Fulenn's MS page New: before/after pics on page 15

[fulenn]

Life gets stranger and stranger the older I get. We are adopting a 10 month old baby! He is beautiful and I am learning how to feed him. Obviously he is not being breastfed, but he is supplementing his formula with rice cereal and whatever fruits or veggies are on hand. Last night I made shepherds pie for the family, so I put some into the blender, pureed it, and put it over the little ones rice cereal. It was already seasoned, but I did not use much salt at all.

He went nuts for a freshly chopped nectarine a few days ago, so I do not think getting him to eat is going to be a problem.

I am halfway through my current class and then will be three classes from graduating. Looking forward to being finished!

Eating this way has been a huge help--I do not think I could have done graduate school, family, AND work at the same time otherwise.

There is a group around here called Hike It Baby. I took the baby on a hike with them last week--it was really fun! The group lets people with babies and toddlers get out and hike with the child in a setting where you can have a baby emergency and no one cares, or the child can have a tantrum and no problem. We went fairly slowly, but that is about right for me. I bought a really amazing baby backpack--it is a Deuter. When my oldest child was a baby 21 years ago, we had a backpack for her--it was this horrible aluminum-framed thing with a seat slung between the upright pieces that just sat up there on my back. It was awful! This new one has a sunshade and room for a camelback! It is comfy for baby AND for me. I love it!

Have a great day! I am off to fix some butternut squash today--he loves it!

Fulenn

[Yomom]

Congratulations!

[fulenn]

Congratulations!

Thank you! Naturally, he is the sweetest and the best, as every baby should be.

My trip to the store for a butternut squash turned into an I-think-he-will-eat-this-and-that-etc trip; I bought butternut squash, acorn squash, carrots, onions, mushrooms, turnips, yellow potatoes, and garlic. We are eating stew tonight with fresh bread! I added a bit of black pepper, but no salt--I read Dr. McDougalls' advice for parents of young children and saw that I need to hold off on salt and sugar when preparing his foods. I am fairly good about that anyway, but need to do it regularly now. I also picked up a couple of mangos and bananas, both of which he is loving when I mash them and pour over his cereal.

Wish me luck!

Fulenn

[Riva]

SO happy for you. Wonderful News. And as I tell my daughters (grown and having kids) any feeling you have when you bring that baby home is ok. They can range from this is the happiest time of my life to I ruined my life! These feelings only last awhile and then change.

Enjoy, Mazel Tov and nap when he does!

[Debbie]

Congrats on a new baby!! How awesome!!

[nicoles]

Wow, Fulenn! Congratulations! I am so happy for you!!

[viv]

Congratulations on your precious baby boy! He is so lucky to have you as his mom, you are giving him the very best chance of living a long, healthy, happy life.

Viv

[jamietwo]

Congratulations on the new baby! And on being so close to graduating! Wow!

[fulenn]

After all that shopping and cooking, the little one did not like the stew. Hmph. Oh well, I liked it. Maybe too complex for him since I mostly am giving him one or two foods at a time.

Currently loving white sweet potatoes--they seem even sweeter than the orange ones, though I haven't been eating sweet potatoes much recently and it seems that everything just keeps getting sweeter and sweeter. Has anyone else noticed that?

Fulenn

[fulenn]

Things got a bit busy around here last week and don't look to be changing anytime soon. I opened my refrigerator to get something together for the next days lunch and did not find much. Here is a picture of what I took for lunch twice last week:



What you are seeing is brown rice, pickles, white sweet potato slices, red beets, 1 crushed walnut, and nutritional yeast. It looks and sounds kind of iffy, but it was really good.

Fulenn

[fulenn]

In the kitchen making broccoli risotto for my youngest child. Starting to smell really good!

Fulenn

[fulenn]

I am happy to report that the baby LOVES warm oatmeal with a drizzle of maple syrup. So do I! He really likes it when we both eat our oatmeal together in the morning. I do too!

My youngest daughter made potato pierogies for dinner one night this week. So good! The dough was made with whole wheat flour instead of white bleached flour, she left the oil out and mixed it as the recipe said otherwise. The filling was potatoes, onions, salt and pepper. I need to figure out a way to make these quickly as I now want to make them at least a couple of times a month.

I had a colleague talk with me about the little ones animal-free diet. She said she was raised on a restricted diet and that it took her years to develop her palate for other foods and maybe we should think about that. (This was not a hostile conversation.) I never really did think about this when we decided to eat better, but I have always maintained that we don't usually have to develop our palates for things that are good for us. For example, and I think I used this one earlier in my journal, I have had times when I have gone years without tasting a mango, but when I ate it again I liked it as much as I did the first time. Why should I have to develop a palate for something that I shouldn't be eating anyway? Share your thoughts with me about this if you like, it is a new angle. It won't change what I am thinking, I suppose, but it is interesting. If I remember correctly, the McDougalls did not forbid their children from trying other foods when they were out at friends homes, etc., but they always had healthy food available for them. I think that is probably what I will do with this little one. I also suspect that he will be used to eating well and will be disappointed in the foods that are not on the McDougall plan once he has grown up eating them.

Fulenn

[f1jim]

Potato pierogies sound like heaven to me. I've been doing my best to leave you alone but I guess I just have to stick my nose in here every once in a while. Sounds like your growing family is doing well.
Belated best wishes on the new addition and keep it going!
f1jim

[fulenn]

Potato pierogies sound like heaven to me. I've been doing my best to leave you alone but I guess I just have to stick my nose in here every once in a while. Sounds like your growing family is doing well.
Belated best wishes on the new addition and keep it going!
f1jim

Thanks, Jim! Why are you trying to leave me alone? You can post in here whenever you want to--good to hear from you.

I was supposed to be finishing grad school in a few weeks, but with the baby and an injury I had this fall, I got behind on my classes. That said, I have one class and my final project before I will graduate. Can't wait to be finished!

Lunch today is a salad and an apple--we are having friends and family over this evening so I am saving for some richer food tonight. It's Groundhog Day!!!! When we bought our house years ago, we closed and got our keys on Groundhog Day. Now we have a special evening every year on Groundhog Day, watch the movie by the same name, and eat foods that are featured in the movie. This year it will be burgers (I am loving the millet cakes from FOK), flapjacks, non-dairy rocky road ice cream, and veggies with homemade cheeze sauce. Oh yes, and a sweet Vermouth with a twist on the rocks, if anyone wants one (from the bar scene). It will be a little crazy and quite fun.

Fulenn

[sksamboots]

Fufu, are you still here!!??