Baby Banana Bread

I made banana bread for the Pea and it turned out pretty well! I found the recipe on a Mommy blog.

Here it is. The only things I did differently were that I added apple, omitted raisins simply because we had none, and used 2 egg yolks instead of an egg. It freezes well and the Pea like it! It's a keeper!!

2 small, ripe bananas (mashed)
3 oz (1/3 cup) organic raisins
4 oz (1 cup) self rising flour
2 oz (1/4 cup) butter
1 beaten egg
pinch nutmeg
pinch cinnamon.

1. Add the nutmeg and cinnamon to the flour and rub in the butter.
2. Stir in the raisins and the egg, then the mashed banana.
3. Bake in a greased loaf tin at 350 deg F (175 deg C) for 45 mins to one hour, until firm.

More :)

The Pea signed for the first time! She successfully signed that she wanted more food. I have been signing for months, but very inconsistently. The other day I showed her the sign for more, did it with her hands, and gave her more food. After she finished what she had on her tray I asked her if she wanted more while signing. She copied and I gave her more food. When she ran out again she signed on her own!! It was so great to have her be able to communicate in this way!

Sleep!! :)

Two nights ago Claire woke up 3 times...improvement from the previous night for sure. Last night I put Claire to bed after a snack and some formula, as well as nursing. Sounds like a lot but it was spaced out. She went down around 8:00. I didn't hear from that sweet pea until 5am!! Good job, Pea!!

On another note, she said Mommy last week!!

Sleep? Not a chance.

Claire refused the bottle in the middle of the night and screamed until I relented and nursed the first waking. The next time she woke up she refused the bottle again. But I did not give in this time...no nursing. She finally calmed down and I layed her back in bed. She fell back to sleep peacefully as I rubbed her head. But then she woke up two more times. Still I did not nurse - I held her to soothe her and laid her back in bed. Hopefully this will pay off soon!

Sleep?

Claire started sleeping through the night at 8 weeks and stopped after about a month or so. Now she wakes up twice a night - around 11 and 3:30. She is almost 11 months old and it is time to stop! So far we have said that she is a baby and of course we will go to her when she cries at night. But we are beginning to realize that this is now a habit and that it is in her best interest if she can put herself back to sleep when she wakes in the middle of the night. So here is the plan of attack: I will feed her a few ounces of formula before bed. When she wakes I will feed her 2 oz of the formula for three days, then 1 oz for three days, then water for three days. After that I will pick her up to soothe her for three days, then go in and verbally soothe her. I am giving this 2 weeks and then I will let her cry :( if this does not work. So that is the plan - I am sticking to it!! I hope it works!!