baby food
adam is SIX months old now! we started rowan and sawyer on solids (well, pureed solids) at a very early age (3 1/2 months). if it were up to kenny, adam would already have had a steak, medium rare. i put my foot down and we started him on cereal a few weeks ago. just like his older brothers, he liked it from the second spoonful.

i tried to make his rice and oatmeal cereal at first, but it turned out gloppy. and gloopy. not at all appetizing looking, so why would i feed it to my boy? so we are using oatmeal and rice cereal from a box, fortified and everything (please, if you have any advice at all on making baby rice, barley, or oatmeal...send it on over!).

adam is a big fan of the following fruits and veggies: raw banana and avocado (just mash it up - add a little water and whirl in the food processor if you want it really watery at first taste) and baked sweet potato and baked pear. it's the easiest thing in the world to make baby food - you don't have to make it everytime you sit down to feed your baby!

throw a sweet potato, or a pear in the oven (350 degrees) until they're fork-tender. peel and whirl in a food processor with a little water until smooth. then scoop the pureed goodness into an ice cube tray. freeze and pop them out into a ziplog bag and store in the freezer.

to reheat, simply put a cube (or two) in a bowl and let thaw for an hour before serving. we dont' have a microwave, but i'm sure that will defrost just as easily (as always, be careful when microwaving baby food - mix throoughly and check the temperature before serving it to to your baby!)

this week, we'll be starting on apples and carrots. soon enough, he'll be eating thai and indian with the rest of us!


playdough
this is the best recipe for homemade playdough i've come across. it's very simple to make and firms up quickly while cooking over medium heat. it also cools down quickly (rowan and sawyer loved kneading it while it was still warm!):

1 cup plain (all-purpose) flour
½ cup salt
2 tablespoons cream of tartar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup water with food coloring added
1 teaspoon vanilla essence (optional but it makes the playdough smell nice!)

Put all the ingredients into a large saucepan, and stir over a medium heat until the dough forms into a ball. Allow to cool, and then knead until smooth. Store in an airtight container (a Ziploc bag with the air pressed out is good).

the only negatives about this recipe is:
- it crumbles a bit more easily than the wet homemade stuff (but you don't have to wash their hands immediately after they play with it!).
- it doesn't work all that well with the name-brand play-doh equipment, like the farm animals (but it cuts well with the play-doh scissors!)