Their "teddy" as friend and foil...

Hey mommas! How are ya'll doing?? I've been doing pretty good myself. So far so good in this circus act of a toddler-raising madhouse. I came across this good article on dinner time for toddlers, Getting Toddlers to Sit at the Table for Dinner, and the whole "family dinner" thing. Learned something new: kids don't fully understand the whole "manners" thing until around age 5 (that's also a very psychologically crucial I mean crucial time for kids and foreshadowing adulthood, but that's a whole other blog post in itself...stay tuned). So how 'bout that. I can relax a bit on that one I guess. I'm sure she'll start to catch-on to the set of common "rules," but I won't expect her to understand too much until she's older. We as adults have plenty of time be "well-mannered adults," don't you think? Let babies be babies already! The article talks about how it's okay to let toddlers bring toys along to the dinner table, or I guess to any place where they are forced to do "adult things." The toy, or teddy as is given in the example in the article, becomes their friend or foil. So cute. I'm not mad at that.

And speaking of eating, wanted to share this quick, easy and healthy purée you can make for baby in a cinch. It's a fruit purée of avocado and banana...yes, avocado is a fruit. And both are mild enough to be first foods. Avocados are packed with nutrients that are great for baby's brain development. Avocados as well as bananas are often called one of nature's perfect foods because they are said to contain everything a person needs to survive. Avocados are a wonderful "good fat" food for baby's brain and physical development, try an avocado as baby's first food instead of refined cereals. That is also true for us adults. I read somewhere recently that avocados are actually a lot less fatty for us than people think, and can help us maintain or even loose weight. Because they have the right amount of fats and protein and can fill you up fast with the good stuff. Like is the rule of thumb, anything green is mm mm good for you! As far as bananas, well, first-off they are so easy to feed because what baby doesn't love bananas, right?! One of the most important nutritional components of bananas is that they contain potassium and fiber. Bananas are also high in Vitamin B6, Vitamin C (which helps with iron absorption in foods, if you're concerned about that, so pair them up with lentils or other iron-rich foods) and Vitamin B2. So what I like to do, is take a ripe organic avocado, a ripe organic banana—and if you can't always go organic, no worries with these two as they both don't fall into the "Dirty Dozen." This means they are the least contaminated by pesticides and that has to do with the fact that they have a thick peel protecting them. So you can take the avocado and banana and mash them together in a bowl with a fork and add a little bit of breast milk (under 12 months) or whole milk (11+ months), depending on what stage your baby's in, and viola! So so yummy, I can almost guarantee your baby will eat it up and say "mmmm!" And remember to always have plenty of water available when feeding solids so baby doesn't get dehydrated or constipated. Insert: one unhappy bambino/a. Oh, and don't forget the teddy bear! "Baby appétit!" :-D