Baby Peach Turns Two

730 days. 24 months. 2 years. That's how long you've been stealing my heart.

You don't like getting your picture taken and always ask to see the baby on the screen instead.

You love to spin around and around in circles and fall to the ground laughing.

You love to read books and you will ask me to read the same book ten times a day for a week before moving on to another favorite.

You get upset when your motorcycle and 4wheeler don't go fast enough because the battery is dying. Because you would ride them all day long if you could. In the yard or in the house, you love to ride.

You love to play outside. In the mud. In the sand. In the rain.

You are cautious and careful one minute, and fearless and crazy the next.

You think that you're so funny when you walk out of a room backwards while saying "bye bye".

You think that you're so innocent when you do something that you know you aren't supposed to and follow it with an "oh no".

You have an obsession with the Under Armour logo.

You are obsessed with gas stations. I don't know how or why it started, but you love them and insist on letting us know every time we pass one while telling it bye bye and getting upset that we didn't stop.

You love monkeys and laugh every time you see them.

You like to help me clean and put things away where they belong. 

You are very independent when you want to be. But when you get around a crowd you insist on being held until you get warmed up.

You can't let daddy drive a tractor without you sitting in his lap. And you love to sit there and work all day long.

You love to play and scatter your toys all over the house. But you are also a great big helper and do a great job cleaning up your messes.

You have an obsession with butterflies and your face lights up every time you see one.

You love to sleep in. Just like your momma.

You have the funniest little happy dance and I can only hope that you got a sense of rhythm from me and not your daddy.

You love to ride over train tracks and say "bump bump bump".

You like for things to be in their place and get upset whenever they don't fit together how you want.

You love to say "bye bye" to everyone and everything. 

You're learning to love "our dog" even when she licks your whole face and makes you mad because she doesn't want to play tug with her rope.

You love to push things. Anything and everything. Everywhere.

You love to wander and explore and I hope you never lose that sense of wonder and adventure.

You could eat crackers all. day. long.

You've started singing your own little songs and it's just about the sweetest thing that I have ever heard.

You love to throw things in the trashcan and to point them out everywhere we go.

Your memory is better than mine.

You bring me to my knees crying, laughing, exhausted, and thankful.

You are the greatest thing that I have ever done and our adventure has only just begun.

Happy 2nd birthday, little one! I love you and love you.

And love you and love you.

And love you and love you.

Toddler Approved Spinach Muffins

Note to self: when baking, always wear an apron. Because you are clumsy and will inevitably splatter green batter all over one of your favorite white shirts.

Getting a toddler to eat is so easy. If you're serving them carbs and fruit that is. Veggies on the other hand can be a bit more tricky. So you have to be a little tricky sometimes to get them to eat their greens without them realizing it.

My little Peach loves bananas and muffins. So this recipe is essentially a banana muffin recipe, only it's full of spinach and made without any dairy.

I like to make a large batch and keep them in the freezer. Then in the morning I just nuke one or two in the microwave and breakfast is served.

Ingredients

1 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup non dairy milk (I use soy)
6 oz fresh spinach
2 ripe bananas
2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Combine dry ingredients.

Place applesauce, milk, and spinach in a blender and blend on high for 30 seconds. Add in spinach, bananas and vanilla and blend on low another 30 seconds.

Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix by hand until thoroughly combined.

Pour into muffin tin (makes about 16) and bake at 350 for 18 minutes.

Allow to cool completely on a rack then store in an airtight container.

Blessings,

the Crunchy Peach

Allergy Friendly Cupcakes - Baby Peach's First Birthday

Our house is dairy and egg free. So when it came time to plan Baby Peach's first birthday party I was a little worried about the cake situation. I didn't want BP's smash cake to be full of dairy and I wasn't too keen on the idea of a bunch of left over cupcakes sitting on my counter that would never be eaten because I can't have what's in them either.

Thank goodness for the Milk Allergy Mom. Her blog has saved me time and time again trying to find allergy friendly recipes. Thanks to her confetti cake recipe I was able to bake three dozen cupcakes and one adorable little smash cake. All dairy and egg free.

I didn't tell anyone at the party that the cupcakes were allergy friendly (since I'm the only one with food allergies). And the cupcakes were gobbled up. So I'd say everyone liked them. I even sent some of the left overs home with guests so that I wouldn't overdose on sugar eating them all by myself.

If you or your kiddo or someone you know has food allergies I highly recommend checking out Milk Allergy Mom's website and Facebook page. Dealing with food allergies can be tricky and it's nice to know someone else out there that has figured out a few things already.


Now, what you've all really come for... pictures of Baby Peach at his party.

waiting for his guests to arrive

gifts (and a sneak peak at our new fireplace)

he was so adorable holding his balloon

I'd say he thoroughly enjoyed his cake

playing in his new sandbox with his cousins

Happy first birthday, Baby Peach! I cannot believe that you are already a whole year old. May your next year be even more exciting than the last.

With love,

the Crunchy Peach

Baby Led Weaning: Nine Month Update

What Baby Peach has learned in the past three months of baby led weaning (BLW):

how to steal food off my plate
how to fling a loaded spoon/fork across the room
how to feed the dog
how to bathe in spaghetti sauce
how to flap his arms and scream until you give him more food
how to hide food down the sides of his chair

But, he has also learned:

how to eat with a fork (still working on the spoon)
how to use his pincer grip
how to chew and swallow
how to pick out his favorite foods
how to let cold/frozen foods melt in his mouth before swallowing

Some of Baby Peach's current favorite foods:

corn on the cob
yogurt drops
frozen blueberries
strawberries
macaroni and cheese
sweet potatoes
zucchini
pasta in tomato basil sauce
pineapple

Most meals he wants seconds and thirds. This boy loves to eat!

At six months he was eating one meal a day. Then at seven and a half months he started two meals a day. When he turned nine months old he started eating breakfast, lunch and supper. Now when he sees me cooking he gets so excited and is sure to let me know if it's taking too long.

The past three months of BLW have been a great experience for our entire family. Mr Peach and I love to watch Baby eat and he loves to babble and put on a show each time he's in his highchair. He's learning and practicing so many skills each time he eats and having tons of fun while doing it. Plus he's developing a palate for tasty, healthy foods. I don't have to worry about having enough baby food on hand, and when going out to restaurants I bring along a little veggie appetizer and we're good to go.

I'm so glad that I did my research and decided to try out BLW. It's been a great fit for our family and I hope it's making a whole foods lover out of my Baby Peach.

Blessings,
The Crunchy Peach