8 months

The days are flying by!  I can't believe that Caleb is already 8 months old. 

It's been quite the eventful month.  After he turned 7 moths, we went to see David's parents for the weekend.  He did great in the car and had fun with Grammy and Granddaddy. 

He also really enjoyed seeing Nana!  It had been a long time.

The next weekend, my parents came here for Kate's dance recital and baby dedication at church. 

Caleb got to sit in a high chair for the first time AND taste lemon. 

Not sure he liked it.  We are so thankful for the time we get to spend with family and so thankful for a church family who promises to pray for us and support us in teaching our children about God. 

Weight: according to David's measurement, Caleb now weighs 18 pounds, which is about 32%ile

Food: He's still not the biggest fan of solids.  He has gotten much better about not spitting the food out but he just holds his tongue out until he HAS to swallow.  He does have a lot of fun playing with the spoon; in fact, he always grabs the first spoon and refuses to let it go, so I have to have two spoons. 

He really likes holding foods and putting them into his own mouth.  I have a feeling we are going to be a forced baby led weaning kind of family.  Ha!  Other than that, he is still only eating breastmilk.

Clothes: He wears 6-9 month clothes but actually wore a 12 month outfit last week.  He is sleeping in onesies right now instead of footies.  I really miss those footies but think a baby in a onesie is super cute.  Plus, it just means I can see his chubby little legs.

Sleep: Sleep is the story of the month.  During the weekend we were at David's parents' house, he didn't sleep well at all.  We thought it was due to teething and he actually got better soon after we got home.  Right before mother's day, he slept through the night THREE nights in a row. 

WOW!  However, shortly after that, he started waking up again...a lot.  At first I thought it was because he was getting hungry.  He dropped a feed during the daytime AND was sleeping through the night.  So, I started feeding him again.  However, he kept waking up at other times as well.  So, we decided to give him Motrin, thinking it was due to teething. 

A few nights it got better.  Then, last weekend, he started waking up 2-3 times a night.  He was holding his ears a LOT and got crusty eyes again.  We looked in his ears and decided he had another ear infection...so, round 2 of antibiotics it is. 

Tuesday night he only got up once and last night actually slept through the night!  Now if we can get him to sleep later more consistently.  This waking up at 5am isn't working.  On the plus side, he is starting to be more predictable with a morning and afternoon nap!

School: He moved up to the Duck class this week at school.  I was surprised and a bit sad, but I think he'll do great.

Development: He is now doing really well at sitting up. 

He can put his own pacie back in his mouth.  He is starting to show signs of crawling - he WANTS to move and will lean forward and pull.  He hasn't moved that way yet but it's coming soon.  He seems to enjoy swinging and loves to be outside.

 He has four teeth....two on the bottom and the two side teeth on the top.  He still says "dada," "a-dah," "ngngngng" and has said things that sound like "hey" and "yeah."  He will wave his hand but not quite reproducibly yet.

 He LOVES to be ticked and have zerberts blown on his tummy. He also LOVES peek-a-boo.  He just laughs and laughs when someone plays this with him.  He has also discovered the remove control.  If he sees it, he wants it.  And when you take it away, he fusses. 

His toy phone does not compare to the remote.  The other thing he has recently started doing is pitching fits.  This is mostly when he is tired, but if something doesn't happen like he wants he starts screaming and clenches his hands in a tight little fist, getting quite red in the face. 

It is REALLY funny!  He also got to sit up int he grocery cart and his stroller the other day.  He has discovered a whole new world!

It is such a joy to watch this sweet baby grow and learn.  We pray that he and his sister learn to love Jesus most of all.  They are our sweet blessings from God.  I pray that we are wise in the choices we make for them and that they love God and want to please HIM above all else.

Lamingtons - May Daring Baker

For the May challenge Marcellina from Marcellina in Cucina dared us to make Lamingtons. An Australian delicacy that is as tasty as it is elegant.  I was immediately excited about this recipe, because it is already gluten free.  I'm all for any conversion-free challenges!!!  However, I let this one sneak up on me.  In fact, I had almost decided that I wouldn't participate until Kate decided that we should make David a "chocolate cake" this weekend.  My only "problem" was what to dip the lamingtons in.  You see, David doesn't like coconut; so, that wasn't going to work for the coating.  I settled on a few options: rice krispies, crushed chex, almonds, and cookie decorations (for Kate!).

 Kate did a great job of cracking eggs and even had fun guessing and then seeing what color eggs turn when you beat them.  She also thought it was fun to dip the cakes.

 I ended up not dipping them all completely.  The cakes were falling apart when they had that much chocolate icing on them.  I think David has enjoyed them...he had one two nights in a row.  :-)

Traditional Lamingtons
Ingredients:
5 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup (240 ml) (225 gm) (8 oz) castor (superfine) sugar
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups (300 ml) (200 gm) (7 oz) cornflour (cornstarch)
1 ½ teaspoons (8 gm) baking powder

1. Preheat oven to moderate 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.
2. Prepare a 4 ½ cm (1¾ inch) deep, 23cm x 33cm (9”x 13”) baking pan by lining with non-stick paper.
3. In a stand mixer bowl place eggs, sugar and salt. Using the whisk attachment, beat on high for 15 minutes. 

 While the eggs and sugar are beating sift the cornflour and baking powder at least 3 times.  Sift flour mixture over the egg mixture. I like to use a whisk but you can also use a large metal spoon to lightly fold the flour in.

Spread mixture into your prepared pan and smooth out evenly.  Bake in preheated moderate oven for 22-25 minutes. The sponge will rise quite a lot but then settle back down. Don’t be tempted to open the oven to peak. I also warn the family to walk gently past the oven! When baked the sponge will have shrunk very slightly from the sides and should feel springy when pressed gently.  Turn the sponge out immediately onto a wire rack to cool and reverse sponge so as not to mark the top. Allow to cool. It is best to keep the cake for a day before making the Lamingtons as the cake will be easier to handle.

Chocolate icing
Ingredients:
3 ¼ cups (780 ml) (400 gm) (14 oz) icing (powdered) sugar
1/3 cup (80 ml) (40 gm) (1-1/3 oz) cocoa powder
1 tablespoon (15 gm) (15 gm) (½ oz) butter, melted
½ to ¾ cup (120 ml to 180 ml) milk

Sift the icing sugar and cocoa into a heatproof bowl. Stir in the butter and ½ cup milk. Set the bowl over a pan of hot water. Stir until icing is smooth adding more milk to thin the icing if needed. I find I need more than ½ cup but not quite ¾ cup of milk.

To assemble the Lamingtons:
Cut the sponge cake into 24 rectangular pieces – 6 across and 4 down. To be particular you can trim the crusts.  Dip each piece in the chocolate and then dip in your chosen topping.  Place back on wire rack and allow to harden for 2 hours.

7 months

This past month FLEW by!  I cannot believe that I'm already doing another month post.  This past Monday, Caleb turned 7 months old.  And let me just say that it has been a busy, tough and eventful month.  At his six month visit, Caleb was diagnosed with an ear infection.  We did antibiotics for 10 days and he did great with them once we discovered the bottle dispenser.  His eyes cleared up but he never fully got over his cough...but it was getting better.  Then, a week before he turned 7 months he woke up with a gunky and pink eye! (Look closely and you can see it here).

 Poor, poor baby.  We started him on eye drops and he was a happy baby.  The next day, I went to put drops in his eye at school and he was so happy to see me...but when I went back two hours later to pick him up, he was crying in his sleep and so fussy.  Poor baby had his first official fever - 102!  He never had another fever but got to go with me to work the next day.  The day after that he started gnawing like crazy on teething rings as well as tri-podding like an expert!

 By the weekend, he was sitting pretty well and had a little tooth trying to poke through.  What an eventful week leading up to 7 months!(tooth on his bottom right gum)

Food - he is still not a big fan of solids.  He pretty much immediately spits them out!...though he does like gnawing on his spoon!

 He likes the taste of bananas and mango for sure.  I think he likes strawberries, sweet potato and yogurt but won't eat them.  He doesn't like applesauce or avacado - yet! 

That said, he only eats breastmilk still.  He eats 6-7 times a day and is still eating (at least) once overnight.  And they have apparently taught him to hold his bottle!  Big Boy!

Sleep - Well, lets just say that this has been a very tiring month!  He used to sleep well, only waking up once a night, then we moved him to his own room and he got a cold.  Since that time, he's been waking up at least twice.  We tried waking him up right before we went to bed to feed him in hopes that would hold him off...not so much! 

We tried not feeding him when he woke up...he just woke up again an hour later AND much earlier.  He was waking up around 445-5 if we did this.  Not working!  The past week he has been going to sleep after eating around 730-8....and only waking up once around 1-2.  Well, except last night when he woke up 3-4 times.  Hoping that's due to the tooth coming in.

Clothes - the 6 month clothes are getting small.  It just makes me sad.  The 9 month footies are definitely the better fit.

Weight - 17.5 pounds.  Y'all, this is an unofficial weight but close enough.  That's 35%ile!  My tiny baby is growing.

Personality - Caleb is SUCH a happy baby.  All the teachers at school come in to see him smile.  We had his 6 month pictures last weekend and the photographer made the comment that it was going to be hard to get a picture of him NOT smiling.  :-)

 So thankful and blessed!  He has started to say "da da da" a lot.  In fact, he tells me his favorite person is "da da!"  He has really started to enjoy mirrors.  When you put him in front of the mirror, he immediately grins, squeals and reaches out for his image.  He loves his sissie and laughs and smiles for her.  He has also started this really cute "fussing" when he's tired.

Firsts:  At the beginning of the month, we took Caleb swimming for the first time.  He didn't squeal a lot, but he definitely seemed to enjoy it!

  He fussed when we got out.  It was also his first Easter.  We went to several egg hunts, though I'm not sure Caleb really knew what was going on.

He started sitting up some, though he's not very stable yet.

Funny thing....he absolutely ADORES Kate's cheer bear.  One night, he was fussy and I was trying to get her to bed before feeding him, so we went to her room to wait for her to finish doing teeth.  I grabbed Cheer Bear and put her in front of him; he immediately lit up, squealed and reached out for her.  I'm not sure what it is but he loves that bear!

One of my favorite times of the day is picking him up from school.  I walk in the room and he just starts smiling, laughing, squealing and kicking. 

He definitely knows his mama.  It just does my heart good to have this little boy love and need me.  And I love and need him, too!

April Daring Bakers - Focaccia

Whenever the first of the month comes, I get so excited to see what the Daring Baker challenge will be.  However, I also wonder if it will be something that I can make gluten free.  The yeast breads are really difficult to convert, at least in my opinion.  So, when I first saw this past month's challenge, I didn't think it would be great to convert.  However, one of the options was unyeasted. For the month of April Rachael of pizzarossa and Sawsan of Chef in Disguise took us on a trip to Italy. They challenged us to try our hands at making focaccia from scratch. 

So, this past Saturday, Kate and I had a baking project.  She helped measure the flour and stir...then left the rest to me.  I was happy to have extra dough and actually ended up needing it! I thought I could use parchment paper to roll the dough on;however, it just stuck.  So I had to throw that portion away and use my "extra" to roll out the top dough.  I decided to make Focaccia di Recco.  As I was making it, Kate came up and said "Oooo, pizza!" 

It was close but not quite.  I think David was excited to have a different bread.  He seemed to enjoy it.  I did end up adding some extra liquid as gluten free flour soaks up liquids more than regular wheat flour.  Also, I added sea salt and rosemary to the top of the focaccia to add a little flavor.  It really needs more than a "pinch" of salt for the dough.  All in all, this was a good focaccia.  I would have loved to do one of the yeasted versions, and still may try, but this was a good, quick option that easily translated to gluten free.

Recipe 4: Focaccia di Recco

Servings: 16 pieces
Preparation time: 90 minutes (including resting)
Baking time: 6 minutes
 
Notes:
If you can’t get Stracchino (Crescenza), you can use another young, melty cheese – I have used fresh mozzarella with good results.
This recipe will make more dough than you need if you roll it as thinly as is traditionally done, but you can freeze the excess, well wrapped in a ziploc bag, for several months.
 
Ingredients
3¾ cups (900 ml) (17-2/3 oz) (500 gm) AP gluten free flour mix
pinch course sea salt, plus extra for topping
45ml (3 tablespoons) extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for oiling and topping
1¼ cups (300 ml) water
500 gm (17-2/3 oz) mozzarella cheese
Directions:
 
In a large bowl, whisk together flour and salt and form a well in the middle. Add cold water and 3 tablespoons (45 ml) of olive oil. Start mixing the dough with a fork, incorporating the flour little by little.

Once the dough has come together, start kneading it with your hands. Knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes, until smooth. When the dough is ready, wrap it well with plastic wrap, being sure to expel all the air so your dough doesn’t dry out, and let it rest for an hour at room temperature.

Preheat oven to very hot 480°F/250°C/gas mark 9.
Divide the dough into two equal parts and roll each piece out on a floured surface with a floured rolling pin, trying to keep them as round and as thin as possible. I rolled these ones a little thick, because we find it easier to handle when it’s more sturdy, but traditionally it should be almost transparent.

Grease a medium sized round pizza tray (not the type with holes in it, or you will have a very messy oven) or baking dish with olive oil. Place one layer of dough on the bottom of the dish. Add the cheese in pieces using your hands.  Cover the cheese with the second sheet of dough. Use a knife or a pair of kitchen shears to remove any excess dough from around the edges of the pan. Bake in the centre of a preheated very hot oven for 6 - 8 minutes, until golden. When the focaccia is done, remove it from the oven and let cool enough to be handled.

June Reunion

I did cook more things in June, but I'm not sure of the recipes!  That's what happens when you get almost a year behind in blogging.  Oh, well!  At the end of June, we went to TX for my family reunion. 

It is a lot of fun and is getting more fun because all of my cousins have kids who are about the same age, so everyone has fun playing together.  I am so glad that Kate has cousins to play with. 

We enjoyed just hanging out together in the little cabins.  The "resort" had a necklace craft time Saturday morning, which the kids enjoyed. 

That afternoon, my aunts and cousins (the uncles only sort of participated!) had a baby shower for us.  It was the first one and was fun! 

We were blessed with lots of great and needed items.  David got a diaper changing tool belt. 

They even got a fun purse for Kate.  I think this cat had several different names before we got home! 

Later we went swimming before a cookout that night.  Sunday morning, we gathered one more time before leaving...and the cousins played on the golf carts some more. 

It was a good weekend, which we look forward to again this year!