Life with two and Montessori : by amy

Does anyone still write in this thing!?

Sheesh.  Slackers!  Seriously.  What.  Happened.  We went on an unannounced hiatus.  Sometimes, it happens.

One year later, where are we now?  Jean and I both have TWO kids now.  Meet Charlie (Amy's second) and Jordan (Jean's second):

Jean and I have been reading back on old entries to refresh our memories on baby food, feeding schedules and sleep regressions, so the blog fulfilled its purpose for us!  I don't know how frequently I can write in this thing going forward, but I felt like writing an update on the boys.  Maybe it'll become useful for us if we have a 3rd kid :P.

"Charlie-zilla" - back to infant/toddler life!
Our second son is now 18 months old.  He's down to 1 nap a day and sleeps "only" 10-10.5 hours at night-- he insists on waking up before 6:25am every day no matter what time he goes to bed.  Doctor says this is completely normal and he's just a natural early-riser (thanks to the husband's genes!)  Fortunately, no major sleep regressions just yet-- he had one or two with the naps at ~9 months.  Despite his dairy and random soy allergies, he eats quite well!  His favorite meals are typically bap and gook (rice with Korean soups), acini di pepe pasta in pureed veggie sauce, this salmon (though I take off most of the brown sugar), all types of chicken and marinated kalbi.  In his infant months, instead of buying only fresh fruits and veggies to puree, I used frozen organic produce from Trader Joe's.  What a time saver!  Anyway, Charlie had THE WORST eczema starting around 4 months.  It wasn't until 6 months that we realized it was a dairy allergy, so he was on super-expensive formula until about 14 months.  He is now drinking Flax Milk (with protein, unsweetened, vanilla flavored).  I found it to be the best in terms of maximizing calcium and protein with the added bonus of a ton of omega-3s, but it's only available at Wegmans and Wholefoods.  My mom accidentally gave him Greek yogurt last week, and...he didn't break out!  So I'm hopeful that he's perhaps slowly getting over the dairy allergy.  Behavior-wise, he's a bit of a terror, hence the nickname (unless he's at someone's house or we have company-- how courteous of him!).  He also makes us read "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" and "Oh My, Oh My, Oh Dinosaurs" about 30 times a day.  Each.  No lie.

Logan - the big brother.
My little Wolverine is now 3.5 years old.  He started going to a Montessori school when he turned 3, and I have to say that we (parents and child) love it!  I feel that there are some misconceptions about Montessori, and I can understand why.  It's a bit hard to understand the philosophy until you see it in action.  There are two types of Montessori: AMI and AMS.  Basically, AMI is the purest method and AMS, while it is still true Montessori, is a little more relaxed.  Logan has been to both, and I don't think the difference has been too noticeable.  Before enrolling the boys, I debated if this was the right decision.  Will they transition easily to public school?  Will they become anti-social because they work independently most of the time?  What if they're idle or choose to do the same work over and over?  After speaking to a lot of people about it, I realized that the people who encouraged me to do it were all professionals in education-- parents with masters and PhDs in education.  People who clearly knew more about the learning systems than I did.  I also realized that the people I know who did Montessori as a young child were actually pretty smart, very inquisitive, independent, "normal", social children/adults!  So it couldn't be that bad, right??  To address my original doubts:

Will they transition easily to public school?
Usually, yes.  But it also depends on the child's personality and when the child transitions.  If the child is in Montessori beyond Kindergarten, then there may be a more noticeable transition process, but it will be temporary (and again, depends on the child's personality and temperament).  But most Montessori schools start to transition the children to non-Montessori methods/settings in Kindergarten anyway since most children don't stay in a Montessori classroom beyond Kindergarten.  Kids will have to encounter change at some time in their lives!  Better they get used to adapting early on than later.

Will they become anti-social since they work independently most of the time?
Um, no.  Absolutely not.  Actually, Montessori encourages community (at least ours does!).  They encourage "grace and courtesy," so if anything, not only will they be social, but they will actually be polite and exercise grace and courtesy towards one another (though not all the time)!  Also, the older children often take the younger ones under their wings.  It's the most endearing thing to watch.  Children are encouraged to do work both independently and with others if they choose to.  It is typical to see 3-year olds commonly doing work independently and the 4/5-year olds doing work with each other (because they're more social at that age).  Also, there are circle times and group lessons/observations (at least more so in AMS schools), so they're used to group settings as well.

What if they're idle or choose to do the same work over and over?
I just asked Logan's teacher about this, and while Logan doesn't have this issue, she said that when it does happen to other children, they will allow the child to observe whatever he/she is observing (typically, it's another child's work) since they are still passively learning.  But at some point, they will encourage them to choose something to work on.  In my brief observations, I rarely saw a child doing nothing.
 
I originally considered Montessori because I wanted Logan to hone his concentration/focus skills since he's typically very high-energy.  So far, Logan has really flourished in the classroom, and I can now understand why they call Montessori "knowledge for life" because the skills they learn will be critical all the way through adulthood. I know Montessori is great for both boys and girls, but I feel like it's REALLY good for boys since they tend to have shorter attention spans and are slower in development.  But I also understand that Montessori is not for every child...and not a necessity by any means.  But I would highly recommend it if you're considering it for your child.

So far, I am really enjoying age 3-- they are not terrible for us at all...which means it will be terrible when Charlie turns 3 :P.  Logan's been saying all types of crazy things like... "I like it when the brown boy beat boxes!"  or "I didn't see my brown friend at my old school."  *UNEXPECTED TEACHING MOMENT!*  (no Montessori method for teaching race!)

picky : by jean

lately, miles has been VERY picky with what he eats and how it's fed to him.  i can be feeding him the same piece of fish using chopsticks, but then if i switch and use a spoon, he won't open his mouth.  i would tell him, "miles, its the SAME thing, look!" and proceed to show him how i'm transferring from chopsticks to a spoon or vice versa, but still, no opening of the mouth.

i mean, seriously?!  i can't deal!  AND sometimes he just doesn't feel like eating what i feed him, but if i give him something to play with to occupy him and feed him, he'll eat. WTH?!  overall, he's a pretty good eater but man, some days i really lose my patience!  giving him a spoon or teething toy to play with while feeding, or if nothing else works, turning on sesame street usually helps.

what are some ways you guys get your kids to eat?

purees to finger foods: by jean

miles has been eating solids for about 2 months now.  he's been eating really well; however, i've noticed that he is willing to open his mouth more when I'm giving him something from my fingers rather than from a spoon.  

does he think i'm giving him a puff and so he almost always opens his mouth?  sometimes i use the puffs to get him to open his mouth and then stuff his mouth with a spoonful of veggies.  he does get annoyed with me at times, but i always give him a puff after he takes a bite!

i usually give him a mix of puree fruits and veggies and now little pieces of chicken and pasta.  speaking of pasta, i found this great mini pasta at the supermarket!  rienzi's conchigliette. it's small enough for miles to be able to eat it whole (although i'm still a little nervous so I cut it in half).  he loves to practice picking it up and putting it in his mouth.  so does that mean he's ready to move on from purees?   he currently has two bottom teeth and his top teeth are about to come out.

at daycare, they say he eats really well with the spoon.  i don't give them any fingers foods yet for miles-- just yogurt, puree fruits and veggies, and rice cereal.  but at home, i guess because i give him a mix of finger foods and purees, he prefers finger foods.  he will almost ALWAYS open his mouth when i give him something from my fingers as oppose to a spoon.  

do i have to start letting him get messy and give him little chunks of food for him to feed himself?  i'm sort of already dreading all the clean up i will have to do afterwards!

pureeing! : by jean

ever since miles started eating solids around 6 months, i was inspired by amys' baby menu post to make my own baby food.  since miles only just started, it's nowhere as complex as amy's menu yet since i just have to mash up or puree different fruits and vegetables for him for now.

one of our avid readers, sk, recommended wholesome baby food to me a while back.  it's a great resource  to know which foods i can start introducing to him now and which i have to wait until a little later.

so far he's had:
rice cereal
bananas
avocados
pears
apples
peaches
carrots
peas
butternut squash

in the very beginning, i went through the traditional route and started him with rice cereal mixed with some breastmilk.  then, i started with bananas and avocados with and without rice cereal since they were easy enough to have around and mush when needed.  in the beginning, i always added a little bit of breastmilk so it wouldn't be too thick for miles.  once i started introducing him to pears and apples, i didn't need to add breastmilk since they were already very watery.  once i moved onto peaches, carrots, peas, and butternut squash, i had to either steam, boil, or roast and then puree.

i also look at ella's kitchen and earth's best websites to get ideas on what combos work well together.  for example, on ella's kitchen, they had a pouch for butternut squash+carrots+apples+prunes (who knew that would be a good combo!).  since those are all the foods miles already had, i made my own and mixed those ingredients together-- it tasted pretty good!  when in doubt, try it yourself.  if you think it's gross, your baby may think that as well. :)

on a side note, my doctor was a big advocate of going straight into fruits and veggies.  she said although rice cereal is a good way to start introducing babies to food, it's sort of "fluff" because it is not a complex carbohydrate and not as nutritious as it claims to be.  many moms like giving rice cereal because it's easy and iron fortified.  my doctor said that be a concern since babies are already getting enough iron from breastmilk or formula.

also, when i asked her about waiting 3-4 days to introduce new foods, she said if babies were going to have a reaction, it wouldn't take 3-4 days-- it would happen right away.  and the worst thing that can happen is for them to get some hives.  i had given miles peaches which he LOVED but a couple hours after he had them, he got a reaction around his face!  so now i'm going to wait a couple more weeks until i give him some again.

miles's reaction to peaches

so far, it's been a fun experience giving him different types of food and seeing his reaction.  i'm sure it'll be a little bit more work once he's ready to eat things from amy's baby menu, but until then, it's been fairly easy and i haven't used any jarred baby food yet!

what are some experiences you had when you first introduced real food to your baby??

the baby menu @ 11 months : by amy

So I will admit that before I became a mom, I would look at moms who only fed their kids organic foods with a judgmental eye.  I mean, we all grew up eating non-organic foods and turned out just fine, right?  The only organic foods that I consumed were organic milk and greens (lettuce, spinach, etc.).  Why?  Because organic non-fat milk tastes A LOT better, has a richer texture, and most importantly, has a longer shelf life than non-organic milk.  So, to me, that's totally worth paying the extra $2 for.  Similarly, I ate organic greens b/c I thought they tasted better.  Organic lettuce actually has a stronger and more delicious taste than non-organic lettuce.  Clearly, I was purchasing organic foods for all reasons other than the fact that they're pesticide/hormone-free...until I had a baby who started eating solids.

I started Logan on solids at around 6 months.  We did the whole rice cereal routine, leading to oatmeal, then mult-grain, introducing fruits and vegetables one at a time.  I wanted Logan to try new fruits and veggies every few days, but making my own baby food seemed daunting at the time since I was just getting comfortable with the idea of feeding him solid food.  I also didn't want to make a tray of peas and he would be stuck eating it for the entire week.  And when would I have time to make food anyway??  I hardly cook for myself anymore.  When looking at options, I found myself looking at the organic options.  They weren't that much more expensive than the non-organic options.  The ingredients label also had fewer ingredients which I liked.  Suddenly, I felt very conscientious about what I was about to give Logan.  Was I becoming one of those moms??  I swallowed my pride and said "the hell with it, I'm feeding my kid organic jarred food!"  If it was going to be jarred, it was going to be organic.   I gave him Earth's Best fruits and veggies since they offered a lot of variety and tasted pretty good.  I also tried Gerber's organic foods (which often also include DHA).  But my favorites were Ella's Kitchen varieties.  After Logan became well acquainted with various ingredients, Ella's was great because of their mixed varieties.  They would make combinations that I'd never think of!  Broccoli, Pears & Peas.  Sweet Potatoes, Pumpkins, Apples & Blueberries.  Carrots, Apples & Parsnips.  And, they tasted DELICIOUS.  If Logan ever had any leftovers (which was rare), the husband and I would be sucking the rest of that pouch empty!  I liked how they mixed fruits with vegetables so baby can get a serving of both in one meal.  The only downside was that they were pretty pricey-- on average, about 2 bones/pouch.

OK, so I gave into the organic thing.  But buying Ella's was starting to leave an unsavory taste on my credit card bill.  And looking at jarred chicken/turkey varieties kinda grossed me out.  If I wanted Logan to continue to broaden his palate, I needed to be in control.  My college roomie gave me this book as a baby shower gift:

First Meals by Annabel Karmel, $15 @ Barnes & Noble

The book had some good starter purees and ideas on how to mix different ingredients.  Using the book in addition to seeing what other varieties Ellas and Earth's Best were doing, I decided to copy and invent my own combinations.  Sunday nights are now dedicated to baby food-making.  As of today, Logan is nearly 11 months, so he's doing solids at breakfast, lunch and dinner, which means I make 3 different "meals" for the week.  I try to incorporate a fruit (which he has with his cereal in the morning), a veggie, and a complex starch/protein in his diet every day.  I get organic if it's available but I won't go crazy over it.  I typically steam most of his fruits/veggies, but occasionally will cook it on the pan with some boiling water (per the book).  Essential baby food-making tools are:

Food processor-- this is the one I have.  I like that it has 2 working bowls-- very useful when making multiple meals.

or

Hand immersion blender.  Great for the simple purees.

and

Food storage containers fit for freezing.  These are OXO 2 ounce containers.

I try to make something that the family can also eat and puree/food-process one serving for Logan.  When I do, I just don't season it the way I normally would-- I typically cut down on the salt or not use it at all if I don't need to.  Also, I used to food-process chicken breast, but Logan doesn't seem to like the texture anymore unless it's really pasty (like with "jook"-- Korean style porridge, but I don't have time to make jook!), so now I'm cooking chicken breast separately and shredding it up for him on the side as finger food.  Here is what Logan is eating this week!

Papperdalle Pasta in Tomato Sauce with Broccoli, Mushroom and Onions

Papperdalle is my favorite pasta, but it's also an egg-based pasta so only use it if you know your baby isn't allergic to eggs.  You can use any pasta since it's going in the food processor.  Logan was a little constipated this past week so I wanted to include a little extra fiber, hence the broccoli.  I steamed the broccoli first a bit before cooking it down with the rest of the veggies.  I also cut the steamed broccoli into smaller pieces so it would process more evenly w/the others.  BTW, I only used half a container of mushrooms and roughly chopped them.  This was truly a one-pot meal since mom, dad and baby all ate it tonight! 

Sweet Potatoes with Spinach and Cheese

Sweet potatoes are packed with vitamin A and beta-carotene (good for the eyes!).  Their sweet flavor is liked by most babies and goes well with pretty much any other veggie.  Spinach is like a super-veggie-- iron (very important for babies), vitamins C, K, A to name a few.  I used one whole bin of organic baby spinach and 2 medium sized sweet potatoes.  While everything is hot, I toss into the food processor and add 2 ripped up slices of cheddar cheese.  Let it melt and get incorporated while processing and you just added some calcium and protein to the meal!

Peach and Cantaloupe Puree

I was actually planning on making a peach/blueberry puree since that's what I got at the farmer's market, but today I got a cantaloupe that was so juicy and ripe-- I made a last-minute change.  I usually steam or cook the fruit a bit first to help soften the texture a bit (also, the book only designates meals "freezer friendly" if they are cooked first-- I guess it helps kill bacteria and preserve?).  The last photo shows all of my meals in their little containers before I stick them in the freezer.  I like to keep his menu pretty colorful :)

So yes, I now purchase a few more organic items...I guess I'm sort of one of those moms for now. :-)  But my husband and I still eat whatever!

What are some of your favorite baby food recipes?