we've got the beet, we've got the beet, we've got the beet...

yeah! :) we decided to give beets a shot a while ago when we accidentally got some in our produce delivery. i did a simple sauté and really enjoyed them. i purposely ordered more for our recent box. i searched out a new recipe. i found a great sounding one in a new-to-me cookbook called feeding the whole family: cooking with whole foods. it has yummy recipes and includes suggestions at the bottom of each to help include younger family members. for example. i made "nina's famous spring beet soup." it suggested saving some of the cooked beets and carrots for the baby to eat.

nina's famous spring beet soup

prep time: 30 minutes

makes 4 servings

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil or butter

1 medium onion, cut into thing crescents

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon sea salt

3-4 cups water

1 bunch spring beets, cut into large matchsticks (save the beet greens)

1 large carrot, cut into large matchsticks

1/4 head green cabbage, shredded (i forgot to get this at the store, so we didn't include it)

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tablespoon tamari or shoyu

1 tablespoon snipped fresh dill or 1 teaspoon dried, for garnish

1/4 cup sour cream, for garnish

heat oil in a 4-quart pot. add onion, garlic, and salt; sauté until soft. add water, beets, carrot, and cabbage and bring to a boil. lower heat and simmer, covered for 10 to 15 minutes, until vegetables are tender.

meanwhile, wash beet greens, remove tough stems, and cut greens into short, thin strips. add beet greens, lemon juice, and tamari to soup; simmer another 3 to 5 minutes. serve at once, garnished with dill and sour cream.

for babies 10 months and older: remove some cooked beet and carrot pieces from the soup and puree or serve whole as finger foods. go easy on beets for babies (only a teaspoon or less at a time) as they have a strong cleansing effect on the bowels. (we just gave arden a raw carrot stick)

my input- i loved the soup. i forgot the cabbage and i don't think it was lacking because of it. also, the sour cream and dill were a really nice touch. i liked the tangy taste they added. i didn't use fresh squeezed lemon juice. i used one of those plastic lemon squeeze things you can get in the produce department. also, i had intended to add barley to the soup to make it more substantial. forgot to do it. i'm going to try it next time. it was a good meal, but not totally filling enough. the book suggested serving a tempeh dish alongside for a full meal. i figured making one dish while taking care of arden was enough :)

arden has been enjoying carrots for the past few days. we've been giving her earth's best carrots and yesterday we let her gnaw on a carrot stick. i think the carrot stick felt good on her gums. she isn't quite back to her usual happy self. i'm wondering if another tooth will come in. her sleep isn't horrible, but not awesome. she wakes up twice to eat and go back in the crib. then the third time i bring her to bed with us. i would love to take out one of those feedings. all in due time.

we've gotten into a routine for her morning nap. i've been wanting to get her away from napping in my lap. so now about an hour and a half to two hours after she wakes in the morning, we go to my bed. i nurse and once she is asleep i move away. i can then take a little nap too if the night was particularly rough or i can get up. she's been sleeping wonderfully this way. more often than not, she's slept for about an hour. this is a big improvement.

she can sit by herself now too. on sunday, she sat unassisted for 15 minutes. she doesn't always do so well, but it's neat to see her improve. she even caught herself a couple times when she was about to tip over.

she's really working on trying to move. she did a little bit of an army-crawl this morning. yesterday, when i went to wash her diapers, i left her playing in her room on the carpet. when i came back she had pushed herself backwards all the way to the wall between her car seat and a duffel bag of extra clothes for her. she didn't know how to get out of that space :) it was cute.

we're loving all the new things she can do. there are struggles because she has a very strong personality. but we love our big, little girl. she is amazing.

and just for fun. here is a photo of malo chillin' in the co-op bag.