Eating Healthy

I got teeth! (^_^)

This post will be about some of my frustrations lately, so proceed with caution.

A week from now, my daughter will turn 11 months old. (Man, where does time go?) She's growing beautifully, reaching all her milestones as she should. To this day she can stand as long as she holds onto something (though yesterday we noticed her standing on her own for about two seconds), has three teeth, with the fourth coming in any day now, talks all the time, and she still breastfeeds plenty (though it's getting less and less). She seems overall to be a happy baby.

However, she is almost 11 months old, which means weaning will be soon on us. There's really no problem with that, it's the natural order of things, but I realized something couple days ago. While she's been drinking less and less breast milk lately (on her own), we failed to up her nutrition during regular meal times. I've been living in "7-8 month old baby"-mode for the past 3 months, where most of her nutrition still came from breast milk.

Don't get me wrong, she is being fed, but she generally eats what we eat with my husband, and it's not always the most balanced. We don't eat anything heavily fried or unhealthy, though, so that's at least a plus, but I doubt we reach our daily requirements of fruits and vegetables, for example. Maybe I kind of do, since I eat school lunches at least 4 days a week. (Don't think about US lunches here; Japanese lunches are healthy and delicious. Here's an article from the Washington Post about Japanese school lunches.) But I doubt my husband cooks a separate lunch for himself, which leaves our daughter eating either last night's dinner, bread, or apple slices (on a good day) during the day.

So what do I do? Last night I decided to google "healthy weekly meal plan for toddlers" because A, I have no idea how much of what she should eat daily or weekly, and B, even if I knew the amounts, I doubt I could make it varied. But, it couldn't be that complicated.

What I found made me a bit upset. "Turkey Avocado Pitas," "Belgium Flax Waffles," "Pasta with Homemade Marinara Sauce," "Quinoa Fajitas," and don't forget "Vegetarian Tamale Pie"... I don't even know what that last two supposed to be, forget about making it! Yes, yes, I'm sure, if I googled it I could find a recipe or something, but that's besides the point. When did toddler nutrition become so.... sooo.... complicated and fancy? I understand variety, and I appreciate it, too. But, and correct me if I'm wrong, the shopping list for these meals seems like something I could only get in WholeFoods (costing an arm and a leg) and not very season-friendly (one of the breakfasts had blueberries... in February...). And considering how little a toddle eats per meal (according to Health24 a one-year-old should eat a tablespoon of each food), a weekly meal like the one above doesn't seem at all cost efficient, especially considering that even the smallest packaging tends to be pretty big, or if not, quite expensive.

There was one website that seemed a bit better, since I actually knew what most of the meals were supposed to look like and they put little reminders of making batches and freezing it for later. They even pulled the meals apart by food categories: grains, fruits, veggies, dairy, protein. Also, since it was a single sample weekly meal plan, I could even forgive them for having blueberries and peaches in there. Thw few problems I did have with it were not being able to buy some things (like turkey) in Japan and fish or beans/lentils missing completely.
The best looking guide I found was from a Canadian website, and it came in the form of a pdf. They included not just nutrition but things about keeping active as well. It's a start.

This is going to be a three-day weekend for us here in Japan. I'm going to spend it by making an extra effort in creating nutritious and healthy meals for my child. Because nothing says "I love you" better than a good meal... well, at least for a Hungarian. (^_~)v

Knitting Update #2 - Mom's Cardigan

This project has been in the works for three and a half years. Out of that time, I probably didn't touch it for about two years for sure. The reason is simple, I think: I stalled out at the sleeves like I always do. It's the decreases, or more specifically keeping count of them, that leaves all my sweaters and cardigans somewhat unappealing once I get there.

But my mom's 50th birthday was coming up in August, and I figured two sleeves will be a quick knit for over two weeks time spent on vacation. Needless to say I was wrong. For one, I have a baby, and for another, we were always on the move, visiting one family member or another, so not much downtime remained. The fact that once I finished a sleeve I realized it was too narrow and had to reknit it again, didn't help either.

But over fall and winter I made sure it was a priority, and just before Christmas, it was done. Well, the knitting part, at least. Then came the blocking, and the three days of drying because our house is so cold. It's hard to block something this big when you don't have a bed and your baby crawls around all the warmer parts of the house. So I ended up mailing it out a couple days before New Year's.

Pattern: Indigo Playmate by Wendy Bernard
Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted in Black (195) and Little Lovely (92)
Needle: US 7/ 4.5mm
Size: Medium

The yarn is Malabrigo, which was great to knit with. My mom chose pink, because she loves that color, and we chose black, because she wanted more of a coat-type cardigan, something to put on as she ran out to the store, so this way she wouldn't need to wash it every 5 minutes. I estimate I used about 6-7 skeins of black and a skein and a half of pink to complete this project.
My mom has a bit wider shoulders and bigger chest than I do, plus adding the extra ease that a coat would need, it looks quite big on me. Luckily it fits my mom much better. Some other changes I made were adding some buttons and pockets. Unfortunately, I could not find quite big enough buttons here in Fukuyama, which would please my mom as well, so the ones I ended up adding are just a tiny bit too small, hence they unbutton quite easily.
The pockets turned out alright, though I probably should have picked up the pocket stitches the other side, to keep the "lip" on the right side, making them lie flatter, than they do now. Luckily the pink edge helped a lot in this regard.
As for the sleeves, I decided to lose the second set of decreases completely, and I'm glad I did. They are nice and loose now, easy to wear over another sweater. I also knit them a bit long, as I like my sleeves on the longer side, thinking my mom can roll back the pink cuff if she needs to.
I also decided to crochet the belt instead of knitting it, but forgot to use a bigger hook for casting on, and it curls. Oh well, it adds an interesting design element.

Overall I'm satisfied with the project, and I'm glad I finished it. My mom likes it a lot, too, and that's always a plus, especially as I'm quite sure it'll be the last one for a while. It's now my husband's, dad's, and brother's turn to receive something. (^_^)v

Knitting Update #1 - Rini

It's been bugging me a little lately that this blog is supposed to be about knitting, at least in part, but there has not been one knitting related post in.... a while. So let's fix this, shall we?

In the past year Rini has received four knitted objects from my needles. These are as follows:

#1 - Night & Day Baby Blanket 

Cherry blossom viewing in Onomichi on April 10, 2012.

Pattern: OpArt by Melissa Dominguez 

Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Chunky in Oceanos/240 and Citrus/91 colors, 3 skeins each

Needle: US 11

Final Size: ~ 41 inches across

If I remember correctly, I started this blanket maybe two or three days before Rini was born. At that time, I didn't know about this, and thought that surely I would have another week before any Cesarian, and would finish by then. Since that was not the case, it ended up being my hospital project to work on, while she slept. I think it took me about three weeks to finish this, making me consider this a really quick project.

I've always loved Malabrigo for it's colors and softness, but this yarn went above and beyond! It's absolutely luscious and spongy, and great to knit with! It does fuzz a bit with wear, but it's nice and warm. Since it's not meant to be washed every other day, I use it at home only when Rini sleeps to avoid making it dirty as much as possible.

#2 - February Betty Lou

Not pictures again!

Pattern: Betty Lou Lace Cardigan by Kristen Rengren

Yarn: Jade Sapphire Mongolian Cashmere 2-ply

Needle: US 1.5/ 2.5mm

Size: 0-3 months old

This cardigan only resembles the pattern in name and starting number of stitches. Instead of garter on top I did stockinette, and instead of the lace pattern in the book, I used the one in EZ's February Baby Sweater. It took me about two and a half months to knit, but I didn't work on it every day or anything like that. Though I'm happy with it, it became too warm for Rini to wear it by the time I finished, so I hope it'll be good for baby #2. The yarn is really yummy, but it also looks really delicate, and not sure if I would really let my baby wear it for long, unless it's a special occasion. (>o<)

#3 - Stella Pixie Hat

Pattern: Stella Pixie Hat by Kristen Rengren 

Yarn: 1/4 skein (110 meters) of Malabrigo Yarn Sock

Needle: US 0/ 2mm

Size: bit small for 7mo Rini 

Fun little pattern, but turned out a bit small, making it really easy for Rini to pull it off, like a hood. Once again, baby #2 will enjoy it.

As for yarn, I used what remained from making a baby cardigan for my cousin's baby last year. The colors are nice and neutral, and they didn't pool at all. I like the springiness of it, but it always surprises me just how thin it is. Still, it was a relatively quick project, taking about two weeks to make.

#4 - All Ears

Pattern: All Ears by Katt Walker

Yarn: Karabella Yarns Boise

Needle: US 3/ 3.25mm

Size: 8 inches long

First I made a 9 inch long 3-stitch I-cord, then made ear flaps using seed stitch. When both were done, I cast on extra stitches, and knit the hat until the yarn almost ran out. It's slightly on the big side, so I think she'll be able to use it for at least a few years.

This yarn is the same one I used for my Ripley hat (where, the yarn was doubled up), so I knew it will be soft and warm. Finally something she can wear for a while!

There are also a few projects that I started but have not yet finished for various reasons.
These are:
* Bliss by Allegra Wermuth, is a current project. I made gauge swatch, did some calculations, cast on for 18mo size, and after finishing all of the cable section and getting used to knitting the skirt, .... I realized it was waaaaaay too small. So now I went up a needle size and cast on for 2T. I also want to add some button holes so that the straps can be somewhat adjustable. It'd be nice if Rini could use this as a little dress from spring to fall, then as a vest/skirt in winter and after. 
* Two Just A Little Undershirt by Robin Hansen, hibernating because I can't quite make the crocheted edges work.
* And one of Carina Spencer's baby cardigans, hibernating because my gauge is weird, and I should measure it against Rini, to make sure it'll fit. Plus, in truth, by this point, the size probably won't work any longer, with winter almost gone (especially by the time I'd be done).

So there you have it. All the Rini related projects. Next I'll show off something I made for my mom.