aging out

Nicholas will be four months old next week, and that's the beginning of the beginning of solid food age.  I don't plan on feeding him solid foods any time soon, but I plan on planning for it.  It's the beginning of the beginning of the planning for the planning of the doing.

That's how I operate.

Plan
Plan
Plan
Plan
Plan
Plan
Do
Plan fails
Freak out
Plan
Plan
Plan
Do something completely unplanned.

Anyway, there's this movement of sorts to stop feeding babies that boxed cereal stuff and just get them started on food.  The boxed cereal stuff is totally freaky.  I almost made it through a whole box of babyoats with Jake, but switched him to real oatmeal (grinded up superfine) after a month or so because those gross flakes were getting everywhere and didn't seem very food-like.

It's the consistency of fishfood, if you've never seen it unprepared. 

The thought is to feed nutrient-rich foods like egg yolks and avocados (and ground liver, but yeah- no) to a baby sometime around six months and once they get the hang of that, do the fruits and vegetables.  Egg yolks are, supposedly, the food closest to breast milk/baby formula.

I know, I know, I know about the whole thing with egg allergies in babies.  But it's generally the egg white they are allergic to, and there is no such history of food allergies in my children's family lines.

It just makes sense to me, you know?  Feeding a kid processed flakes of iron-fortified nothingness vs a farm-fresh soft-boiled egg yolk.  The store up the street from my house sells farm-fresh dairy and meats.  You haven't lived until you have eaten fresh eggs.  Eggs aren't supposed to be yellow yolked.  And shells are rarely pure white.
And avocados are easy enough to come by.

Eggs and avocados don't turn to sugar in your body like rice does, so that makes sense too.  Not that I would buy the rice cereal.  I'm obnoxious like that.  White rice isn't all that great for anyone, let alone a baby who has never eaten before.

I'll probably do the avocado first.  Mashed up with milk.  In a month or so.

***

Jake will be seven on Sunday.  We're having a party.  Mostly for the grownups, as we do.  He wants a Sonic the Hedgehog party, but there are no Sonic things to be found.  I bought a half dozen or so Sonic character figurines at We 'R Toys (grammar corrected, syntax not) that I'll jam on top of his cake.  Still not sure whether I'm making his cake or we'll just pick one up at ShopRite (spelling not corrected).  

He wanted to bring doughnuts or cupcakes to school on Friday, but I think we're doing chocolate chip cookies instead.  My life is funny in the way that it is easier to make six dozen cookies than it is to run to the grocery and buy three dozen cupcakes.  

And forget making cupcakes.  The devil is in the transport.

Yes I know there are special carriers for them.  But I'm not the one to let it kick around the house on the 362 days a year when it has no use.

***

I'm still 36.  Dave is 37.  The cats turned one sometime this week.  I don't like Layla. She scratched my face, she doesn't like to see upside down faces.  I think Emily has worms again.  

The intern is trying to teach the people who sit near her how to find their spirit animals.  Hers is a skunk. 

(Ask your own, like, spirit, um, guides to help you find your, like, animal, and picture yourself walking down, like, a path and the animal will probably, like, meet you somewhere along the trail.  You must do this while in a super super deep meditational trance)