The amount of time I’m spending in the kitchen either feeding Ben or preparing food for him in advance is on the rise. We’ve been trying to give him new foods as often as possible, which has been really fun! So far there really doesn’t seem to be anything he doesn’t like, though he does have favorites.
Other: oatmeal, peanut butter {hurrah! no allergy!}, toast, polenta, quinoa
{One day recently Ben and I had the same thing for breakfast! That was a really cool morning for us and kick started some fun new foods.}
Since Ben has been eating more solid foods he has been eating slightly less breast milk. He’s now averaging around 27-30 ounces of milk per day and around 4-8 ounces of solid food. It’s going to be more difficult to measure the solid food once he’s eating more finger foods, which he is really starting to.
Ben is very inquisitive and quite independent already – he is really in favor of feeding himself. In the last couple days he’s had meatballs {turkey w/ quinoa and onions!}, cucumber sticks, carrot sticks, frittata slices and a small slice of pizza. It is SO fun watching him feed himself.
{Ben got a new high chair too! This one is SO much better than our original.}
I recently purchased a kit to make my own “pouches” which can contain either a puree or a smoothie-like meal for Ben. These are super handy and are far less messy than spoon feeding. As Ben gets a little older he’ll be able to hold the pouch totally on his own. I have even heard of preschool-age kids loving these pouches too, and they’re great for travel, hiking and on-the-go snacks. I’ve had a great time coming up with some different combinations of food to put in them.
{Some combos Ben seems to love are: yogurt, banana, mango, spinach; strawberry, banana, yogurt, spinach, oats; mango, sweet potato, quinoa.}
As far as adult food goes, here are some of our favorite things we’ve been eating lately:
I’ve got a pretty good menu lined up for the week. I’m venturing outside the box a bit one day and making fish tacos {!}, and trying some new meal ideas from one of my all-time favorite cookbooks {Sara’s Secrets for Weeknight Meals – a cookbook my brother got me years and years ago!}. We’ll see how it goes, but this week all of us are trying new things and enjoying food!
Can I just say I really don’t love referring to myself in the third person? It’s kind of obnoxious and I fully intended on not doing that but one day it crossed my mind that Ben almost never heard of me referred to as “mama” so I caved. And every time I refer to myself as “mama” I cringe but hope it means he’ll know what to call me one day soon…… and then I’ll resume being an adult who can form a grammatically correct sentence…..
Anyway! Last weekend our wonderful nanny signed on to watch Ben for an extra day so that Alex and I could high tail it to the mountains for a ski day just the two of us. It was really strange leaving Ben for so long when Alex and I were going off to do something together but we knew he was in good hands and he kept Edina entertained.
The forecast was predicting a powder day for us on Sunday. Unfortunately mother nature and the meteorologists were not on the same page, as is usually the case in Seattle. We got a little snow and a lot of wind. So much wind that the upper mountain was closed all day. Knowing the mountain well came in handy! There are some sneaky, awesome runs that most people don’t know about that we got to explore.
While the terrain was quite limited, the snow was actually really nice. We had a couple of great runs and both of us got to make a few powder turns, too! It felt so nice to be back on skis again. Even though our runs were limited we were really glad we were able to get out.
This year we won’t be clicking into our downhill skis nearly as much as we have in the past but we have made arrangements with our nanny to watch Ben once a month for the rest of the winter so we can ski. We’ve also got a ski trip planned for later this season. Cross country skiing seems to be a good supplement/compromise and we’re a-okay with that! We’re just happy to be able to spend time in the mountains.
As a way to get out into the mountains and play in the snow, Alex and I have recently gotten into cross country skiing. We went one time last winter together and really enjoyed it. We’ve been missing our weekends in the snow this winter, so we decided to purchase a cross country gear set-up and make it a regular occurrence to get out in the fresh mountain air.
Downhill skiing has been a major part of our lives in the winter ever since we moved out to Seattle 8 years ago. Having Ben now makes it more difficult to go out for a downhill ski day just the two of us so we chose cross country skiing as a way to get out as a family.
We have a baby carrier called an Ergo 360 and I can wear Ben on my front or on my back, basically like a backpack. I hadn’t tried the back carry position until we tried cross country but it is really comfortable and he seems to like it quite a bit. Honestly I hardly even noticed Ben was strapped to my back it was that comfortable – it just felt like my regular ski backpack that I usually wear.
Neither Alex or I are pros at Nordic skiing by any means but being the one with the better balance and athletic abilities I was nominated to be the baby wearer. We both did really well and quickly became more and more comfortable with our new sport.
Being out in the mountains with Ben three times over the holiday week was probably the best part of our whole break. The mountains are so important to us and we want to pass that down to Ben and do our best to make sure he’s a skier as well as an outdoor enthusiast.
Happy New Year! We are ringing in 2017 with our seven month old!! Several of our friends have told us that from about four months on it just keeps getting more and more fun and we are really seeing that hold true with Ben. The first few months were fun in their own way but now that he’s super interactive and alert, he is a blast! Here is what Ben is up to these days…
Ben’s Seven Month Stats:
Weight: 15 pounds 11 ounces
Percentile for weight: 8th!
Number of teeth: zero
Clothing size: Teetering between 3-6 month and 6-9 month clothes, depending on the brand
BTW: If you see an outfit that says “6 months” that means 3-6 months…
Ben doesn’t have another check-up with his pediatrician until 9 months so we won’t have an updated length for a while
The biggest change in his seventh month is that Ben started eating solid food! We started right when he turned six months old and it took about three weeks but now he’s mastering the pureed foods. When foods have more texture he is still figuring out how to navigate them in his mouth and swallow.
Ben’s favorite food is without question sweet potatoes. He’s tried apples, bananas, avocado, oatmeal, ground beef and egg as well. I’ve been pureeing most foods but also giving him things like sweet potato fries or apple wedges to gnaw on. Eggs are served scrambled.
He’s mastered feeding himself with a spoon. I had expected that I’d have to put the spoon in his mouth and feed him but instead I hand him the spoon, usually upside down, and he takes it and puts it in his mouth. Most of the food actually makes it into his mouth, though by the end of the meal he’s wearing quite a bit of it. He loves chomping on the spoon too! Bath time and laundry have become a daily occurrence in this house now, as well.
Throughout his seventh month, Ben was seemingly changing every single day! He went through a physical growth spurt and tons of developmental changes. Most of his growth was really small but we noticed day-by-day he would figure something new out or be able to balance better from one day to the next and other times it’s figuring out how to make new noises. I think, though, the thing that grew the most was Ben’s feet. He’s in size 12-24 month socks already! You’re welcome for the big feet, Ben!
The biggest challenge we had with Ben as a six month old was sleep. He went through a significant sleep regression, likely due to a combination of travel/adjusting to the time change, major developmental changes and learning how to sleep on his tummy.
At the end of his seventh month {within the last week or so} he started becoming more comfortable sleeping on his belly and resumed sleeping through the night. We had a few rough nights in there, though, where we were waking up 8-10 times a night to help him re-adjust and get back to sleep. Needless to say, our coffee intake increased substantially in the month of December. Thankfully, though, it seemed to work itself out and we’ve started to catch up on sleep again.
This last month has been filled with physical development for Ben. His physical movements are so much more calculated and solid. He’s not really mobile yet, though he can sort of navigate around his play mat and get to toys by rolling and doing little scoots, but his rolling skills are really improving and his balance and body control is more precise.
The biggest physical thing that Ben is working on right now is sitting. He is able to sit unsupported for a period of time; however, he doesn’t quite have the core strength and control to keep himself upright 100% of the time. He still tips over if he gets off balance. We’re not able to plop him down on the ground in a seated position and leave him there, but we are able to sit him upright and he’ll stay that way for a few minutes until he gets distracted or over-reaches for a toy.
Ben’s personality is really starting to emerge. This kid is so much like his father and he’s got a BIG personality!! He is stubborn, very charming and social, curious, observant, happy and easy to make smile and quite a chatterbox. He’s also quite easily distracted… I think he gets that one from his mother though!
We are having so much fun with Ben and can’t wait to see how much he changes in his eighth month!
Another year down…. 2016 has left a really big mark in my life. It has been the year with the most significant ups and downs and it will likely be one of the most momentous years of my entire life. This was the year we became parents, after all!
Our 2016 began with the announcement of my pregnancy! We were elated to share the news with our friends and family.
{First ultrasound at 8 weeks!}
Shortly after we announced the pregnancy I started to feel mostly human again, after having spent my first trimester nauseous and averse to foods. It was so exciting for me once I was finally showing – it’s so strange being pregnant. You’re going through this massive life event and yet it’s no big deal for anyone else.
Early in January we took a spontaneous trip to Leavenworth, an adorable town in the mountains, and stayed at the Sleeping Lady for a weekend away together. We tried cross country skiing, drank lots of hot chocolate and relaxed.
We took a ski trip in February with Alex’s parents to Deer Valley, Utah. It’s always nice picking up and meeting somewhere fun with Alex’s parents, and we’re particularly fond of Utah, plus there are some posh perks of going to Deer Valley!
Being able to spend time in the mountains is something that is extremely important to Alex and me, and it was really special to still be able to do that last winter. I loved skiing while I was pregnant. I was extra cautious, but it was something that made me feel normal.
One of the many highlights from my 2016 was when my dad came out to visit – we drove up to Whistler for our own little ski trip, just the two of us.
While my dad and I were in Whistler, Alex and our friend Patrick were on the other side of British Columbia on a cat ski trip. They had an incredible time together!
In our spare time last winter and spring we were busy preparing for the arrival of our baby. We did a lot of home projects, mainly organizing and rearranging, and a ton of online shopping and researching. We wanted to have the nursery mostly put together by the end of April when several family members were planning on coming out for my baby shower.
Initially we debated whether or not we’d find out the gender of our baby in advance of his/her arrival. Eventually Alex convinced me to find out and we were very surprised, but thrilled, to learn via ultrasound that we were having a boy! Seemingly everyone expected we were having a girl.
My BFF Sarah came out for a weekend visit in March. We both found out that we were pregnant on the same day and ended up having due dates a day apart! During her trip we went to a prenatal yoga class, did some shopping and chatted a ton about baby stuff, naturally.
I celebrated my 30th birthday at the end of March, followed by our 5th wedding anniversary in mid-April. Somewhere in there Alex and I splurged on an overnight in Woodinville at Willows Lodge with dinner at the famous Herbfarm. The meal was divine and we had such a lovely time together.
April was really busy for us. Alex high-tailed it off to southern Mexico to visit our friends Justin and Tania, who lived in San Cristobal, a large city in the mountainous state of Chiapas. It was a trip with highs and lows – Alex loved the beauty of the region but came to appreciate some of the modern amenities he is used to in the US.
While Alex was in Mexico I flew east to Minnesota to visit family and friends. Two of my best girl friends from Minnesota were pregnant and due within weeks (or days!) of me. It was so fun seeing them!
My aunt hosted a baby shower for me out here in Seattle. We had several family members come in from the Midwest to attend it. The shower was very beautiful, tasteful and I really enjoyed introducing some of my friends from out here to my Midwest family.
Since so many people were visiting we planned a bunch of outings that weekend. It was fun showing off our beautiful city!
The following weekend my friend, Cate, hosted another baby shower for me. The shower was a mountain theme, which was perfect, and we had a lovely time!
The week in between my baby showers I found out, via a routine prenatal appointment and later confirmed by ultrasound, that I had IUGR {Intrauterine Growth Restriction} and something was causing my baby to not grow properly. The weeks that followed are now a blur, but that was the start of the roller coaster ride.
Ultimately, I spent the next month in and out of doctor’s appointments and then the hospital, finally being hospitalized for 3 weeks until I delivered. The time in the hospital was both really difficult, but also I look back with some fond memories.
{33 weeks pregnant here… 2 days before I met Ben!}
Our son Benjamin Ames Allen was born at 11:21 a.m. on Tuesday May 31st, weighing in at 3 pounds 3 ounces. He arrived nearly 7 weeks early but we were ready to meet our kiddo!
The first month of Ben’s life was spent in the NICU, while he learned how to eat from a bottle, as well as put on some weight. That month was unbelievably trying, but was filled with memories of kangaroo care and getting to know our son.
He’s a little trooper and after 26 days he was able to come home!
Our summer at home was filled with walks around the neighborhood, brunch at Vendemmia, a random trip to Yakima wine country, visits from family and lots of time together. Alex was able to have 10 weeks of paternity leave, so once Ben came home through Labor Day, we were together as a family.
One of our first “projects” over the summer was Ben’s newborn photo session. He was SO tiny!!
We wrapped up our summer with an extended visit by Alex’s parents, and both of our siblings.
Ben’s first “getaway” was mid-August when we went to Lake Chelan for a few days with Alex’s parents. It was really fun getting out of Seattle and taking Ben to a new place. We learned quickly just how much gear goes along with a baby!
September arrived and so did the reality of both of us going back to work. We hired a terrific nanny who made the transition so much easier, and by the end of the month we were in a new groove. It took much longer than I expected to get used to life as a working mom.
At the end of September we took our annual Leavenworth Octoberfest trip with our friends the Buffingtons and the Millers and their kids. There were four babies under one!
Throughout the fall we spent our Wednesday nights at our PEPS {Program for Early Parent Support} group. This is our group of parents with very similar age babies. It is facilitated by a volunteer parent who has a little more experience than we do, but it fosters connection among parents in the area and provides some learning opportunities, as well. I really enjoyed meeting the other parents and hope to continue some of our relationships.
Most of the fall was spent getting into a groove and adjusting to our new life as working parents. A few weeks in we got into a pretty good routine, but it is certainly a flexible one, as our day-to-day changes pretty regularly.
The holidays came and went. We hosted our third annual holiday party and celebrated Ben’s first Christmas at home by going up to the mountains and playing in the snow, as well as hanging out at home by the fire.
This kid and our life keep getting more and more fun by the day. It is so cool to look back on 2016 with such fondness, even though we had some significant challenges. Amidst the ups and downs, we’re grateful for so much in this life.
As they always seem to, the holidays kind of snuck up on me this year. I knew in the back of my mind they were approaching and I’d think about and plan something every now and then but every time I thought about the holidays I would realize they were still so far away… until they weren’t! In any case, we wanted to make Ben’s first Christmas special for all of us.
Our holiday season kicked off with the two holiday parties we had – one we attended and one we hosted. We baked a few batches of Christmas cookies – our nanny was super helpful and baked several dozen. Somewhere along the line we nearly ran out of Christmas cookies, though, so I ended up whipping up a double batch of gingersnaps to take to the NICU and antepartum units at the hospital where Ben was born.
Speaking of babies being born – one of the best Christmas gifts we received was the birth of our nephew Nico! Baby Nico was born on Christmas Eve in Chicago. We are SO excited for proud parents Alina and Alberto and can’t wait to meet their sweet boy. It’s going to be so much fun that Nico and Ben are less than 7 months apart!
We celebrated Christmas Eve by going up to the mountains for the afternoon. Ben had never played in the snow before so we stuffed him into his snowsuit and laid him down in a heap of snow. He wiggled around and basically made a snow angel and inadvertently sprayed himself in the face with snow! He wasn’t too keen on that, but I think he liked being up in the mountains.
It was a beautiful day up there – we were at Alpental, a ski resort, and the evergreens were covered in light, fluffy, powdery snow. It was spectacular and a perfect backdrop for our first time bringing Ben to the mountains in the winter.
True to tradition, that evening we read “The Night Before Christmas” to Ben before tucking him in for his long winter’s nap. Once Ben was asleep for the night Alex and I made fondue and popped a nice bottle of Spanish wine for dinner.
{this is actually the Polar Express, but I thought it was a cute moment}
I was a little slow in finishing up wrapping gifts so we huddled downstairs in and finished up my Santa tasks and got everything ready for Christmas morning.
Santa brought us the amazing gift of sleep for Christmas this year! Ben almost slept through the night, but slept in the morning until 7 a.m.!!! It was so nice to sleep in and not be awaken multiple times throughout the night. We all woke up in a great mood ready to celebrate Christmas.
Christmas morning was lovely. We were together as a little family. I made an almond pastry, called a Swedish Kringler, that my aunt Sarah has made for many years on Christmas. I had never made it before but it is divine!
We had lots of gifts to open. It was so sweet to see all of the people who thought of Ben. We had gifts come as far away as Spain {Our friends Elizabeth and Lois were back in town from Spain for the holiday and stopped by for a visit on Friday. It was SO nice to see them.}!
The bulk of the day was spent hanging out on the floor in the living room in front of the fire playing with Ben and his new toys. Ben is developing so fast – it’s something new every day at this point. He was really starting to master sitting up on his own. He can sit up unsupported but not for terribly long and he still crashes over quite a bit but there was a major improvement on Christmas day.
We also enjoyed Skyping/FaceTiming with our families. It was so fun to “meet” baby Nico via Skype – these video calling features make living far away so much easier. While we would have loved to have seen our families in person on Christmas, we are so glad that we were home in Seattle for the holidays.
Our first Christmas with Ben was wonderful. We will really treasure the family time we had together and the memories we made.
We’d like to take a moment to wish all of our friends and family a very merry Christmas! Since there is no snow in Seattle we headed east to the mountains on Christmas Eve to give Ben his first introduction to snow. On Christmas day we plan on having a relaxing day by the fire at our house. Our fingers are crossed that Santa will visit us tonight, but either way we’ll have some tasty Christmas pastries in the morning and sit around spending time together. We’re hoping to connect with our families on FaceTime or Skype, as well.
Our third annual holiday party is another one for the books! We are so, so glad we decided to carry out the tradition of hosting a holiday party. For a while we were on the fence – life is a lot more complicated these days with worrying about nap times and feeding schedules of an energetic, squirmy 6-month old. Ultimately, we decided to pick a really easy menu and go from there.
As it turned out, this holiday party was both of our favorite yet! There was absolutely no stress going into it – we had the experience of two big parties before and sort of had things dialed in for the most part. Not only did that make it easier now that we’ve got Ben, but it made it more enjoyable and allowed for an event where we felt we could actually spend time with our guests and not worry about anything else.
This year we had right around 30 friends {including 2 family members!} over for the evening. I’d say a solid 2/3 of the crew has kids now and we opted to make this an adults-only affair. We got a lot of really positive feedback from both the parents and the non-parents that they appreciated it was a kid-free evening. Ben was home but we had our nanny downstairs watching him. As it turned out, he slept through the whole dang thing!
Our food and drink spread was pretty similar to previous years with a few minor tweaks. I really enjoy cooking and putting together food to entertain with. I didn’t really stretch my creativity this year, which was probably a good thing! Some tried and true staples were as far as I went.
Ben’s nanny was a huge help – she baked cookies last week during his nap time! I enjoy baking Christmas cookies but always over-do it, so this year she saved me from that {and may have overdone it herself!}. I managed to still bake gingersnaps, peppermint bark and sugar cookies, while she made the most amazing lintzer cookies {omg you have to make them!}, lemon bars and a lemon polenta cake. She is a far better baker than I am!
In addition, I hired a babysitter for the day before the party so I could take the day to get everything organized and prepped. As it turns out, that was a very wise move! The day of the party I put Ben in the baby carrier and had him hang out with me while I got some stuff done. I explained what I was doing and shared with him our holiday party tradition. Alex and I hope to continue this party for many years!
One of my favorite parts about our holiday party tradition is bringing our many groups of friends together. Alex and I feel so fortunate to have so many friends in Seattle and we’ve really made this city our home, in part because of the friendships we have here. I was having such a good time on Saturday night that I forgot to take any photos during the party! Oops! I guess there’s always next year…
Back in mid-October we had a quick photo session with the photographer who took Ben’s newborn photos. We made the mistake of scheduling our time during his naptime and on a day where he was teething like crazy and had been carted all over Seattle. Needless to say he was not a happy camper for his photos. Perhaps there’s also some genetics that came into play since his father always feels the same way…?
One of my favorite things in life is food. I’m far from a “foodie” – I really just like to eat good food and also enjoy a tasty burger every now and again. I’ve been so excited for Ben to start eating so that we could ultimately introduce him to our favorite foods. It has been really fun, but also a completely different experience than I expected.
Call me crazy, but I envisioned that one day we’d say “okay, today’s the day Ben is going to eat solid food” and then he’d sit in his high chair, eat solid food and from that point forward be an “eater.” While that’s not inaccurate, it’s a little more glorified than reality.
We are doing a combination of spoon feeding Ben and a concept called “Baby Led Weaning” {BLW}. With the spoon feeding, Ben is feeding himself food we put on a spoon, primarily pureed food. Baby Led Weaning is a completely different concept – polar opposite, really, where you give babies “finger size” pieces of food to feed themselves.
I love the Baby Led Weaning concept because it teaches kids to feed themselves, provides opportunities to try new textures and tastes and gives them control over what they eat and how much they eat. Basically they just gnaw on something for a while and taste the food and get the juices. For the first several months the point of BLW isn’t necessarily to actually eat the food – it’s to try new things and get used to the idea of food.
The reason we’re incorporating spoon feeding, too, is to increase the calories Ben is taking in. He’s a big, big eater these days and I can hardly keep up with the amount of milk he’s drinking so he needs to start getting some of his calories elsewhere. I was shocked to find out that 2 tablespoons of oatmeal contain 35 calories – it’s amazing to me that he can get so many calories from so little oatmeal. Two tablespoons of oatmeal almost replace 2 ounces of milk {plus it’s a good source of iron!}!
So far Ben has tried oatmeal, banana, applesauce, apple wedge, avocado and sweet potato fries. I’d say oatmeal and the apple wedge were his favorite. When he eats any of these foods he seems surprised to taste something and have the texture of food in his mouth.
It’s my intention to keep introducing new foods every several days to him. I have been enjoying making up his food – it’s so easy to do! I make oatmeal for myself in the morning and before I add milk and salt I take a spoonful and put it in the food processor to grind up the oats a bit finer. And applesauce couldn’t be easier – I sliced an apple and put it in some boiling water until it was soft, then removed the skin and threw it in the food processor. I love making Ben’s food so I know exactly what’s in it.
For the immediate future we’ll keep up with both spoon feeding and BLW and see what happens! Hopefully he’ll get used to some new tastes soon.
