Puree Away!

I’m finding one challenge of parenting to be around food. Now that Anna is eating solids, I have constant thoughts running through my head like…

• Is she eating enough?
• Is she eating too many fruits and not enough veggies?
• Is this assortment of food going to make her a picky eater?
• When should she get meat?
• Organic or not organic?
• Where can I buy an adult-size bib to protect me when she blows a raspberry with a mouthful of sweet potatoes?
• Is poop really supposed to be neon orange and green?

When Anna was ready to start eating “real” food, I decided to try my hand at making her baby food (go ahead, call me crazy). I figured, it seems easy enough: steam some veggies, throw them in the food processor, and voila!

Turns out, it is SUPER easy (and affordable – a fact which earned me an extra gold star from Jason). Sunday nights are usually my time to steam, boil, bake and puree. One night of prep yields 2-3 weeks worth of food, depending on what I am making. Our freezer has turned into a rainbow of frozen fruit and veggie purees, and my food processor is reveling in attention after sitting untouched in a cabinet for 5 years...

To date I’ve made apples, plums, peaches, nectarines, apricots, pears, peas, green beans, broccoli, butternut squash, carrots and sweet potatoes. Also, cereal and bananas (but I don’t cook those!)…The other day I actually boiled a chicken breast and pureed it in the food processor – it was interesting and a bit gross. I think I may wait on other meat until Anna can handle bite size pieces.

Lucky for us, Anna is a great eater and will devour pretty much anything. She’s come a long way from her first experience with solid food – avocado. After her first bite, she gave me the most appalled, “what in the heck is that?!?” look I have ever seen. Avocado is the only food she won’t eat – I think that first bite is still engraved on her mind. I’m going to keep giving it to her, though. After all, what is a life without guacamole??

A Pool Full of Cereal

Fridays are my and Anna's mommy-daughter days. I am fortunate enough to have Fridays off and it is amazing how that one extra day adds up to some real bonding time for us.

I have been taking Anna to a "gym" class at Play 2 Grow - it's a very fun time for both. This week she "graduated" from the Growers class to the Explorers class. Although this graduation feat is based solely on age, it's fun to say that my 7-month-old has graduated...Last week she was the biggest kid in the class, this week she is the smallest - she looked like a tiny baby next to the hulking 13- and 14-month-old boys!

The classes begin with a routine of clapping our hands, patting our legs, and tapping our toes on the mat (there's a very catchy song which I won't include :). Anna always squeals in delight and watches her classmates intently during the clap, clap, clap, pat, pat, pat, tap, tap, tap. Then we move to bouncing on beach balls, playing on our tummies, swinging (see video) and visiting with our baby friends.

In our new class, we even practice standing by ourselves!! Anna has been making great progress towards crawling, and I think the "big kids" inspired her as they zoomed past - the kiddos who were walking were especially fascinating.

At the end of the Explorers class there is a session called Sensory Play (I know, sounds silly!). The babies get stripped down to their diapers and then get to play in a tub of some fun material. This week it was a sandbox full of Cheerios! Now, Anna has had a few Cheerios - she hasn't quite gotten the hang of eating them without gagging, but she was eager to join in the fun as she watched two 25 lb boys stuff their mouths by the handful. In the video below she's the little gal in the bottom left corner - you'll see she gets a shower of Cheerios and then decides she wants some of her own...

Tope, Tope, Tope!

I thought it would be good to give Miss Tope Louise Turner Bergstrom her blog moment in the sun...

As you know, she used to rule the Bergstrom roost until Miss Anna came along. While her world has been thrown upside down and inside out, she has been a super good sport since that fateful day in December. She did go through a period where she spent more time on her own thinking (sulking?), but over the last few months she has returned to her normal, cute kitty-self.

Is she best friends with Anna? Ummm, no. Does she taunt Anna by sitting just out of arm's reach? Ummm, yes. In fact, I think this is her new favorite past time. And her new favorite time of day is 7:31 p.m., when Anna goes down for the night and I emerge from her room. Tope runs excitedly up and down the stairs and rolls on the ground by my feet just begging to have her belly rubbed. Of course I comply.

I know in time that Tope will come to love Anna and want to be with her constantly. She'll probably even stop sleeping next to me to curl up with Anna (then I'll be the jealous one!). But for now, it's fun to watch her exercise her "power" to make Anna squeal and giggle and try in vain to pet the kitty (gently, of course). I think Tope secretly loves the attention!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame…

Baseball season is in full swing and Anna has been enjoying watching her first Red Sox games with her dad.

I grew up as a Yankees fan which is blasphemy in the Bergstrom household. Jason nearly had a heart attack when he found out that as a child, not only had I been to Yankee Stadium, but had worn a Yankees hat while cheering for the enemies. That is all in the past now…

Having been converted from “the dark side,” I now have a lifetime membership as a patron of Red Sox Nation. And, Anna is already on her way to being a member of the Fenway Faithful. Jason can’t wait to take his little monster to Fenway Park.

Let the Babbling Begin!

The Bergstroms are joining the blogging world - jump for joy! Anna demonstrates how in the accompanying video. I am excited to be a "blogger" - we Bergstroms have a lot to babble about these days (whether or not you will find it interesting remains to be seen)...