wake up with a really stiff neck and a really aching back just in time to being Mother's Day. Yay!

My breakfast choices are very limited now. I can't have cow's milk dairy products or soy because it makes the baby's poops super explosive. Way more explosive than the usual breast feeding baby poops. I also can't have eggs because they seem to cause Aiden's eczema to get a lot worse. So Scott makes me beef bacon and coffee and that's pretty much what I have for my special Mother's Day breakfast. But then again, some people don't even get that much so I am grateful.

I wanted a laundry free day today considering I do about 2 loads of laundry per day. But I didn't get my wish because I didn't manage to get all the laundry done yesterday. So I had to do laundry yet again.

Baby Aiden took a shorter morning nap than usual.

Then Scott tells me that in addition to his trip to the UK in July he has to go on a short trip in the US sometime in June. I am now stressing about finding help over night for when he is gone. With two babies waking up at night, I can't actually do it all alone over night.

Now both babies are napping but for how long I ask?

So yes, it is Mother's Day and it feels just like any other day to me. It's exhausting and not that much fun at all.

But at least I get a lot of love from all my boys.

Hope my fellow mothers out there are having way more fun on this special day than I am.

What I Do to Keep Sane - Part A

There are certain things that I do to maintain a certain level of sanity. I am not always successful, but I try really hard. When I had Liam, I never took care of myself. I try to do that now. In parenting magazines they tell you to nap when the baby naps. What a joke! Seriously, are there really moms out there who actually do that? I can see how some moms might be able to do that when they only have one child if they don't care about healthy meals and a somewhat clean house and clean clothes. And that's ok not to care about those things. I am not able to not care about these things but I respect that some people simply don't. But with two children, you really don't have that luxury. So here is a partial list of the things I do to try to remain sane:

1. I make sure to take a shower every morning before Scott goes to work. It gets tricky when Scott is away on business though.
2. After showering I put on real clothes and make-up even if I don't intend to leave the house that day.
3. I try to eat healthy meals. I cook on weekends and freeze stuff so that me and my family have healthy meals to eat.
4. I try to get out of the house if not every day then every other day. Even if it's just taking the baby and going to the grocery store. I didn't do it with Liam and it contributed greatly to my depression and anxiety so I am making sure not to repeat that mistake.
5. I give myself a mini-manicure once a week on the weekend when Scott is home.
6. I try to get a pedicure every so often when it is needed.
7. I let Scott do some things around the house that I would have never let him do before. I actually let him sweep the floor and get laundry out of the dryer.
8. I do a load of laundry once a day so that laundry doesn't pile up too much.
9. I go to a breastfeeding support group that meets every other week. I regret not having done that when I had Liam so I try to go every time they meet. It's a wonderful way to meet other moms and support new moms in their choice to breastfeed. It isn't always easy to be a breastfeeding mom. It takes a lot out of you to exclusively nurse so it's nice to be able to talk about the challenges with other moms.

More to come...