kitchen stewardship give away

Kitchen stewardship is a blog I follow and they have a great give away for a e-course

http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2010/07/06/giveaway-natural-womens-health-ecourse-96-value/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kitchenstewardship%2FPgbo+%28Kitchen+Stewardship%29

Down to 2 naps

It took till week 41, but Liv is now down to 2 naps. The first one is around 10, the next at 2, and she is in bed by 7:15. Usually before that. She still struggles, yesterday she needed 3 naps and today she had to nap a little before 10 and 2 but it is going well.
Most babies drop the third nap around 6 months, Liv took it up and part way through her 9th month, guess she just needs a lot of sleep.

9 month BLW mark

Liv is now 9 months, I have been a total blog slacker.
BLW (Baby-Led Weaning) has clicked with her and she is a pretty good eater. BM still makes the majority of her food, and she still wakes atleast once to nurse, but she is now sitting with me and eating 3 meals a day.
In a typical day I sit and have 3 meals with her at the table, a nice proper meal.
For breakfast I make her a modified version of whatever I am eating. If I am having cereal I just give her some OatieOs to enjoy with some banana. If I am eating eggs with toast I make sure they are scrambled so she can eat some and I just give her toast strips. I have not made pancakes for myself in while, can't wait I think Liv will love them.
Liv is not a big breakfast eater. This is a small meal, only a few bites.
For lunch I give Liv some fruit, what ever fruit I am eating, and then sometimes I homemade teething biscuit, a piece of cheese or some yogurt. I use those baby yogurt blends she loves them.
Then dinner is some of whatever I am eating. Tonight she had some stuffing, carrots and some BBQ chicken. It sounds like a lot, but its not. She has a few bites of each and thats it.
She still has BM after everytime she wakes up, and once before bed and once in the middle of the night.
I am not big on CIO and I still feel she needs those night feedings so I am not ready to night wean her yet.

BLW Moments months 6-8

Since I started BLW months ago things have progressed really slow with Liv's eating. She was very picky and didn't eat much. Some where around the 8 month mark she seemed to get it and feel in love with food. She now loves hummus, beans, chicken, carrots, blueberries and more. She still nurses much more then she eats, but she is eating more now.

Best Sunscreens

I wanted to post this list of safest sunscreens by EWG. I am a big believer in being careful what you put on your skin and your babies skin. The skin is the largest organ of the human body. I do not feel the government test the chemicals properly that they allow in sunscreens, in any skin products really.
1. Badger Sunscreen for Face and Body, Unscented, SPF 30, $12.97
2. Kabana Skin Care Green Screen Organic Sunscreen, SPF 22, $5
3. Beyond Coastal Lip & Face Screen, $7.69
4. Desert Essence Age Reversal Mineral Sunscreen, SPF 30, $9.59
5. Jason Natural Products Sunbrellas Chemical Free Sun Block, $9.40

The worst according to EWG has several just for babies!!
. Banana Boat Baby Max Protect, SPF 100
EWG says,"the sky-high SPF protects against sunburn but leaves skin exposed to damaging UVA rays."

2. Aveeno Baby Continuous Protection, SPF 55
EWG contradicts Aveeno's "Mild as water" statement and says this is nothing like water when swallowed.

3. Anthony Logistics for Men Sunstick, SPF 15
EWG calls out that this stick is not safe for eyes at all and actually, not a lot of sunscreen makers are creating products that are eye-safe.

4. Banana Boat Ultra Defense Sunscreen Stick, SPF 50
EWG points out that "even though sunscreen makers like Banana Boat often use stabilizing additives to keep their ingredients from breaking down in sunlight, the product still doesn't last forever on the skin."

5. Hawaiian Tropic Baby Creme Lotion, SPF 50
EWG claims that "this would only earn 1 star in FDA's proposed 4 star UVA labeling scheme" and that it does not provide "advanced UVA protection" like the bottle says.

Related articles by Zemanta

• EWG's 2010 Sunscreen Guide is Here (babyminding.com)
• 21 of the Best Natural Sunscreens (thedailygreen.com)

First Foods

These are common first foods for BLW and recommened by many organizations. Sweet potatoes, bananas,and avacados. I think we will start the foods in that order.

Teething?

I think we have started teething. We had many nights of Liv up crying and wanting to be held all night, but sometimes even that wasn't enough. My poor baby. She has also been eating like a pig. I think at the same time we are hitting the 6 month growth spurt early. She was getting up only once a night, now its back up to 2 or 3. It was so tempting to give in and give her some cereal, but I did not.
We are planning on starting her first solid in a week! I can't believe she is almost ready for food.