So, it's been a while since we really talked. What's new?
Mmm hm, ooh. Well, good luck with that.
Us? Oh we're just all growed up,
that's all.
Our first baby is now the biggest person in the family. When did that happen? Wasn't it just yesterday that he was the dinky little dude who needed help standing up?
It's hard to believe that not so long ago, all four of our ever taller, always talkative, vastly capable, constantly eating kids were each once chunky, drooling, developing, constantly eating babies. And, while I am so grateful for the years I spent caring for my kids when they were very young, I don't miss that time. Not even a little bit.
Here's a shocking admission: I don't get sad about my kids growing up. I have shed nary a tear about it over the years, not even a happy one. Watching them each become who they are, and helping them get through what comes next. keeps me too preoccupied to lament the bygone baby. I know that having three more babies after the first one gave us lots of cuddling opportunities, in spite of all the growing up going on around here; and that moms who sigh wistfully at baby photos are excited about their kids' futures too.This is different. I was nostalgia-challenged before motherhood, since being told as a kid, "I'm going to put a brick on your head to keep you from growing up so quickly!".
I stare like Data when people declare that someone is growing up too fast.
What do you consider a more appropriate rate of maturation?
Nothing against babies, but I'm pretty sure not enough good has been said about teenagers.They are majestic creatures, I tell you! In the three and half years since he entered teendom, my firstborn has not only made meals and done housework, he's come up with some of the funniest jokes I've laughed at in my whole life.
He's inventing his own bread recipe and teaching himself French.
He's tall enough to reach things I can't!
He also wears this jacket, and I have no idea what it means, but all the cool kids get it. And since he is enormous now, if I want to, I can borrow it and pretend to be cool too. #perks
Another marvel he performs is holding down the fort while I go to work, travel, and make food for my friend: a local lady who just had her own little tiny baby son.
Babymoon Breakfast Cookies
I call them that because I remember my first morning, back in my house, with a brand new baby and a husband out the door for work. I was elated, tired, wired, and finally hungry. No problem, Henry was sleeping. I could make myself a quick....oops, Henry's not sleeping anymore. And so, I rifled through the cupboards, with a big baby boy in the crook of one arm, searching for my first non-hospital meal as a mother.
It was a granola bar, that I got to by savaging the side of a cardboard box and stretch-shredding the wrapper with my teeth. Actually, it was about five granola bars. I remember thinking, "I am going to have to plan this better." as toasted oat crumbs dropped into the ear of my little nursling.
Don't go thinking I actually did figure it out though, not when it would have helped me. Thanks to being a noob, discovering the joys of newborn reflux, and the blur of utter sleep deprivation, I'm pretty sure I spent about four weeks subsisting solely on peanut butter I licked off of my hands, and crumbs from the area of counter top around my toaster.
Many years later, between babies of my own, I brought dinner for a friend who had just given birth. Included in the big paper bag of foil-wrapped packages was a batch of something like the top of a muffin, baked like a cookie. When I talked to her later, she raved about them and asked for more. They're a real meal, that you can hold in one hand. Not unlike a granola bar, but with simpler ingredients, and a little beefier.
Ingredients:
Wet
2 cups dried dates (look at the photos below and instructions on how to prepare them.)
2 cups chopped and toasted nuts (any kind you like, a blend works well)
2 carrots, grated finely
2 cups dried apples, chopped coarsely
3 eggs
1 cup apple sauce
1/2 c. brown sugar
Dry
1/2 cup ground flax seed
1 T. cinnamon
1 t. ginger (Minced fresh is best, but ground works too.)
1/4 t. each, ground nutmeg and cloves
1 1/2 c. flour
1 T baking powder
1 cup oats
Splash o' milk
Date Base:
When I'm baking something a that I want to have reduced/ no butter or sugar, I start with dried dates.
When I'm baking something a that I want to have reduced/ no butter or sugar, I start with dried dates.
I cover them in water, bring them to a boil, and then remove from heat. About thirty minutes later, when they're re-hydrated, I run them through my food mill.
It resembles pudding at this stage; a highly useful, sweet base that I have used in a many a sugar and dairy-free recipe, over the years.
The wet stuff gets mixed together, the dry stuff gets mixed together, then both groups get mixed together and a splash o' milk helps you achieve the perfect consistency for scooping spoonfuls onto a baking sheet and baking at 350 for about twenty minutes.
You can switch up the ingredients, and might need to, considering some of these ingredients can be potential allergens for mom and baby. What is most important is that they contain copious quantities of protein and fiber. Protein makes a lady feel better fed, and most new moms really need fiber, That's all I'm saying about that.
These things I've learned over years of motherhood can actually do somebody else some good, thanks to this guy.
Because he is willing and able to look after his little siblings from time to time, I am able to steal away, to the hushed home of a newborn baby, and deliver these cookies to someone who is just starting her journey. Hopefully, she is better fed than those of us (me) who came before her.
