quick yarn along

I'm plodding on with Cloud Atlas when I can, but this week I'm also squeezing in a bit of this:

This is actually a very short book, printed in large, widely spaced type, and full of bullet points, little real life examples, and cute baby photos: perfect for those whose concentration is affected by having small children! We practiced baby-led weaning with Sausages and really enjoyed it, so I wanted to brush up on which foods we might want to avoid straight away before we start introducing Bob to food next week. I can't believe how quickly six months has flown past!

This book is mostly dedicated to dispelling the myths created when it was considered appropriate to wean babies from as early as 12 weeks, necessitating spoon feeding, purees, gradually introducing lumps, limiting the types of food they could eat, etc. It's really helpful to think about the influences of the early methods, especially when trying to explain to older friends and family why you are letting your baby tuck in to a roast dinner for their first meal! What I really took from the book was the message that the first six months of eating food are really about learning: learning about food; and learning that food can fill you up as a response to hunger, as well as milk. When you understand that for the first year (at least) the main source of your child's nutrition remains their milk (human or formula), it's easier to be relaxed about what they do or don't eat.

The big thing about baby-led weaning on a practical level, is that you have to relax about mess and waste. I don't worry about the mess too much, but the waste of food thrown on the floor or left on the plate does stress me out a bit. That's my problem, not the boys'! I remember when Sausages was little, he had a friend whose mother made him eat his meals alone in the kitchen, in his nappy. He was NOT allowed to use his hands, because that was messy. Of course, she and her husband ate fully dressed at the table in the dining room. I often wondered when he would be allowed to do so too, at what point the mess would be manageable for her! Baby-led weaning would have made her very stressed, so it's worth noting that it totally doesn't work for every family, but for us it has resulted in a large, healthy three year old who eats anything and everything. When you consider that he was a tiny premmie, that's a real blessing.

Knitting this week continues to be on the Lonely Tree shawl. I really love knitting charted lace! This is aran weight, so it knits up quickly too. The yarn does have a metallic look, I think it will look elegant over a black dress or blouse. I'm half way through the third chart, thanks to the ladies at my weekly knitting group, who hold Bob so I can knit! I am still on the first ball of yarn though, and my friend has supplied two, so I will definitely do the extra chart on top. I'm going to have to learn how to block acrylic to finish this off, anyone have any tips?!

Feeding the bigger people in the house continues with the Hummingbird project. This week Sausages and I made the Hummingbird cake in anticipation of a visit from cake-loving Bapar, and it was spectacular! It contains pecans, banana, and pineapple amongst the usual ingredients, and is fantastically fruity! I put in twice the amount of pineapple suggested by the recipe, but I think it could have taken even more without falling apart. It was yum!

We also made the peanut butter cookies, which were a massive success! As with other recipes from this book, where they suggested it made 24 we got nearly 50 large biscuits. These have been great for lunch boxes and snack times, an every day biscuit rather than an occasion bake.

I've got a big baby-themed post in the works, and some interesting news about our life in the bungalow to share with you, so do pop back soon, and do hear over to Ginny's and Tami's to see what other crafters are up to this week!

E