Arlo Eats - Toddler edition 1.0

It's been a while since I shared a detailed post about what Arlo eats. In fact, my last post was when he was around nine months, and eating mostly puffs and purées! Things have changed a lot since then.  As mentioned in his 15 month update, shortly after his one year birthday, we switched him to a fully plant based diet.  I did a lot of research on toddler nutrition before we made this change, especially in the non-dairy milk department.  It is also worth mentioning for any new readers that I have been vegan for eight years now, and have formal training both as a nurse and a cooking and nutrition instructor for The Cancer Project, a non-profit organization that focuses on educating the public about a plant-based diet.  So this wasn't something that I just made up as went along, and not something that I take lightly either. That being said - if you are thinking of starting your child on a plant based diet I highly encourage you to do a lot of research on your child's nutritional needs, as well as consult with your pediatrician. Ok, disclaimer out of the way - onto the good stuff!

Our mornings usually begin around 6:45am when Arlo wakes up, and by 7:00am or so we are downstairs in the kitchen to get breakfast started.  This is the one meal that doesn't tend to vary too much, and he usually eats the same thing every morning without complaint.  He always gets fruit - usually 1/2 banana, mixed organic berries (whatever looks good that week at the store), and 1/2 a kiwi or clementine.  In addition to that, I make a special dish of oatmeal just for him, which consists of quick oats (from the bulk bin at Whole Foods), cinnamon, nut butter (usually sunflower or almond), flax oil (about a teaspoon), and just a touch of maple syrup to give it a little sweetness.  Sometimes I also add in raisins or blueberries.  Up until recently, I was spoon and fork feeding him everything, although he has been practicing with utensils at school since he started there.  Recently, he got a hold of the fork I was using to feed him his dinner, and started using it all on his own!  I didn't think he was ready quite yet, and suspected we would end up with quite the mess, but he actually does a decent job at stabbing his food with the fork and bringing it to his mouth.  The spoon is a little more challenging but he is starting to get the hang of it.

Arlo's oats - I just put everything in a small glass bowl, add some hot water from the kettle, mix and let sit for 3-4 minutes, and it's ready to eat!  If it is too hot, I add in a few frozen blueberries which makes it the perfect temp.

I have tried offering Arlo milk with his meals, but he actually much prefers water.  So he gets a bottle or sippy cup of milk mid-morning between breakfast and lunch, a smoothie with his mid-afternoon snack, and a bottle before bed.  Overall he typically takes in 16-18 ounces of milk per day.

Depending on the day and how hungry he is, Arlo will sometimes get a mid-morning snack around the time of his milk.  Today I gave him Organic O's (Whole Foods version of Cheerios) in his snack catcher while we were out for our morning walk.  I should also mention that 95% of what Arlo eats is organic.  The pesticides in our food supply are not good for any of us, but are especially important to avoid in growing children.  We always choose organic whenever possible, and depending on the food will sometimes not even buy unless an organic version is available.


We usually eat lunch between 11:30am and noon, and Arlo goes down for his nap shortly after.  This is the schedule they follow at school, and it works great for us at home as well.  Arlo's lunches, as are mine, are typically leftovers from the previous nights dinner.  Today Arlo had green peas and baked tofu, raw carrot sticks, and seed crackers with hummus.  He will usually also get fruit or raisins for dessert.  I always wait until he is done with his main meal before giving him dessert, otherwise he will fill up on fruit and leave the other stuff on his plate.  He is a fruit monster, it is definitely his favorite food right now.

After his nap, sometime between 2 and 3pm, it's snack time.  When it is not a school day and we are at home, I always make him a smoothie.  I make it a little differently each day, but the basics are usually his milk mixture, banana, frozen berries, hemp or flax oil, and nuts or a nut butter.  Today I used banana, milk, blueberries, hemp oil, and walnuts.  I also gave him a few graham crackers.  Other afternoon snacks might include cereal, raisins, carrot sticks, non-dairy yogurt, fig bars, pretzels, or fresh fruit like orange wedges, apple slices, or quartered grapes.

Oh, and a word on his non-dairy milk mixture.  Arlo drinks a blend of hemp, oat, soy, and flax milks, combined in equal portions.  Together, they provide good amounts of fat, calcium, protein, and calories.  Every few days I mix up a big glass pitcher of his milks so it's ready to go when I need to make a smoothie or bottle and I don't have to get out all four milk cartons.

all of his milks are "unsweetened" as Arlo gets plenty of natural sugars from all the fruits he eats.  the oat milk is naturally very sweet without any added sugar which adds a slight sweetness to the milk mixture.

Evenings are when things tend to get a little challenging in our house from a food perspective.  Arlo usually gets hungry around 5pm, which to feed him at that time would require me to start dinner around 4pm if he was going to eat what I was cooking for Erik and I.  The problem is, Erik doesn't get home until 6pm or after, so I usually end up serving dinner twice.  Today, as I often have been recently, I opted to make Arlo his own dish, and fed him his meal around 5:15.  Erik and I ate together when he got home from work, and I gave Arlo a few bites of my food while we were eating, even though he had already finished his and been cleaned up long before we sat down to eat.  Today, Arlo had mashed avocado on whole grain flax bread, corn, berries, and a bowl of leftover lentils I made the previous day.  I often make a super simple pot of red lentils, spinach, and some Earth Balance or olive oil for healthy fats.  I also add a tiny pinch of salt for flavor.  Arlo loves this dish and it will keep in the fridge for several days.  I am hoping that after we move closer to Erik's new job we can return to eating together as a family, but for now this is my temporary solution to keep everyone fed and happy.

lentil dish.  this one also had quinoa, millet, and butternut squash.

And just in case you were curious as to what Erik and I had...

Cuban black beans with onion, bell peppers, corn and tomato.  side of brown rice with avocado, cilantro, radish, and lime.  yum!

And to answer a question that I am prepared to do many times in the coming years when people learn that Arlo is being raised on a plant-based diet:

"Your kid is a vegan?!  But where does he get his..."

Protein:  nut butters, beans, lentils, quinoa, tofu and tempeh (eaten a few times per month), soy milk, non-dairy yogurts, flax milk which is fortified with pea protein, and the oat milk and hemp milk that he drinks have small amounts as well (4g and 2g respectively per serving.)

iron:  leafy greens, beans, tofu, lentils, and quinoa.

calcium: calcium-fortified non-dairy milks, broccoli and leafy greens, beans, and tahini.

fat: avocado, hemp oil, flax oil, nut butters, flax seed, tahini, tofu, and tempeh.

vitamin B12:  nutritional yeast and fortified non-dairy milks.

* please note that lots and lots of foods have small amounts of protein, fat, and iron.  Take broccoli and sunflower seeds for example.  You might not think of them necessarily as a good source of iron or protein, but broccoli has 4 grams of protein and 1.1 mg of iron per cup!  Sunflower seeds have 3.3 grams of protein and 1.2 mg of iron per 1/4 cup.  These foods might not get you to your recommended daily allowance on their own, but those little bits here and there add up throughout the day.

And lastly, some of our favorite food-related products, many are seen in the photos above:

Pura Kiki stainless steel cups: In my quest to eliminate all plastic from Arlo's life, I bought these sippy cups a few months ago.  These were the only 100% plastic-free cups I could find, as the vessel is stainless steel and the spout is pure silicone.  Overall, I do like these cups.  They come with regular bottle nipples for a younger baby, and you can also purchase a silicone straw top instead of the sippy spouts.  Arlo took to these right away, and we often use them in place of his bottles.  The downsides - they are not the easiest to clean, they are insanely expensive (the three bottles, silicone sleeves, and sippy spouts and shipping cost somewhere between $60-70.  ouch.)  As well if they sustain a fall from a high chair or table, they dent pretty easily.  Probably not something I would buy more of, but we do get a lot of use out of the few that we have.  I eventually realized that a completely plastic-free existence is not only expensive but stressful as well, so I relaxed my no-plastic rules and bought these:

Re-Play Plates: Another mom blogger I follow recommended these, and my local evil big box store carries them (for less than $5 a pack) so I decided to give them a try.  We love them.  Easy to clean, super durable, and fun colors too.  I like that the food can sit in divided compartments, and I think Arlo likes that too.

OXO roll-up bib:  Love, love, love this bib.  We have another pocket-style bib that we used for many months before I discovered these.  The problem with it is that the whole thing is rigid rubber, which seems uncomfortable for Arlo and has even pinched his neck a couple of times.  These OXO bibs are awesome - soft up top but have a sturdy pocket to catch dropped food.  Easy to clean, waterproof, and they roll up compactly for travel.  I bought two and haven't used another bib since.

snack catcher:  nothing too fancy here, just a little non-spill snack container that Arlo can use to feed himself his Organic O's, raisins, pretzels, and other small snacky foods.  We started using this when he was around 10 months old, but it took him a while to realize it wasn't some game I was providing him with, and that the goal wasn't to pull out giant fistfuls of food to then feed to the dog.

silicone placement:  I don't know the brand, but I recently found an inexpensive 100% silicone placemat at Target for around $4.  It is perfect for eating out at restaurants, folds up small, and is easy to clean.  I love that it keeps his food off the restaurant table, as well as makes cleaning up the mess easier for us.


So there you have it, everything our little foodie baby is up to at 16 months old!  And a couple more of my favorite meal time photos...

cheese-ball face

the face of a little guy who just drank his smoothie out of a regular cup.

Arlo Eats

Now that Arlo is well into eating solid foods, I thought I would share a little more detail about what he eats and how I prepare his meals.  I always knew I would be making his baby food at home, but had no idea how fun it would be to come up with new recipes and allow him to try new things.  It's no secret that food and nutrition are very important to me, so it shouldn't surprise you that I am pretty excited to be introducing our little guy to the wonderful world of fruits, veggies, grains, and beans.  I have loosely been following the advice of the "baby food bible" Super Baby Food, and have taken the bits and pieces I feel are appropriate for us and also added in a few of my own ideas.  The most helpful information I took from the book is the schedule of which foods are appropriate for baby at their current age.  Since I am no expert on the development of an infant's gastrointestinal tract, and I didn't want to upset his little tummy or increase his risk of a food reaction, I tried to not to introduce foods until the book said it was okay to do so.  So far he has not had any signs of allergy or sensitivity to anything he has tried, and fortunately eats pretty much everything I offer him.  Let's hope that this adventurous sense of eating continues into toddlerhood.  Toddlers like kale and quinoa, right?  ;)

Making the meals:

Each week I choose a new food or two to buy at the store, and if it requires cooking and freezing I try and do so as soon as I can to preserve the nutrients.  99% of what Arlo has eaten has been organic, and while I will surely relax this rule as time goes on, I feel at his young age it is absolutely essential for him to avoid unnecessary pesticides whenever possible.  In terms of how I make his meals each day, the food prep depends on what it is, and if he can eat it raw or if it needs to be cooked.  Breakfast typically consists of a mashed raw fruit mixed with oatmeal cereal, and lunch and dinners are usually cooked veggies mixed with rice cereal or other grains.

Example breakfasts:

• fork mashed bananas + oatmeal
• peaches + oatmeal
• pears + applesauce + oatmeal
• pureed blueberries + fork mashed bananas + oatmeal
• banana pieces (finger foods)
• kiwi pieces (too slippery for him to pick up, I feed him with a spoon)

 

Example lunch and dinners:

• sweet potato + rice
• peas + quinoa
• squash + tahini+ rice
• carrots + spinach + rice or quinoa
• green beans + carrots + rice
• kale + apples + mixed grain cereal (oats, barley, and spelt) 

Raw foods:  This process is super simple and just requires having the right foods on hand!  This is how I typically make his breakfast, and involves either taking the fruit and fork mashing or blending lightly in the baby bullet, and then mixing in some store-bought or made at home baby cereal (we are doing mostly store-bought at this time because it is super convenient and fortified with DHA, choline, and probiotics.)  I mix in a little bit of hot water from the electric kettle to warm the meal a bit, and then stir it all together, adding more cereal or water until the right consistency is reached.  Arlo is doing well with thick foods that have small chunks now, but back when he started solids preferred a much smoother consistency.  Examples of some raw foods that Arlo is eating include: banana, pears, peaches, blueberries, spinach (although that requires blending), and avocado.

Cooked foods:  This method takes a bit longer to prepare initially but can be done in large batches, saving you time when making future meals.  As I mentioned before, I usually pick a new food or two each week and prep it that day if possible to preserve nutrients.  I will either bake, boil, or steam the veggie, and then process it in the vitamix.  I then freeze it in a 2 ounce cube that can easily be mixed with 2 ounces of cereal (or beans or cooked grains) or 2 ounces of another veggie for a complete 4 ounce meal.  The baby bullet I bought (new for $15 at a yard sale - score!) also came with three silicone freezer trays so I can make 18 cubes at a time.  Once the cubes are frozen I put them in a labeled freezer ziploc bag and store in my dedicated baby food freezer drawer.  I always save 2-3 meals worth of the veggie I just cooked and store it in glass jars in the fridge so Arlo can have several days in a row of the new food to monitor for a reaction.  

When I am planning his meals for the next day, I will take out 2 or so frozen cubes of baby food and let them defrost overnight in glass jars, and by the time he is ready to eat they will be thawed and ready for cereal to be mixed in.  As it turns out, the cute tapered jars that Beech Nut baby foods come in fit the frozen cubes like they were meant for each other, and those small jars fit into our bottle warmer perfectly, allowing us to avoid the microwave or inconvenience of heating each meal in a pan on the stove.  So while the process might sound complicated, the time I spend to prepare each of his meals is perhaps 1-2 minutes at most.  I have several empty de-labeled jars (that I ate the contents of because Beech Nut doesn't make organics, whomp whomp) so I can store, heat, and serve his meals in glass.

1.)  fork mashed bananas + blended blueberries, ready for some oatmeal to be mixed in  2.) breakfast ready to eat  3.)  happy baby with full tummy  4.)  all gone!

A fun thing I have been doing lately is making two or three foods at one time, and freezing them layered together in the silicone molds.  This allows Arlo to have several foods at once, without having to preplan to defrost several foods at the same time, and try to figure out what things I have on hand that might mix well together.  

green beans + carrots on the left and butternut squash on the right.  once defrosted just mix in some cereal/grains, heat, and serve!

Finger Foods:

 

this kid loves his puffs!

While we are still doing mostly mashed/blended foods for Arlo, he is also starting to get into finger foods as well.  He has been enjoying teething biscuits and puffs for a while now, but recently we also started to give him his first tastes of table food.  When we went out for my birthday two weeks ago, we tried an Ethiopian restaurant for the first time, and have Arlo a few pieces of the bread that comes with the meals, called Injera, and he absolutely loved it.  He also had a few bites of the non-spicy lentil dish and chickpea salad and liked those as well, although I did spoon feed him that as they are not really "finger foods."  This past week at dinner I let him feed himself some roasted sweet potato pieces I made, as well as some plain pasta noodles.  He did really well until he either got full or bored, as he decided to turn the potatoes into finger paints and smear them around his high chair tray.  It is pretty fun to sit down together at the table and eat the same foods, watching Arlo feed (and happily entertain) himself during dinner!

The plan (if there can be one with anything baby related) is to continue to introduce appropriate finger foods, but also keep on feeding him blended (and eventually more whole form) baby foods for as long as he will let me.  Many of the things he takes in "baby food" form wouldn't be easy (or safe) for him to feed himself right now, such as blueberries, kale, quinoa, and other small grains.  So I obviously want him to continue to eat those for nutritional reasons, but also so he develops a taste for these foods while he is young and will hopefully want to eat them as he grows up.

Going out to eat:

As mentioned before, I love making Arlo's meals at home, and this is what he is eating the vast majority of the time.  But when meeting friends at the local co-op, traveling, or just going out to dinner, the convenience of those store bought baby food pouches can't be beat.  Plus, they come in such amazing combinations of fruits, grains, and veggies that I have a hard time not eating them myself!  My biggest complaint about these pouches is the packaging.  Not only does it seem wasteful, but it's made of plastic, one of my least favorite materials.  So we try and limit the pouches to when we are out and about, and stick with the homemade stuff when at home.

"Sprout" brand - made just for Arlo aka Sprout?  ;)

Up until recently we have been feeding him by either squeezing the pouches onto a spoon bite by bite or using one of those screw-on style baby spoons that attach directly to the pouch.  However we recently decided to try and squirt it directly into Arlo's mouth right from the pouch.  Once he got a little taste of the food he closed his lips around the spout and sucked it down like it was a bottle!  We actually had to slow him down at one point because he had taken in around 1/3 of the pouch without even stopping.  He even held it himself for a bit and ate, although since we were out at a restaurant and didn't want baby food to squirt everywhere we helped him with most of it.

And an update on the sippy cup:

I started to let Arlo play with the sippy cup many months ago, probably when he was around 4 or 5 months old.  I thought that would help him learn to use one early, but in fact I think I might have taught him that it is not, in fact, a vessel from which to drink fluids, but a fun toy that makes lots of noise when you bang it against the high chair tray.  Oops.  We introduced a straw cup a few weeks ago and while he will sometimes drink from it without issue, he usually spits most of the water out and thinks its a fun game.  He is getting enough fluids between his bottles and solids though, so I am not too worried that he isn't a big fan of water yet.  I have no plans for diluted juice anytime soon, and I plan to hold off on any milks until he is around a year.  I am still researching our best options, but right now I am leaning towards giving him a combination of oat, almond, hemp, and rice milks.  We will choose options fortified with calcium so he will be getting at least as much as he would if we had him on a dairy-based milk.

Right now I think we are off to a great nutritional start and hope that our little man continues to be a good eater.  I am really excited about introducing him to more of the foods that we like to eat, and watching him grow into a more independent eater.  His favorite things right now are sweet potatoes, bananas (and all other sweet fruits), and surprisingly - kale!  

Leaving you with one last picture, quite possibly my favorite one to date of him eating.  This is what it looks like when your baby can't decide between taking a nap and eating a teething biscuit....

Arlo: 8 months old

I am a little late on the 8 month post, so this is going to be more like an "8 1/2 month post" and I am going to write about things as they are currently.  There have been some big changes over the last five or six weeks, as Arlo is now mobile and always on the move!

Sleeping:  Arlo continues to sleep very well through the night, going to sleep around 8 or 9pm and waking up for the day somewhere around 6 or 7am.  During our recent trip to the OBX, he didn't sleep as well as he does at home and we all found ourselves up a little earlier than we wanted to be, but as soon as we returned home he went right back to his usual routine.  As far as naps go, in recent weeks, I feel like our nap "schedule" has relaxed a bit. He typically takes two naps per day, one mid-morning, around 9 or 10am and one early afternoon, around 1pm or so.  Sometimes he will sneak in a short nap late afternoon but it usually depends on how long his naps were earlier in the day.  Naps typically last for 1-2 hours.  Overall, naps and nighttime is going really well and I am thankful that he is a good sleeper.  We still use the ergo carrier to get him to sleep occasionally, but now he often falls asleep in our arms after eating and the ergo isn't even necessary.

Eating:  Up through our beach trip last week, Arlo was still kind of hit or miss with whether or not he would really want to eat his solid (pureed) meals.  However, my friend Melissa (Tommy's mama) visited us during our trip, and I noticed baby T loved to eat his veggies mixed with oatmeal or rice cereal.  I hadn't tried that with Arlo yet, and when I did it was like I had opened up a whole new world to him.  I don't know if it mellowed out the taste of the fruits and veggies, or if he likes the thicker texture, but now he will take two meals a day, often finishing the entire bowl.  He is pretty happy to eat anything, and even had a meal of peas, lentils, spinach, and brown rice recently, and loved every bite!  His favorites are still banana and sweet potato.  He is getting better with his sippy cup and will drink a bit of water with every meal, but I still need to hold it up for him to drink.  He likes to hold the cup (and bang it on his tray!) but doesn't yet understand that the cup needs to be tilted up so the water will flow to the mouthpiece.
When we go out to restaurants we give Arlo teething biscuits to munch on while we eat our meals, and he loves them.  I found these Plum organic biscuits at Target and feel good about the natural ingredients.  The baby cereal we are using is Happy Bellies in oatmeal and rice.  I am making all of his fruit and veggie blends at home using the vitamix or baby bullet (depending on the batch size) but when we were at the beach I found those organic baby food pouches to be awesome.  I won't make a habit of using them all the time, but for traveling or eating out they can't be beat for convenience.

Weight and Length:  We will have his official stats at the end of the month when he goes for his nine month pediatrician visit, but I can tell you he has had a recent growth spurt in the length department and both Erik and I have commented in the past few days on how big he is starting to look.  He is still a trim little guy though, with long skinny legs and a tiny little waist.  I would estimate that he probably weighs between 17 and 18 lbs.


Wearing:  Adiós size 6 month clothes, this kid is fitting comfortably into both 9 month and 12 month onesies, pants, and rompers.  We are still full time cloth diapering and loving it.  We use a very occasional disposable, however we are still working on the bulk pack of diapers I purchased back at the beginning of April, five months ago.  What is more surprising I suppose is that he still fits into the same size diaper he did back then!  They were rather large on him when we bought them though, and fit pretty snugly now.  I will probably always keep around a few disposables for long car trips or in case we have a babysitter who is uncomfortable using cloth.


Likes and dislikes:  
likes:  still loving his doorway jumper, the ergo carrier, his new activity block I scored on craigslist last weekend, playing with Lucy (probably his favorite thing these days - he crawls up to her and steals her toys and she just lets him.  best. dog. ever.), other babies, baths, mirrors, and Memere Jill discovered last week that if you blow on his ticklish little feet it makes him laugh so hard! 

dislikes:  loud noises (but getting a lot better!) and teething (who doesn't?!)  That's all I got.  He's a pretty happy kid these days.

New milestones and developments:  Here is where it get's exciting!  Arlo started crawling, well creeping really, since he is not up on all fours, around the second week in August.  He very quickly increased his new skill and now moves through the house at an impressive speed.  He can sit up for long periods but hasn't yet pushed himself into a sitting position.  He isn't technically pulling up to a stand but will crawl up to us when we are sitting on the floor and climb all over our legs.  In the bathtub he now sits for his entire bath (he has been doing this for a while actually, I forgot to mention it last month) but will now grab onto the front of the tub and try and pull himself up on it.  His hands are always wet and slippery though so he isn't able to get very far.  We recently lowered his crib mattress in anticipation of him starting to pull himself up soon.
We had a few weeks off from teething but now he is at it again.  Tooth #7 popped through in the past few days and #8 will make it's appearance any day now.  When it does, he will have four on the top and four on the bottom.
One thing is for sure, there is no slowing this kid down!  He is curious, energetic, and loves to explore new things.  Arlo sure knows how to keep us on our toes.  Now, if there were only a way to bottle some of that baby energy so we could have some ourselves...    

dairy in vegan-ville

As many of you know, Erik and I have been following a plant-based diet for some time now.  I have been vegan for over seven years, and Erik around five.  There are many reasons to adopt a plant-based lifestyle - for us they are primarily ethical and a very close second being health.  As a former cooking and nutrition instructor for the Cancer Project and Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, I consider myself rather educated on a plant-based diet.  We have always planned to raise our children as vegans and believe wholeheartedly that growing up eating as such will give them a great nutritional start to life.  If, later on, they decide to take their own dietary path, we will support their rights to do so - but while mama is doing the cooking, it's going to be plant-based meals all around!

So, when Arlo had to start on formula at four months old, we wanted him on not only the very best option out there, but in staying true to our commitment to a plant-based lifestyle, also wanted to avoid animal products as much as possible.  Since there are pretty much two main categories of formula out there - dairy or soy based, we opted for the soy.  I read extensively about the different brands and settled on Baby's Only.  It is entirely organic and the company really seems to care about the ingredients they use.  It's a sad fact that most of the formulas sold in the US are poorly made - using GMO corn syrup as the primary ingredient.  Not only that, but non-organic formulas contain pesticides and chemicals that no human should ever ingest - let alone the immature and developing systems of tiny babies.

Arlo has been doing great with the formula since we started it three months ago, but for months five and six he had been receiving half formula and half breastmilk in his bottles.  About a month ago, when my milk supply sharply dropped to just 2 oz per day, and I made the difficult decision to stop pumping, he rather abruptly started drinking bottles that consisted entirely of formula.  I suddenly had the realization that having him on a soy-based formula meant that he was getting a lot of soy in his diet.  Now, soy has been portrayed in the media in recent years as a food that is either going to give you cancer or cause you to suddenly grow breasts if you are a male.  I can assure you that neither are true, and countries that have a high consumption of whole forms of soy (tofu, soybeans, soymilk, tempeh, miso) have much lower rates of cancer than those in the United States.  Eating soy in it's whole state is key - and most people in this country eat a heck of a lot more soy than they realize, primarily in it's overly processed (and potentially harmful) form.  So, anyway, while I do feel that a moderate amount of whole soy in anyones diet is fine, the fact that Arlo was consuming a lot of it at every single meal was starting to bother me.

I then started thinking about the reason why we avoid dairy.  Primarily, it is for ethical reasons - and to be honest that is a whole 'nother post that I never plan to write.  You can do that research on your own if you are interested.  However, what you might be interested to know is why as adults you might want to consider eliminating dairy for health reasons.  First, let's think about what cows milk is intended for in nature.  Simply put - it helps a young calf grow into a large, adult cow.  Cows milk (and all dairy) contain hormones.  Yup, even the "hormone-free" milk does.  Cows milk contains a growth hormone, Insulin Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1), that is proven to make cells, especially cancer cells, grow like crazy.  It is this very hormone that is responsible for growing that tiny calf into a large cow that weighs several hundred pounds.  When we are young - we want this hormone in our bodies.  It also helps tiny babies grow into adult humans.  But, as adults, we want very little, if any, of this hormone in our bodies.  Unfortunately the Standard American Diet (SAD) contains so many foods high in IGF-1.  "Milk - it does a body good!" so says the ad.  No, the sad truth is that milk really fills your body with unnecessary growth hormones which are partly responsible for the nations deplorable cancer rates.

I came across the video below while writing this post, which does a fantastic job of further explaining IGF-1.  I promise you will not regret spending the next 2 minutes and 55 seconds of your life watching it.




Video source here.  Dr. Greger also has another great video here, about IGF-1 and plant based diets.


When faced with the need to make any tough decision in life, I always ask myself (when appropriate), how would this be done in nature?  What is the most natural outcome possible?  And, while I would have loved to have a wet-nurse or donor mama on standby to keep Arlo on breastmilk for at least the first year, that just isn't a reality for us.  What seems like the next best option, is the milk from another mammal.  So, after much research and discussion with our pediatrician, we decided about a month ago to switch Arlo to a dairy-based formula for at least the next five or six months.  I am not concerned with the growth hormones at this stage of his life - he would be getting those from breast milk anyway and actually needs them right now.  When he is a year old we will reevaluate.  There is an organic rice-based nutrition drink on the market made for toddlers 12 months and up that we may introduce when the time is right.  I don't see us ever buying cows milk for Arlo and still plan to raise him as a vegan when he is no longer on formula.  For now, I am happy and grateful that formula exists (both soy and dairy) as it has kept Arlo fed and nourished when I was unable to.

When we decided last month to make the switch from soy to dairy formula, again I had to scour the internets for the best option.  What I concluded, is that the best option is actually sold in Europe, where food companies have to conform to even stricter organic rules and regulations than set by here in the United States.  There are two brands, Hipp and Holle that get glowing reviews.  In fact, parents who use these formulas claim that they are so much like human breast milk that they turned their babies stools into that of a baby who is eating exclusively breast milk.  And if you are a parent who has a child that has consumed both breast milk and formula - you know exactly what I am talking about!

 
Arlo has now been on his new formula, Hipp, for about a month now, and I am happy to report that he is doing great with it.  I will say though, our hungry little man has never said no to anything we have offered - be it breast, bottle, donor milk, pumped milk from mama, soy formula, or dairy formula.  This little guy is a trooper and just wants to eat!  And as for those parents who wrote the reviews about their babies poo changing for the better being on this formula, well, I can now attest to their truthfulness!

Had someone told me a year ago that our baby would not only be on formula at seven months old, but a dairy-based one at that, I would have looked at them like they were completely off their rocker.  But, if this whole parenting thing has taught me anything, it's that parenting a child is a constantly evolving process and most of the time we should enter into new territory without any expectations. I have realized that setting my expectations low prevents me from being disappointed when things don't go the way I would normally want them to, and pleasantly surprised when they turn out better than I thought they would.  This is probably something I should have realized much earlier in life.  Thank you my sweet baby Arlo, for helping your mama learn a valuable lesson.

Arlo: 6 months old

Happy half-birthday to our sweet baby Arlo!  Six months brought about a whole bunch of changes for all of us.  Read on to get the scoop!

Sleeping:  Oh, sleeping.  Where do I begin...  One week before Arlos six month birthday, we moved him from the co-sleeper to his crib at night.  He had been waking up and bumping his head on the side of the co-sleeper most mornings, and also didn't have any room to roll or move around at night - so it really was time for a different sleeping arrangement.  I tell you, this transition was much harder on mama than it was the little man.  He passed out the second his head hit the mattress, I cried myself to sleep staring at the empty co-sleeper beside me and intently listening through the monitor for the smallest peep.  It took me a few nights to get used to not having him beside me, but I realized we all started to sleep better with him in his own space.  This past weekend we put the co-sleeper up in the attic (sniff, sniff) and our bedroom is now starting to feel like "our room" again.  It's okay with me, and the fact that Arlo is sleeping so well at night allowed me to adjust pretty quickly (after the first few nights anyway!)  His current bedtime is between 8-8:30pm and he will sleep all the way until 6am, sometimes even 7am, without waking up.

Now naps...  That's a whole 'nother story.  This kid fights naps so hard.  Once he is asleep - he does great!  He will either take one epically long nap in the middle of the day (I am talking 3-4 hours) or sometimes will take two shorter naps (2 hours early in the day and an hour long afternoon nap.)  But getting him to nap is the hard part.  The last few days have involved me putting him in the ergo carrier and walking around the house until he falls asleep, usually within just 2-3 minutes.  At the advice of several other moms that I have polled in the past few days, my own included, I have decided to keep on with this method.  Hopefully this is just a phase and I am not setting him up for always needing the ergo to fall asleep - can you see me wearing a four year old around the house every afternoon, if we are lucky that he will continue to nap that long?  Anyway, my new plan is to try and be more consistent with his schedule.  Once I figure out what his body naturally wants to do I can conform our daily schedule around that, however it seems like some mornings he wants to nap at 10am, and some mornings he falls asleep at 7:30am.  Hopefully by our next update we have a bit more routine in this department!!

Eating:  In case you missed my last post, we recently started Arlo on solid foods!  His first meal was avocado, and while the first meal was more about making a mess than actually swallowing much, day two was much more of a success and by his third meal he was coming at me open-mouthed like a little bird and crying between bites because I was too slow!  This kid was definitely ready for solids.  Yesterday we switched it up and tried some sweet potato, and he absolutely loved it.  We are taking it slow and starting with one meal a day for now.  Since he is already on the low end of what he should be consuming as his daily milk (formula) intake, I want to make sure that the solids don't have any effect on the amount he is drinking.  He is currently drinking around 5oz, six times per day and is on a pretty consistent schedule with his bottles - eating every three hours or so during the day.

Weight and Length:  Arlo had his six month check up about a week ago, and weighed in at 15 lbs 1oz, putting him in the 10th percentile for weight - slightly higher than he has been (he started out in just the 3rd percentile!).  He measured 25 3/4 inches in length (17th percentile) and his giant noggin is still in the 97th percentile measuring 45 1/2cm.


Wearing:  Size 9 month clothes are fitting best during the day because of the cloth diaper bulk, but he is on the tail end of fitting into some 6 month things as well.  At night he sleeps comfortably in a 6 month onesie because we are still going through the jumbo pack of disposables I bought months ago - its amazing how long you can stretch a pack of diapers when you only go through one per day!  However, I think I might have found a cloth diapering method that we can use for our little heavy-wetter at night.  Will be trying that soon and hopefully in the near future we will be disposable-diaper free!

Likes and dislikes:  
likes:  being naked, bath time, playing "astronaut" with dad, grabbing/petting/looking at the kitties or Lucy, the TV screen (ugh), standing up (with assistance) every chance he gets, smiling at complete strangers everyplace we go, riding in the Ergo on mama's chest or back (finally big enough for the back carry - yay!), eating foods and playing with foods, seeing dad when he comes home from work, riding in the car, jumping and babbling in his doorway jumper, and putting everything in his mouth.
dislikes:  loud noises, naps!, being in the car seat when the car is not in motion, and doing an activity for more than 10 minutes at a time (after a little while - it's just time to move on to something else!)

New milestones and developments:  During his fifth month, Arlo sprouted two new teeth bringing us to a grand total of four little pearly whites.  He is so very close to crawling and is completely frustrated that he can't go anywhere on his own yet - he wants to be on the move so bad!  He has perfected his barrel roll across the floor and we can no longer set him down anymore and expect him to stay there for any length of time.  For a while we were seriously thinking he would walk before he crawled but at this point he is so close to crawling I am sure that is in our near future.  He loves to stand and has some seriously strong legs (obviously a trait inherited from dad) but his balance is not quite there yet.  He can sit unassisted for 5-10 seconds but needs hands nearby to catch him when he topples over.
His fine motor skills are developing rapidly as well, and he has become quite skilled at wrapping his little fingers around everything within his reach - mama's hair, Lucy's tail, his baby spoon, the place mat at the dinner table - look out!  Now if only we could teach him what "let go" means...


In the upcoming month I plan to start working on baby sign language with Arlo.  I know it will be several months before we are able to effectively communicate with him via signs, but I read that this is a good time to start the learning process.  Hopefully between "Super Baby Food" and "The Baby Sleep Book" that I have been reading in the evenings (trying to work on a nap plan!) I can make the time to read a bit of the "Baby Signs" book I picked up when I was pregnant.

Here's to another month of growing, playing, learning, and (if mama is lucky) napping!

first food - avocado!

Arlo is just two days shy of his six month birthday, and we decided a couple of weeks ago that this weekend would be his first taste of solids.  Upon the recommendation of the book I am currently reading, Super Baby Food (aka the baby food Bible) we decided to begin with avocado.  Actually, we were thinking about starting with sweet potato but my friend (mama to baby L) said they were starting with avocado - and it sounded like a great idea!  Both foods are mentioned in the book as good choices to start with.  Anyway - Arlo didn't love the avocado as much as we hoped that he would.  As you can see in the video, he made some pretty hilarious faces!  The video cuts out when the camera battery died - but the whole feeding session lasted about 10-15 minutes and we probably got him to actually swallow about 1-2 tsp of food.  The rest landed on his bib, arms, hair, Bumbo seat, and floor.  Fortunately the clean-up crew (aka Lucy) was situated nearby and went to work the second we finished feeding him.



We will try the avocado for a few more days before moving on to something else.  It is recommended to stick with the same food for around four days to monitor for a possible allergy or sensitivity.  I think next up will be sweet potatoes, and I am hopeful he will find those a little more enjoyable.

"what is this stuff?!"

the baby spoon - so much more fun than the food!

workin' on his spoon skills

And finally - a fun fact.  The last food that I ate prior to giving birth to Arlo was 1/2 an avocado (and a veggie burger.)  I scarfed it down between some pretty serious contractions right before we headed to the birthing center.  So the last "meal" I fed him in my belly is the same food as his first meal outside my belly.  Kinda cool if you think about it!

Next up - the big six month update!!