Ella is almost 8 months.
She has no teeth, weighs 17lb 9 oz, is still dairy intolerant, and is really fun to play with.
She is happy happy baby until she is really exhausted, then only mommy will do.
She has started crawling and pulling up, all in the same week. Both are aimed at getting her closer to her brother's toys, or a paper product, which she loves to chew on.
She is eating baby food along with nursing, and is quite fond of green beans, peas, carrots, applesauce, butternut squash and spinach. She, however is quite particular about when she is to be fed. Not first thing in the morning, because waking up is so much fun, she does not want to be contained in her chair, and not too late, because she gets to tired to be bothered with solid food.
She is still enamored with her brother and seems bored when he is not around to make her laugh.
She is such a "flippy" baby that diaper changes, floor or changing table, are near impossible b/c she does NOT want to be on her back.
Benjamin is still a wonderful little boy with strong emotions and lots of laughs. He must be growing b/c he eats everything in sight and takes really long naps (3+ hrs). He enjoys helping hold Ella's head while she is on changing table so she doesn't flip, and has begun to help up around the house. He can currently set the table with flatware, get us napkins, and put his plates and forks away from the dishwasher.
Dairy-Free....
When Ella was about 2 months old, we noticed blood in her stools. The doctor chalked it up to an anal fissure (based on other issues that were going on). But the blood continued. We were sent to Children's Mercy GI lab, where they ruled out a host of issues, and decided their best guess was "milk protein intolerance"...(not lactose intolerance, whole different thing). And many babies that are intolerant of milk protein are also intolerant of soy products.
(side note, my friend that works as a labor and delivery nurse says that if a baby is formula-fed and has this issue, they know within a day because formula is made from milk proteins. )
So, Ella is intolerant of the dairy products that I consume in my diet. So I have been "dairy-free" for 4 months now. I feel like I am much healthier, certainly skinnier, and more aware of what is in my food than I was 4 months ago.
What do I eat, you ask?
Almond milk instead of cow's milk
coconut oil instead of butter
no cheese, sour cream or cream cheese
I haven't used any soy substitutes b/c I was soy-free for 2 months and just found substitutes I was happy with before I started soy and learned that Ella was not intolerant of it.
Mary's Killer almost Dairy-free Chocolate Chip cookies
(there is a dairy free chocolate chip available, but since Ella tolerates a minuscule amount in my diet, I don't go the extra length to buy them)
3/4 C coconut oil, semi melted
1/2 c honey
3/4 c brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 t salt
1 t baking soda
1.5 c whole wheat flour
1.5 c white all-purpose flour
2 T ground flax
1 -2 c chocolate chips (to taste)
1/2 c pecans (optional)
Directions:
preheat oven to 350
cream coconut oil, honey and brown sugar
add eggs and vanilla and mix well
add 1 c whole wheat flour
then salt, baking soda, flax
mix well
add the remaining flour slowly until well mixed
add chocolate chips and nuts, mix.
cook on baking stone (if you have one, they just turn out fluffier on stone, but tasty either way) until done (I believe it is about 12-15 minutes, time changes as you use hot stone vs cold stone though)
If you are dairy free...eat as many as you want..b/c you can't eat what everyone else is eating 95% of the time. (at least that is my motto)
