Sleep Tight, Eat Right

Little does soundly napping in his familiar crib Carter know that tonight will be his first sleep…or lack there-of…in a big boy bed.

My husband and I are both excited and tortured at the thought.  We’re excited to move on to the next milestone and the ability to cuddle up in his bed to read him that last story of the day…which was challenging but attempted by his 12 yr. old brother one time in his crib.  I’m tortured at the anticipation of startling floor thumps in the night courtesy of falls out of bed, and sleepless nights due to his realization of freedom…no bars! 

We’ve been talking to him about it lately and reading him stories with simple plots of his favourite characters taking the big plunge from crib to big boy bed.  He came to the mattress shop with us today to pick out the bed…he happily sat on it, laid down on it, and attempted to jump up and down on it.  Given all of this positive feedback you’d think the transition would be seamless.  But I have to remember that 2yr. olds are like fickle adults without a conscience…I have a hunch that liking big boy beds in stores vs. real life are not exempt from this fact.

I’ve done a bit of research to get some advice on the subject and Baby Center has some good info. along with Tot Sites.

I’ll let you know how it all goes, although it may have to be translated from incoherent sleep deprived words into English.  We’ll see.  Here we go…

Let’s get my mind off this and back to the business of homemade baby food.  Here is a tried and true carrot and rutabaga puree that I made for Carter as a young baby and still make for him and the rest of the family now.  Just like I’ve said before, babies are simply mini toothless humans so don’t be afraid to make real food for real babies.  You can bet that babies will enjoy the taste of the same foods that healthy adults like.

A rutabaga is kind of like a cross between a savoy cabbage and a turnip.  Choose a firm and heavy rutabaga with no spots and one that’s not too big.  They are an excellent source of potassium and a good source of vitamin C.  As for carrots…I think we all have a handle on the benefits of these babies.

Ready…Set…Evolve…

Coddle Me Carrot & Rutabaga Puree

Age – 6 months +

Ingredients

·         6 carrots (about 2 cups chopped)

·         ½ of a rutabaga (about 1 ½ cups chopped)

·         1 tbsp. of butter

Baby Steps

·         Peel and chop carrots and set aside

·         Peel and chop rutabaga and set aside

·         Add chopped carrots and rutabaga to a steamer set over boiling water, cover and cook for approximately 23 minutes or until veggies are very tender.

·         Remove from heat and transfer veggies to a food processor, blender or bowl to use a hand blender to puree.

·         Add the butter and some of the cooking water to the veggies 1 tbsp. at a time and puree to desired consistency.  The thinner the consistency desired the more water you will want to add.

·         Let cool for a few minutes then transfer to freezing trays to be used within 3 months, or to a food storage container in the fridge to be used within 48 hours.

Makes approx. 12 servings (1 serving = 2 tbsp.)

So whether your baby is in a crib or big boy or girl bed at the moment, may they…and you…sleep tight and eat right.