No Small Potatoes

Well, I think we've passed a food trial here. Seems that Hallie does fine with VERY thin (no lumps) potato puree made with goat milk but not goat butter, which is too rich for her (anyone out there need any goat butter? We have four pounds in our freezer!). This may sound like small potatoes, but it's pretty huge to us, given that our kid is otherwise confined to goat milk, goat yogurt, and pureed pears. There is so much you can do with potatoes and of course this opens the potential for the beloved french fry down the road, not to mention oh-so-delicious passover baking mixes (I suspect that some of the gluten free varieties are just as scrumptious).

This milestone also makes it possible for the immediate reintroduction of the "sticks" -- Sea Salt flavored Krinkle Sticks from A Lesser Evil. Of course, this opens up a new complication: our local branch of Whole Foods, which was where I discovered this bland-tasting-baked-but-not-fried snack food, no longer carries them. And the Sea Salt flavor is out of stock at the Wegman's. So, of course, being a resourceful mom willing to suspend disbelief in utter defiance of all the evidence of food products we have stacked to the rafters in our basement, on top of the fridge, and in the aforementioned freezer, I purchased a CASE of the sticks from Amazon last week. At the rate at which Hallie consumes them (no more than eight at a time, and more typically three or four), we will have enough to last us through kindergarten.

Anyway, we're thrilled, regardless.

The other nice thing about mashed potatoes is that Hallie can feed them to herself, sort of. Unlike pureed pears from Earth's Best, which are runny, which makes handing Hallie a bowl and spoon a messy prospect that is sure to leave us guessing about her actual consumption, potatoes not only stick to your ribs but also to the spoon. Hallie loves self-feeding, so this works out for all of us and may at some point in the future allow us all to eat together at the table without one of us moms feeding our kiddo.

Anyway, potato being a success, we're ready to move on...apples here we come.I leave you with a cute pic of Hallie looking like a little kid...and a brief mention of her new milestones: she is now really saying Elmo (over and over), her own name (very cutely), 'mama', and otherwise babbling like crazy. It seems like she's really hit her stride language-wise these past couple of weeks and we could not be more thrilled. Oh, and we have one more vomit-free day to add to the list...45 days this year so far, and some of our less than stellar days were a result of a certain toddler hitting her head on various objects or not getting her way 100% of the time, so I am not sure that they really count.