I hate my toaster oven for toast. It's ironic that it is called a "toaster" oven because it is horrible at toasting bread. It burns it and it is uneven. It could be that it isn't a top of the line toaster oven. I think it would be good to have one with a moving element or a large area element to evenly toast bread. Toasters are much better at toasting bread.
I love my toaster oven for heating up day-old rolls or leftover pizza. It returns it to its yummy former life unlike the microwave that turns bread into rubber. I also love how I can make open-faced sandwiches quite easily without using the large oven. It is also good for heating frozen rolls for two people instead of using the large oven.
Does anyone else feel this way?
We took Lucy in for her 12 month appointment (at 14 months...we're a bit behind). She's small. Her length and head were pretty good, but her weight was low. However, I am now not worried. The growth charts most doctors use are based on formula-fed babies. I've known this for several years. The World Health Organization (WHO) did a study with nearly 8500 breastfed babies from many ethnicities and countries (including the US). Mothers were not allowed to smoke during or after pregnancy, and there were dietary standards that mothers had to maintain. The goal was to obtain an international standard for breastfed babies both in developed and underdeveloped countries. I plotted her growth on a breastfed chart from the WHO, and it was so much less alarming as I saw she was much closer to her own curve. Breastfed babies grow at different rates than formula fed.
Also, her weight began to drop at the typical 9 month mark when most breastfed babies plateau. She has also become increasingly more active, and we were in the middle of a transition to food. It has taken her some time to get used to eating food (she hated baby food from the beginning and wanted whatever we were eating). Now that she is more accustomed, we have high hopes that her weight gain will improve, but as an added caution, I have her on a high caloric diet full of good fats and proteins.
And, I found a sippy cup that she likes. Hallelujah.
She also didn't like whole milk, so she gets some Carnation Instant Breakfast in her milk (which she loves). She still nurses morning and night, but she is embracing "Big" Girl status. :)
I am not worried anymore. About that.
It's this ice that is headed our way! Let's hope we only get snow so our power won't go out!
I guess if that happened, we couldn't use the toaster oven.
Sounds like good news about Lucy. Baby Isaiah, our 4th, is also following the 9th month breast fed baby weight decline. Hopefully, we will be able to go to our weight check tomorrow. Hopefully, it will be good news and we can go back to business as usual for the little guy.
ReplyDeletei don't mind our toaster oven - but you do have to watch it when it comes to toast. chuck hates it - but he's a big toast maker. that would explain it.
ReplyDeletelucy sounds like all of my kids. we're not big people. the dr reminds me every time i bring one of them in for their check-ups. however, he's quick to remind me that as long as they are following a curve of some sort, it's ok. chloe, my "biggest" is built like me and therefore hanging around the 50th for weight and 30th for height. the rest of them are around 10th for weight and 30th for height. (poor chloe... i can relate). she'll catch on, though! i wasn't big on baby food for the kids, either. i got a baby food grinder (a food mill) and took whatever was at the table and ground it up. it worked so well! adding a bit of flavor to their milk works, too - and even chocolate milk has less sugar than a cup of juice, so it's not that bad. try avocado - i heard that's great for protein and fat w/ little ones!
i'll be watching that storm - and rebuking it from all the way over here :)
I feel very strongly about our toaster oven - I enjoy it! Cooking for two is easier, faster, and "greener" for us. I even bake cookies in it when we need just 6 cookies, not a whole 2 dozen! Garlic bread or cheese bread is great too.
ReplyDeleteAbout the growth charts, you're a true nutritional epidemiologist! Add that to your resume. We studied the WHO and US growth charts over the summer in my nutritional epi class and it was so insightful. Lucy is fine, I'm sure. Breastfed babies - as you knew - grow at different rates than formula-fed babies. You're a good mama.
ryc: for the record, i like nicholas sparks. but i don't like it when that's ALL is read. for being secular and contemporary, i like how clean and yet realistic he is. have you read anything by him?
ReplyDeleteLove you! You make me laugh!
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