words to live by

My baby won't eat--Coxsackie isn't just a town upstate.

(photo from profvrr on flickr)

Today I decided to take the babe to the pediatrician as he suddenly wasn't eating the Smorgasbord of finger foods I had chopped, sliced and diced like an Iron Chef.

After only a few moments of examining him, the doctor asked if I had ever heard of Coxsackie Virus. I'd read the books and hadn't remembered seeing that anywhere. "Hand, food and mouth disease" he corrected.

Oh yeah, I'd read all about that. But S was only mildly fussy and had no fever or copious drooling. After looking at the back of his throat, it was diagnosed that he was on the mend and the 5-day bug was on the way out of his system.

Humph...here's hoping he'll be feeling much better. Wanted to post this in case your baby might not be eating for the same reason. Apparently it's really going around.

Perfect summer baby outfit: FOUND!

(image from carters.com)

I've mentioned before that I love Carters, but here I go again.

Last weekend I bought a couple of these rompers for my tiny little romper and I love them. They're lightweight, sleeveless, are easy to open (can you say SNAPS?!) and are super cute.

This my friends, is the PERFECT summer outfit for little boys. I am obsessed with them and you can check them out at the Carter's site right now during their HUGE sale!

Don't say I didn't warn you...

My baby won't eat!!! My solution: finger foods

Last Friday, I got a call from my son's day care. He only ate his cheese cubes and cheerios and wouldn't eat his breakfast OR his lunch. First of all, why did they wait to call me after he'd skipped TWO meals?

Moving on...

I called my amazing pediatrician who mentioned he'd probably like to feed himself and didn't want the mushy food I'd made the night before. Hmmmm...a new stage? Bring it on.

When he got home that night, I had cut up Kiwis, Muenster cheese, Bananas, turkey, roasted squash and had it ready to roll.

I added a dollop of Labne cheese on his tray (for the fun of eating with his hands) and it was a HUGE success. HUGE.

Of course it was really really REALLY messy, but quite successful. He ate dinner!

After his bath that night I felt like I had won a small battle and was ready for anything!

Online sales...better than in stores? But why?

(gratuitus shot I know, but he's wearing Carter's!)

Last weekend I was in Connecticut visiting my parents and I went to Old Navy and Carter's (two of my FAVORITE stores) to get a few baby summer essentials.

Old Navy always has great sales online and in stores so I peeked at some t-shirts and shorts for me. They were marked down to $7!!!

The exact same stuff is online for $19.50. Now I know that stores have to clear inventory differently than their web counterparts, but come ON. Couldn't they also have huge web clearances and the stores could send their merch to the site?

UPPA Baby vs. City Mini

(image from UPPA Baby site)

I couldn't help it. I was seduced by a stroller.

I was in one of those baby stores that piles their inventory from floor to ceiling and was totally overwhelmed. The City Mini seemed like the sensible choice: it was really light, the baby could sleep totally flat and with one hand, it folded in half. DONE!

Now almost 9.5 months later, I cannot stand it. The basket is teeny and very hard to access, the wheels always squeak (no matter how much WD-40 we use) and I haven't done that sexy one-handed fold since we bought it.

I had imagined myself jumping into a cab at a moment's notice or heading down to the subway with my City Mini in one hand, tiny child in the other....yeah, right.

So, a few weeks ago I went to that same giant baby store and checked out the strollers. A good friend of mine has the UPPA, so I headed there first.

After talking to a NEW sales associate, I was in love (again).

I could add a second seat, I could move the chair to face me OR to face out, the basket was HUGE and easily accessible from front or back, it came with a bassinet and it wasn't that heavy ( I have an elevator in my building anyway).

But with a $679.00 price tag, there was no way I could switch.

I tried to put it out of my mind until last week when one of the Yahoo groups I belong to had a listing for an UPPA.

For about an eighth the price, they were selling their stroller and threw in a Boogie Board, rain cover and travel bag.

Long story long, I left with an UPPA!!!!

The only catch was the small broken part in the basket. I called their customer support and the super chipper Susan, helped me and sent me my part FOR FREE overnight.

I couldn't be happier with my new stroller. Buying that City Mini was only one of many baby purchases I made that didn't work out (will post some more). I thought I knew what I should buy and was convinced I didn't need any of that "cheesy" baby stuff.

Did you ever buy anything for your baby that was a total disaster?

Baby cheesecake

My son loves cheese, LOVES it.

So for dessert the other night, I made him a little something sweet. Baby cheesecake!!!!!

I was watching Dr. Oz and he had mentioned that cottage cheese had a TON of sodium in it so I tried some ricotta from Trader Joe's.

(made this great cheesecake and forgot to take a picture, sorry!)

Baby Cheesecake

2 tablespoons ricotta cheese (I used full fat)

1 Graham cracker, crumbled

1 tablespoon rehydrated, no sulfur blueberries

Stir and smush the cheese and graham crackers. Chop the blueberries (side note: I will use fresh blueberries when they're in season, but now the only options are from Chile or Mexico and have a ton of pesticides. Dried, sulfur-free from Sahadi's is the best option. I just rehydrated them) and stir into cheese and cracker crumble.

Delish...

Did you try it? What did you think?