First, a mommy question:
Alex is still constipated. He seems to need more liquid in his diet than he is getting from me, but I’m not sure he really needs more food (ie, formula). I’ve tried formula after nursing, but he wouldn’t take it (warm or at room temp). I’ve been trying to get him to drink water from bottles and sippy cups, but it’s not working very well. He doesn’t seem to want to drink from bottles (formula or water) and he’s not very good at sippy cups, so most of it just ends up down the front of his shirt. I’m still trying different bottle options and I may try juice to see if he will drink that. But does anyone have any suggestions for helping get a baby past constipation?
Second, a baby food question:
I’m going to try making baby food this week. If you’ve done that, what did you find that worked or not? What suggestions can you give me?
Finally, a question about ants.
The sugar ants came back last week. I guess Eric never got around to spraying the foundation a couple of weeks ago, so now they’re in my kitchen. Anyway, I started with last summer’s solution, so they’ve only been on my counters in ones and twos instead of hundreds. That’s good. But last night, I realized that since I’ve blocked their access onto the counter, they’ve been coming up through my dishwasher. Which means that they are crawling on (some of) the dishes in dishwasher, dirty and clean.
So here’s my question: If you had ants in your dishwasher, would you
1) re-run the dishwasher to re-clean ALL the dishes?
2) only re-wash the dishes on which you actually found ants?
3) start washing all dishes by hand until the ants are gone?
4) some other option?
And most importantly, how, exactly, does one stop ants from getting into a dishwasher?
Sorry I can’t answer your mommy questions yet. Hope you figure it out!
As for the ants, I would do number 1 and then bleach it to ged rid of them.
@FlyingCAB – @gsowell – You two are too funny!
@FlyingCAB – Yes. I am proper like that, too. As in just for appearances, but totally don’t care in my heart of heart.
How old is Alex now? Many babies go through a period of time where they struggle with going poop. It usually occurs around 5-6 months and it seems that they suddenly have to think about using the muscles necessary to accomplish this. There is a liquid glycerin suppository available for babies/children. It is not something that he will become dependent on and it helps children learn to use their own muscles…it works fast. Adding juice could help too.
@gsowell – Nope. Did that on the ones I was going to eat off… and the ones I served Brent dinner on
But guests got ones rinsed with hot water just in case. I’m SO proper like that…
Am I the only one who would just flick the ants off and pretend I didn’t see them?
Savannah poops like a machine. Hudson on the other hand has a lot of problems. The dr told me to start out with juice…clear ones like apple juice. Now though we have him on milk of magnesia. So I would suggest starting him out on apple juice. Also if you see him grunting then put him in a warm bath and/or pull his knees up to his chest to help him get it out. Not fun but it does help. Hopefully if you can get more liquid in him it will help…especially juices that will help make him go.
Also stay away from food that will constipate him…like bananas or applesauce.
I made my own baby food, so I can comment on that.
I used the Magic Bullet I got as a wedding gift and I loved how easy it was. You could steam (microwave) and puree the food without having to switch containers, which meant less dishes to wash (yay!). The only drawback was having to wait about 3 to 5 minutes before pureeing because if the food was too hot it would pop the lid off and go everywhere. (Yes, I learned that from experience. 
) And as far as pureeing foods go, veggies are the easiest. Just steam peas, green beans, carrots, sweet potatoes (best deal $$-wise), etc. and puree them. Fruits are a bit harder…peaches are WAY too sweet when pureed (I don’t know why) and apples are pointless because buying applesauce is cheaper. Bananas turn all nasty-looking unless you feed right away. I mainly stuck with veggies. You can do chicken that way too, but it has the NASTIEST smell in the whole world, so I wouldn’t recommend it. Anyway, I made all my baby food with my first, so I have loads of information on the topic if you need anything…just message me! 
A blender works great – but depending on how your babies are about “texture” with food – I often just mashed it well with a fork – which left a little more texture and they didn’t dislike food with actual little chunks in it nearly as much as my children who ate really pureed food did when we started introducing the “chunks in” food.
HA. I love Question Day. Ok, so i’m answering the first two just because, not that I’m a mom though – I hope you get better responses. I feel like you should try white grape juice or some other similiar “clear” but sugary liquid to see if he’ll take that from a bottle… then you’ll know if its the water he hates, or the bottle. Plus I think the juice should help on the staying regular?? I think Sarah did this with Cami at my house once (Oly16)
Baby Food – Get an immersion blender! SO EASY! (I used Jessica Seinfields ‘Deceptively Delicious” for a while and it’s basically mixing homemade baby food into cooking/baking.) You just steam whatever you want to turn into baby food until it’s soft, and then the immersion blender turns it into Puree. I got one at walmart for like $10. (Obviously, actual moms might have much better tips, but I’m just sharing my “I have no idea what I’m talking about POV)
Ants – OH.my.gosh. I can COMPLETELY relate. Ants kept getting in my dishwasher last summer too! And there are all over my sink this year. UGH. Personally, I just quickly re-rinsed the dishes with ants on them with hot water… I found that re-running the dishwasher sometimes resulted in baked-on ants in my glasses etc…SO GROSS. I guess it’s different with the twins in the house, but I’m really a fan of the aerosol “Raid” for ants… I sprayed a line of it around the base of the cabinet section that included the dishwasher and around the outside edge of the dishwasher seal and it really helped. GOOD LUCK!