Spitty Baby, Vegan Waffles, Father-Son Camping

Kai was a terrible spitter starting very early on. By terrible, I mean spitting up several teaspoons of milk 12 to 15 times every day. When he was two weeks old, my hormone-addled brain was convinced he had something Terribly Wrong with him--like pyloric stenosis. I sat crying in the lactation clinic, worried our little baby would need surgery.

Turns out he's just fine. He has reflux. Which in itself is not great, but manageable. Reflux in breastfed babies can sometimes be caused by maternal diet. So I went on a diet. A really crazy diet consisting of zucchini, pears, turkey, lamb, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, rice, millet...and that's all. After two days, Kai's reflux was cured. After four, I was so run down and sick and tired of those seven things I had to stop.

Eight months later, after several different diets, a lot of internet research, pediatrician visits, and zantac for Kai, he's finally not a spitty baby. Partly he's growing out of it. Partly it's the medicine he's on. And mostly, it's me eliminating all dairy from my diet. This past week was really stressful at work and I had buttery pastries several days in a row. On Friday, Kai was back to his old spitty habits. I started the diet again and 36 hours later, he's not spitting. Pretty compelling evidence.

I've enjoyed the challenge of making foods without [chose one or more: dairy, gluten, soy, corn, eggs], particulary baked goods. I've found some good recipes, including the one I modified and used to make vegan waffles this morning:

Vegan Chocolate Chip Waffles

Preheat waffle maker.
Whisk together in big bowl:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
Add to dry ingredients:
2/3 cup chocolate chips (my favorite are Ghirardelli 60% Bittersweet Chips)
Mix together in second bowl:
2 cups non-dairy milk (I used 1 cup coconut milk, 1 cup soy milk)
1 cup applesauce
2 teaspoons brown sugar (optional)
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Mix wet ingredients into dry.
Cook according to your waffle maker instructions.

In other news, Xander and Micah had a three-day father son camping trip in Silver Lake Campground in Tahoe last week.

Xander is Atlas. Holding up the world.

They had a wonderful time. I'd show you more pictures, but Xander was pants-free most of the time. (Pants have pretty much become optional at our house after 5 pm. Do other parents have little nudists living with them too?) At one point, while Micah and Xander were sitting by the river, Xander turned to Micah and said, "I want to stay here forever." Xander was a super-trooper. They took two mile and a half long hikes and two bike rides. They spent the evenings after dinner watching the stars come out. They had a bonfire one night.