Food Emporium

Months ago, we bought a Beaba Baby Cook so we could start making Kaylani's food out of fresh fruits and vegetables instead of buying endless jars of baby food that took up space in our cabinet. In addition to saving over $150 in jarred food costs, we also thought that Kaylani wasn't eating any of her fruits because she didn't like all of the added preservatives, etc that they put in canned/packaged baby food. In fact, we swore off of fruits all together after she started puking them up shortly after. So to date, we've made 64oz of food for Kaylani, of which she's only eaten 32oz of, none of which have been fruits.

We still plan on using the Baby Cook eventually, but we've decided to push ahead with different foods, despite the warnings from Kaylani's nurse. So far, I'd say she's starting to get the hang of it. She's now mastered apples, bananas, peaches, pears, apricot, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, mangos, and prunes in addition to all of her vegetables like sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, peas, and green beans. She's also eating brown rice, lentils, potatoes, and oatmeal mixed in with each of those. Oh, and of course none of this is homemade. Instead she's been feasting on a variety of Earth's Best, Gerber, and Gerber Organics. As Dora says, "Mmmmm mmmmm delicioso!"

Now, the problem with Kaylani liking all these types of food is that Mommy and Daddy are of the "club store" principle when it comes to food purchases. Instead of buying a few days or a weeks worth of anything at a time, we tend to stock up wherever we are just in case. One week, Target will have a great selection of food and we'll buy 10 different packs to last us a week. And if Babies R' Us also happens to have a great selection when we're there, we'll buy 10 more, even if it's on the same day. And then to top things off, if Stop & Shop or Wegman's has different ones or some more of her staple foods, we'll buy them there too.

Right now, we have over a month's worth of food for Kaylani if she continues to eat 4oz (1 package) of food for lunch and another for dinner. We recently moved it from a small shelf in our pantry to a giant basket because we were it was out of control. At this point, I'm not even convinced Kaylani can eat all of this food. She hasn't even tried it all yet. In fact, I think we might have more food than any of the stores we normally shop at now. It's ridiculous.

We're just going to keep plugging away over here. I hate to see what happens once Kaylani gets into the Stage 3 foods, like meats and pastas. I'm guessing our pediatrician will give us the green light at her 9 month appointment, but until then, it's fruits, vegetables, repeat. Turns out the only way any machine could save us over $150 is if it was a credit card shredder. That way we wouldn't be able to buy ridiculously priced mixed drink blenders baby food processors. Oh well, maybe we'll make her homemade food again some day. You know, like when she's 80 and needs her food blended into a fine mush in order to eat it. Or maybe Kaylani will use it for us. That sounds much more reasonable.

Anyways, check out pictures from the last couple of days. You can see Kaylani and Aidan in the pool, and Kaylani in her brand new Gymboree tunnel! Good times!