Calvin took his first steps a few weeks ago, the day before Bryan went out of town for a week. At the time, we were worried that by the time Bryan got back, Calvin would be walking all over the place. That certainly happens with some kids - once they figure out how to balance on two legs, crawling is a thing of the past. But for Calvin, walking hasn't come so quickly and crawling has remained the most efficient way to get around. Walking is pretty much reserved for entertainment.
But Calvin has been working hard over the last few weeks and the practice has paid off. He is now a lot more steady; he can stop and start again, turn and walk a different direction, and doesn't get so excited when he reaches us that he falls into our arms. At least not every time.
I've been filming many of his recent attempts, and Calvin has become very curious about the camera. He insists on watching his walking performances as soon as he reaches me. Here are a couple he added a little extra commentary.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Birthday Cake Recipe
What to serve Calvin for his first birthday cake was no small issue for me. As of two weeks before his birthday, he had never had most of the ingredients in a birthday cake, including wheat, eggs, sugar, butter, vanilla, etc. Introducing new foods one at a time as the doctors, books, and websites recommend (to watch for allergic reactions), and finding time to buy, prepare, and store/freeze each individual ingredient, made all this a slow process. Soon after introducing wheat and then egg with no adverse reactions, I decided Calvin was probably old enough and not-allergic-enough that we could stop the one-new-food-at-a-time routine and let him eat what we eat. Look out mac and cheese, spaghetti, and birthday cake, here we come!
But Bryan and I agreed that we didn't want his first birthday cake to be loaded up with sugar. Babies don't need a ton of sugar in their cake or frosting to think it tastes awesome - there will be plenty of childhood years for that! - and so it became my mission to find a birthday cake that would be healthful and yummy for Calvin's first birthday.
It turns out there are lots of baby-friendly cake recipes out there, most of which use fruit and/or a small amount of sugar to sweeten the cake and frosting. I tested a few recipes out and found one I really did not like (Banana cake, which was surprisingly bland) and one that I liked a lot (Carrot-apple-raisin cake from the What to Expect the First Year book), which I would totally make again. Instead of the frosting that was listed after that recipe (which tasted a little weird), I made a simple cream cheese frosting sweetened with a little agave and vanilla. Yummy!
Here are the recipes:
Birthday Cake (from What to Expect the First Year)
2 1/2 cups carrots, sliced thinly
2 1/2 cups apple juice concentrate
1 1/2 cups raisins
2 cups whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup wheat germ
2 tbsp low-sodium baking powder
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 whole eggs
4 egg whites
1 tbsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1) Simmer carrots and 1 cup plus 2 tbsp of apple juice concentrate in a covered saucepan for about 20 minutes or until carrots are tender.
2) Puree carrots and cooking juice in a blender or food processor. Add raisins and process until finely chopped. Let cool.
3) Preheat oven to 350F. Line two 9-inch-square cake pans with wax paper and spray the paper with vegetable cooking spray (or lightly grease with oil or butter), or fill a cupcake pan with baking cups and spray with cooking spray.
4) Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add 1 1/4 cups apple juice concentrate, the oil, eggs, egg whites, and vanilla; beat just until well mixed. Fold in the carrot/raisin puree and applesauce. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans.
5) Bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, 35-40 minutes for the cake, less for cupcakes. Cool briefly in the pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.
Cream Cheese Frosting (from another mom who got it from weelicious.com)
1 8-oz package cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
4 tbsp agave nectar
1 tsp vanilla
1) Place all ingredients in a mixer and beat on medium to high speed until fluffy.
2) Separate and add food coloring, as needed
3) Spread on cake or cupcakes.
But Bryan and I agreed that we didn't want his first birthday cake to be loaded up with sugar. Babies don't need a ton of sugar in their cake or frosting to think it tastes awesome - there will be plenty of childhood years for that! - and so it became my mission to find a birthday cake that would be healthful and yummy for Calvin's first birthday.
It turns out there are lots of baby-friendly cake recipes out there, most of which use fruit and/or a small amount of sugar to sweeten the cake and frosting. I tested a few recipes out and found one I really did not like (Banana cake, which was surprisingly bland) and one that I liked a lot (Carrot-apple-raisin cake from the What to Expect the First Year book), which I would totally make again. Instead of the frosting that was listed after that recipe (which tasted a little weird), I made a simple cream cheese frosting sweetened with a little agave and vanilla. Yummy!
I made monster-face cupcakes for Calvin's daycare birthday party. Calvin, who got the blue face in the picture below, carefully picked the eyes off and ate them first.
Here are the recipes:Birthday Cake (from What to Expect the First Year)
2 1/2 cups carrots, sliced thinly
2 1/2 cups apple juice concentrate
1 1/2 cups raisins
2 cups whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup wheat germ
2 tbsp low-sodium baking powder
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 whole eggs
4 egg whites
1 tbsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1) Simmer carrots and 1 cup plus 2 tbsp of apple juice concentrate in a covered saucepan for about 20 minutes or until carrots are tender.
2) Puree carrots and cooking juice in a blender or food processor. Add raisins and process until finely chopped. Let cool.
3) Preheat oven to 350F. Line two 9-inch-square cake pans with wax paper and spray the paper with vegetable cooking spray (or lightly grease with oil or butter), or fill a cupcake pan with baking cups and spray with cooking spray.
4) Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add 1 1/4 cups apple juice concentrate, the oil, eggs, egg whites, and vanilla; beat just until well mixed. Fold in the carrot/raisin puree and applesauce. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans.
5) Bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, 35-40 minutes for the cake, less for cupcakes. Cool briefly in the pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.
Cream Cheese Frosting (from another mom who got it from weelicious.com)
1 8-oz package cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
4 tbsp agave nectar
1 tsp vanilla
1) Place all ingredients in a mixer and beat on medium to high speed until fluffy.
2) Separate and add food coloring, as needed
3) Spread on cake or cupcakes.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Wow, it's been a year already???
It doesn't seem like nearly enough time has passed for our little baby to be moving into toddler-hood. And yet, those endless, sanity-testing nights of diapering, feeding, and rocking on 3- or 4-hour cycles seem a lifetime ago. As Bryan put it, every day feels like it's 48 hours long, and yet somehow a year has passed.Day 1 vs. Year 1
Calvin is definitely growing out of baby-hood in so many ways. His latest stats from his 1-year checkup had him weighing 25 lbs (80th %), measuring in at 30 inches tall (70th %), and boasting a gigantic head (gotta fit that big brain) 18.75 inches in diameter (88%). He's solidly in his 24-month clothes (and only the brands that run big - there's no way he'd fit into anything Gerber, which runs small), but mostly to fit over his giant head and big buddha-belly.
Calvin's eating skills have improved to meet his belly's demands. He uses a spoon (very messily) and his hands (seriously, we need head-to-toe bibs here) to feed himself, and he rarely wants us to help. 
He can even use a regular cup, though it works best if the cup is baby-size. 
I've finally relaxed on introducing new foods one-at-a-time and have moved into he-eats-what-we-eat mode, which is awesome! And, best of all, since Calvin's bedtime has gotten later (7:30pm), we now have time to play in the evening and eat dinner together as a family.
Two new teeth have decided to show up just in time for Calvin's new expanding diet. His top front two teeth have been pushing their way down over the past many weeks/months and have broken through to join his bottom two front teeth. This, of course, was accompanied by buckets of drool and lots of unhappy days, but thankfully little fever.The only time we're able to see Calvin's new top front teeth is when he's upside down.
Calvin is just barely walking on his own and only takes a few little steps at a time before falling into our arms. He does stand a lot, though, and he likes to walk across the kitchen with his dinosaur toy.
Calvin is just barely walking on his own and only takes a few little steps at a time before falling into our arms. He does stand a lot, though, and he likes to walk across the kitchen with his dinosaur toy.
We're starting to see some of Calvin's personality through his play. He is silly and goofy and has a great sense of humor...
...he's patient and focused and smart... 
...he's adventurous and trusting and confident...
...and he is loving and affectionate and so very sweet.
Calvin finds humor in so many things (sneezing, wagging dog tails, a cat that sits at the top of the stairs or just out of reach, being held upside down or tossed up into the air, 'hiding' behind the clear glass bathtub door, crawling away while being 'chased', etc), and his laughter is the sweetest, most mesmerizing sound. There is no faster way to alleviate stress or clear your mind than to listen to him laugh.
And Calvin is getting better at communicating with us - he has mastered the 'all-done' sign and will use that when he needs a diaper change (awesome!), when he's thirsty or hungry (confusing), when he doesn't want medicine or his nose wiped, and for lots of other reasons that I don't understand. He says a form of puppy-dog and kitty-cat that we only sometimes pick up on, and he's an expert at "dah-dee". Other words fill his vocabulary, like "da" for "ball" and "da" for "that" and "da" for "diaper" and probably "da" for "my day was great, thanks for asking". I often get the feeling that he's trying to say something, and he'll repeat his babble purposefully and regularly, but I'm usually at a loss for their meaning. Always, though, when we just aren't understanding each other, no matter how much we each try, he'll change topics and start clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth for us to imitate. Those clicking conversations are always much better.
We are truly amazed every day by Calvin's new tricks and discoveries, and we are so very, very happy to have him in our lives. What a great first year.
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