5 Month Update

Where did the last month go????  Each month seems to go faster than the last.  We had a fun time with our cousins.  My youngest niece Monica seemed to take to Savanna the most which you can see from the pictures.  I think they will be little buddies/partners in crime in the future:) 

I enjoyed some quality time with my sister since we do not get it that often.  Her and her husband cooked an amazing feast for Easter!  I helped make some glazed carrot cake cupcakes with cute william sonoma cupcake liners and toppers. 

The only downer was a stomach bug went through the whole house.  Savanna even got it which was not fun.  Luckily she only threw up 2x but I had to fly solo for the first time with her the next day which was very nerve racking.  The Chicago flight was much easier than Aruba, partially because of distance and partially because of age.  She is entertained more now by things.  I laughed because I brought a whole bag of toys and all she played on the plane was was newspaper and my empty plastic cup.  At my sisters she played with plastic plates and cups haha. 

She has grown up a lot over the last month and can self play a little.  She rolled from back to belly for the first time at my sisters and the last few days she has been going back and forth a ton.  She seems to all of a sudden be moving around a lot more.  We are trying to work on sitting, but I think that may take a little while.  She likes to go straight to stand and you have to hold her hips down :).  We tried oats and she didn't seem to like them so we took a break and then she got the stomach bug so we are holding off of any other type of food to right before 6 months now. 

Hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful weather! 

Almond Milk Chocolate Pudding & Allergy Update

One morning Savanna finally took a bottle with formula.  I had a friend who recommended trying in the morning with the first feeding of the day because that is when babies are usually the most hungry.  After a couple of mornings of trying (over 2 weeks) it worked! Ironically after, I read a blurb in parenting magazine that said it sometimes takes babies 6-10 trys to like a new food and a lot of parents do not try that long.  I still wanted to nurse because I wanted Savanna to get all of the health benefits from it because she still was not even 3 months old.  It was really nice that she was able to take it because it gave me a little break and allowed me to build a supply so I did not have to worry as much when I had things to do.  We were doing well for about 2 weeks and then she started getting upset at the bottle and while nursing again.  She would only nurse for about 5 minutes and then get upset and it was a constant struggle.  So we decided to try all formula for a week and see how that went.  It went ok for the first few days but then she started to get upset again.  So we spoke to one of the nurses at the pediatricians office and she recommended we try the liquid Hypoallergenic Formula.  Yay finally two weeks later on that she is eating well and still happy!  It was been a long struggle and a lot of trial and error (which is what I learned most of parenting is :) ) but I am glad she is finally happy.  It was tough to give up nursing because there is so much pressure these days about how breast is best.  At the end of the day it wasn't for Savanna and all of the joy and bonding that comes from nursing was lost because it was not enjoyable for either of us anymore.  So there is always the next one (God willing) and for now I am just happy to have a happy baby.  I am still going to post some dairy free and soy free recipes since there are not a ton out there and I want to  hopefully help some other mothers who may have the same problem.  Plus the recipes are usually healthy and good to make even if you do not have an allergy :)

Almond Milk Chocolate Pudding

1/2 cup cocoa

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 cups low fat milk (almond or regular)

1. Measure cocoa, sugar and cornstarch into a small saucepan.  Whisk together until all large lumps are gone.

2. Over low heat slowly whisk in milk.

3. Raise heat to medium-high and bring to a boil (should take about 5 mins).  Periodically whisk as you bring to a boil and be careful to get the sides of the pan. 

4. After it comes to a boil lower heat and simmer for another 5 minutes.  Continue to whisk. 

5. Take off heat and put through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl (this is to get rid of any remaining lumps, if you do not have a mesh strainer or you are lazy and do not mind some lumps you can skip this step).

6. Place a piece of plastic wrap right on the pudding to prevent the film from forming.  Then chill for at least 2 hours.

Enjoy!

Irish Soda Bread and 4 Months!

I am an Italian girl who loves Irish Soda Bread!  I try and make it every year but I am never fully pleased.  I found an old newspaper cut out in one of my grandma's recipe books and I decided to try that one this year.  Oddly enough it is the same as the recipe on the Friendship Buttermilk carton, who knows why I never tried that one before :)  I am happy to report that I think I finally found a winner which is why I am sharing it with you.  

 

Savanna turned 4 months last Friday and we were very excited that she decided to sleep again.  I am slightly nervous that after I post this it will jinx it, but for now we have some sleep.  We are currently trying to transition her from taking naps in her stroller to her crib and it has not been going to well.  She definitely seems to have a different association with day and night sleep.  I should not complain since she is napping and part of me wants to just leave it..... 

Now for some fun Savanna updates! 

1. She rolled over on her own on Monday to go for one of her favorite toys but hasn't done it again and does not seem to have any desire to.

2. She is taking a swim class every Monday, it is for 30 minutes at Asphalt Green.  I am doing it with my friend Kate and her daughter Brennan.  Savanna loved it and she is really recognizing other babies now which is fun.  

3. I started giving her a little oats every afternoon, and it has been slow but she seems to like them a little more every day.

4. I ordered her a Bumbo chair and I was super excited she liked it right away because she hated every other chair we initially put her in.  It took her 2 months to like her bouncy seat! She likes to watch me prep dinner and watched me bake the soda bread- I am teaching her young :)

Have a Happy Saint Patrick's day and a wonderful weekend!

Irish Soda Bread

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter - softened

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

1 cup raisins

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Butter and line a 10 inch pan with parchment paper (I have done it free form before which I like just as much and almost better).

2. In the bowl of the mixer sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

3. In a separate bowl, combine butter, sugar, eggs and buttermilk with a wisk. 

4. Using a flat paddle or dough hook mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  The dough will be thick and sticky.  Add the raisins in.

5. Place the dough round in the pan and make for one hour. 

Sunbutter Cookies & Sleep Regression

We have a running joke around here that Savanna does not want Mommy to lose the rest of her baby weight. Before Savanna I used to get up and meet one of my best friends to run a couple of days a week.  I was very happy that I was able to do that until I was 26 weeks pregnant.  The belly actually didn't bother me that much it was just the extra weight started to bother my knees so I decided to just walk for the rest of my pregnancy.  Since I was in fairly good shape my entire pregnancy I thought I would get back into exercising fairly quickly and easily.  Boy was I wrong.  Postpartum was a lot more difficult than I thought, especially with a c-section and a few complications.  I wasn't even out walking until 8 weeks.  I never thought it would take me this long after to get back into running.  I finally started doing intervals on the treadmill at 12 weeks and then the last week or two I have been getting out when I have a helper.  When Savanna started sleeping through the night I wanted to get back my morning workout.  I love the early morning hours, it really starts your day and makes you feel great (if you are a morning person you know what I mean).  As soon as I made the decision to try and start getting up to workout, Savanna decided she didn't want to sleep through the night anymore.  Every time I set my alarm to get up and work out she decided to pull an all nighter.  Apparently there is a sleep regression right around 4 months.  We are hoping that is what it is and we just have to ride it out.  Every night is different now we had two solid nights so I set my alarm and last night she got up 3 times.  I decided though I just had to do it whether she got up or not so I finally went this morning and it felt amazing!  So I am hoping to do it a few days a week and hopefully Savanna will get back into solid sleeping eventually.  I am not sure what is worse never having solid sleep or having it and then having it taken away from you :) She is still young so I know I just have to have patience.  

Now on a totally different topic I wanted to share these Sunbutter Cookies with you.  I have been eating a lot of natural peanut butter and apples around here since it is a fast and fairly healthy snack / lunch some days. When I was at Trader Joes I decided to pick up their Sunbutter to try something different with my apples :)  I saw this peanut butter cookie recipe that was dairy free and soy free with out any adjustments so I decided to modify them and make sunbutter cookies.  They were delicious and a great treat, even Chris and one of his friends loved them!  I made half the batch with some chocolate chips which made them even yummier!  

Sunbutter Cookies - modified from 101 cookbooks peanut butter cookies.  I find that even though the sodium is about the same sunbutter is more salty than peanut butter.  I took out the salt and did not miss it at all, but you can adjust to your taste.  I also subsituted honey and brown sugar for the maple syrup since I did not think the maple flavor and sunbutter would go well together.  

2 Cups White Whole Wheat Flour (or regular all purpose flour)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup Sunbutter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup honey

1/3 cup olive oil

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup chocolate chips - optional (dairy free and soy free if you need)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees.  

2. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking soda and salt.

3. In another bowl whisk together the sugar, olive oil, sunbutter and vanilla

4. Fold the flour mixture into the wet mixture and sit 5 minutes.

5. Fold one more time and fold in chocolate chips if using.  

6. Drop teapsoons (or use a medium cookie scoop) onto parchment lined cookie sheet and using a fork press down on each cookie

7. Bake for 10 minutes and let cool 5 minutes.

8. Enjoy - Makes - 2-3 dozen cookies

Dairy Free & Soy Free Brownies

We returned from Aruba to a big snow storm in the city and Chris's 30th Birthday!  Chris insisted that all he wanted was to spend the day with Savanna and me, so that is what we did.  

He loves the snow and was actually born in a blizzard so we were very excited for the storm.  We took Savanna to the park on Saturday to see all the snow and to show her the thousands of kids having fun in the snow (the baby bjorn was a lifesaver we would of never made it around the streets with the stroller).  

I had asked Chris if he wanted regular brownies or if he would mind if I experimented with some dairy free soy free brownies, and he was so kind to allow me to experiment for his birthday!  Last year I made him red wine chocolate cake so this year I decided to try port infused brownies (do you see a trend :) ).

I found a recipe for Vegan Brownies and adapted it slightly to make them completely dairy and soy free and added the port.  They were actually quite fabulous, but you did not taste the port like you tasted the red wine in the cake.  They are more of fudgy vs. cakey brownie, but that is the way we like them in our household.  It was a great family Saturday until out of the blue Savanna decided she wanted to get up every hour that night (we have been lucky with her sleeping through the night for a few weeks now).  I guess that is life with a newborn and we would not have it any other way : )

Dairy Free and Soy Free Brownies - (adapted from here)

• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 4 ounces (about 1/2 cup) unsweetened applesauce
• 2 ounces port or melted chocolate
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 cup Enjoy Free Dairy Free and Soy Free Chips 

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 8x8” pan with parchment and spray with cooking spray.
2. Stir together oil and sugar. Stir in vanilla, cocoa, and applesauce. Add port and salt, stir until smooth. Slowly stir in flour. Add chocolate chips.
3. Pour into prepared pan and bake 25-28 minutes. Cool before cutting.

Aruba!

We were very fortunate to escape the cold for a little last week and go to Aruba with Chris's family!  I was really nervous about getting on the plane with Savanna since she does not like when you sit with her for a long time (she likes you to be moving at all times).  This has been getting better, but a 4.5 hour flight made me worry. About two days before we left she decided she didn't want to nap more than 40 minutes and was very fussy.  A friend had told me she had a rough week 12 (which is what Savanna was approaching) and when I asked her about it she sent me this link on Wonder Weeks.  It is very interesting and helped explain to me what Savanna was going through.  Now that we are through it, I will say there is a huge difference in her tracking, focusing and grabbing from week 11 it is incredible!  The fussiness only lasted 2-3 days but the short naps lasted a full week.  So she did not sleep on the plane like everyone said she would but, the timing on the way down was perfect for her 1130am and 4pm feedings and she did great (with a little bouncing:) ).  The way home was a later flight which was a little harder on her but for a night time flight she did pretty good.  We were lucky there was an open seat so we were able to bring her carrier on which was really helpful.  I recommend it if you want to pay for the seat or definitely ask if there is open seat when you check in.  

It was great to be in the warm weather, but I will say even with grandparents it is hard and not as relaxing having a 3 month old at the beach who did not want to nap.  The hardest part is they are not supposed to wear sunscreen until they are 6 months old and she hated wearing a big hat.  I was very grateful to another friend, who told me about the coolibar spf blanket (I bought it on amazon).  We just draped it over her when we were going out and taking walks and had no problem with the sun on her skin!  There are a lot of palappas in Aruba which made being on the beach in the shade with her easier.  She loved being in the pool with Daddy and there were lots of shaded areas in the pool which was super helpful.  Below are some of my favorites from the trip!  

Milk and Soy Allergies

     We recently discovered Savanna has a milk and/or soy allergy (she's too young to conclusively test) While statistics say only a small percentage of babies have milk protein allergies, we've come across tons of friends and colleagues dealing with the same issue. A milk protein allergy is when a baby's immune system thinks the milk protein is a foreign body and should be fought off. This results in an allergic reaction which results in stomach discomfort which causes fussiness! 

     We felt so blessed with what a happy and easy baby Savanna was over the first few weeks. She slept through the night almost from the day we brought her home and regularly snoozed for 7-9 hours a night. Boy were we spoiled! It was easy to figure out something was up when her demeanor changed around 5 weeks old..Thats when the doctor thinks the allergy began to show itself. She stopped taking her long afternoon nap, became much more erratic at night, and was very fussy, especially while eating. Our New Year's Eve guests can attest to that! All of the books say 6-8 weeks is a supper fussy time for infants so we hoped she might grow out of it, but we checked in with our doctor after realizing it was impacting her eating. As mentioned earlier, the poop test cannot conclusively say what allergy babies have so its a process of elimination to rule things out. They started by having me eliminate soy and dairy, the two most common allergies, from my diet. If that hadn't solved the problem, they would have then tried taking out peanuts and wheat. As tough as it is NOT eating dairy and soy (soy is in EVERYTHING!), we were blessed to find the cause of her angst. Unfortunately it takes a full 2 weeks to see results, as it takes that long to get out of Mom's system and then Baby.

     It has definitely been a challenge, but It is worth it to see that my little girl is not in pain anymore.  The milk was not that hard (although giving up chocolate was after all the cookies I consumed at the end of my pregnancy:) ). What has been super challenging has been the soy.  Who knew soy is in EVERYTHING!  When you have a moment just open your cabinets and look at the ingredients it is crazy - most of the items in my cabinets I could not eat anymore.  Soy is in everything because it is an emulsifier (read here (http://www.food-info.net/uk/qa/qa-fi63.htm) and here (http://www.foodadditivesworld.com/emulsifiers.html) for explanations on emulsifiers).  It is also usually in vegetable oil blends since it is inexpensive.  So it is hard to eat a lot of commercially based products and I have been avoiding going out to eat.  The benefit of this is it is a really healthy diet and I eat a lot of fruit, vegetables and chicken.  As another option you can switch to a hypoallergenic formula which breaks down the proteins for the babies, but Savanna did NOT like them!  I don't blame her, just the smell is nasty.  I read that they are more bitter than regular formulas because of the broken down proteins.  So for now, it is a milk and soy free diet for me (which is totally worth it to make her happy)!  I will start sharing some of the fun milk and soy free recipes (especially for those other moms who have milk and soy allergies),  I have been cooking and baking but for today just a few pictures of my little Savanna :) 

Happy New Year!

Happy 2013!  It has been wayyy to long since I have posted!  I was a little pre-occupied :)

For those of you who do not know we were blessed with our daughter Savanna Grace on November 8th, it has been such an incredible experience. I feel so blessed for everything in 2012, it was an amazing year for my personal and professional life!  I appreciate all of the help from my loving husband and family members, I could not do everything without them, especially the last two months. Thank all of you for your support and loyal business throughout the last year!  We are closed for the next month so I can concentrate on my daughter and enjoy motherhood :)  In the meantime, there are some of my favorite pictures of Savanna below and over the next month I will get you all caught up on the fun cakes and events we did.  

Getting ready to leave the hospital!

Thanksgiving!

Christmas!

I cannot believe its been 2 months :)