Your turn!

So having dispensed my new advice on colds and noses (I know, scintillating!I can hear the sound of my blog being sucked down the drain right now but, well, life is not so fascinating right now, and the bits that are, I can't always blog, so.), I turn to you for a return... Here's my question:

I thought I might like to try making some baby food this time around. I know there are lots of people who are adamant about making all their own but frankly, I don't know where they find the time. Still, I wanted to try it, so I bought a bag of carrots and steamed them and tried to puree them in this tiny little food processor type gadget that someone gave us. No go. Blender? Nuh-uh. So I had to throw them out in the end. I hate throwing away foodstuffs.

So my question to you is - have you done this, made baby food? I'm sure my lovely neighbourhood food writer has, haven't you kgirl? So what do you use to puree the food? Will a stick blender work, or do I have to try to find a food mill? And are they stupidly expensive for something you will only use for a few months? Any advice here?

After the Storm

And I was going to write a post about my super extra misrable cold that the Bun and I have called whiny Wednesday, but then suddenly it was Thursday and I hadn't found time to put fingers to keyboard, but I was going to write it anyway, and now it's Friday (how did that happen?) and our cold is getting better, or at least tolerable enough that I don't need to bore you all with the whining, but let me tell you about something I discovered out of sheer desperadoes...

You know when your nose is raw and fuchsia, and even decent kleenex feels like low-grit sandpaper? I couldn't bear th thought of blowing it one more time, I really couldn't, but nor did I want to drip where I may, so I started thinking about soft fabrics, and remembered a box of silk scarves I never war anymore. I found a few I was likely not to miss if they never came back from kleenex duty, and seconded them as hankies. The two reasons I don't usually use hankies are that I find the cotton too rough and that my nose is too damn prolific to keep toting around a dozen hankies. Turns out silk is lovely and soft, and also quick-drying. Perfect. Helped my nose a bunch.

The second thing is this: Once the damage is done and your skin needs healing from the constant rubbing, what do you put on it? My parents' answer of vaseline never really worked that well, more heavy-duty lip balms like carmex tend to make my nose run more from the medicinal ingredients, and creams make the sore skin burn with the fire of a thousand suns. But I found the answer! Polysporin ointment. Healing. No sting. Lightweight. Protective. At the height of this mess, overnight, my nose was down to merely feeling stiff and a little tender, from being on fire. Now that my tap of a nose has turned down to a slow drip, the red is almost non-existent. It's miraculous, so I thought I'd share my discovery with you.You're welcome.

Wordless Wednesday II: To Chicky, With Love

Hey lady...

you call those cheeks?

Wordless Wednesday: Sweet Potato Pie

Funny Bun-ny

My Bun, it seems, has a little bit of a ham inside - a ham sandwich, you could say. This past month, he has really been growing not only longer and heavier (OMG so heavy), but also funnier. Seriously, the little dude has a sense of humour, and is already starting to play for the laughs.

One day recently, he stuck his tongue way out, and I laughed, tapping it with a fingertip, and asked him what that was about. It was kind of funny, like a baby Gene Simmons. So he did it again. And yah, I laughed again. So he would not stop sticking it way out there for two whole days. It's a Canadian winter, kid! Not worth it for the giggles! At least he didn't lick his stroller with that thing.

He is ticklish now, too, and loves getting tickled or snuggled or zerberted, busting out the most awesome of baby giggles. A silly face? Giggles. A silly voice? Peals of delighted laughter. Peek-a-boo? Squeals and chuckles.

A week or so ago, he saw Pumpkinpie enter the room and lit up as he always does in her presence. She ;laughed at something, and The Bun, positively transported by this, began to laugh along with her, causing her to laugh harder, setting him off into gales of laughter. The two of them were at it for a good couple of minutes. I thought that someone was going to have to write my last blog post for me after I died of the cuteness in some sort of cardiac explosion. (Of course, Pumpkinpie being a goofball of high order in her own right, now tries to jolly The Bun out of any kind of unhappiness by busting out the most stupid-sounding fake laugh you've ever heard - it's kind of painful, but she's working so hard on becoming a great big sister, I can't complain.)

Heck, the baby laughter is so addictive, such crack for a mom, this mom, that he's got even me playing to his laughter now, because when he is on, he is so on. So today? My face hurts and I may have re-blog-name him Chuckles. God, it's a good thing I had the tubal while they were in there, because this kid is making my ovaries ache with longing, and he came from there not long ago.

Monday Meanderings

Perhaps it's just because I'm tired today, but I keep having those little WTF? moments.

In the coffee shop this morning, a woman wearing shiny leather pants tucked in to her rainboots, with a red windbreaker. She looked like she just couldn't decide who she wanted to be today, and the effect was very odd, especially with the pouch-like purse sticking out the bottom of the jacket.

At the doctor's office, a family had one child seated happily in a stroller while they gathered around another child screaming bloody murder. It seemed like they were trying to get his coat on, but he was screaming and trying to hit them, lashing out in all directions. Well, we've all seen tantrums, but this one shocked me because at least one family member was laughing. Like, oh, the little dickens. Really? Really? Because for me, frankly, I don't care how deep in tantrum territory you and your little brain are, hitting is never acceptable. How is that kid going to learn to control that if it's funny? I had to go down the hall where I couldn't watch, honestly, because I was pretty sure they would see on my face that I was appalled, and as much as I was, in fact, I don't think they need to see that sort of judgment in my too-revealing expression. My face is a terrible liar.

And the number of people who have stepped directly in the path of my stroller today is just bizarre. Has the brutally cold weather frozen their brains, or just made them wish for a quick death? At one point on the way home, there were four people arrayed across the wide, pedestrian-friendly sidewalks of our nearest major street, all going at the pace of a very small turtle. It took more than half an block before one of them moved over enough that I could pass them and hurry home and out of the cold. What were these people doing strolling about like that in the middle of a very frozen afternoon?

I am, it would seem, pretty cranky, despite a weekend that saw some progress on the Bun's room (I want to move him in next weekend! More on that another post...), a nice easy morning and dropoff, and a doctor's visit that showed the Bun's height and weight to be getting closer together, though he is still one large infant. (more on that to come, too - I keep meaning to find the time to tell you a bit about the Bun, as it's been a while. Soon.) It must be that I went to bed far too late last night after finishing up a little project, and still wish I had more time. I have so many things I want to do, and so little hands-free time... Still, this kid is so freaking adorable, I can't begrudge him my arms when he fills them with snuggles and toothless grins. Perhaps a little less drool, though, little buddy?