The Harvey Family: Blake

With Blake's birthday fast approaching, I figured I'd better get a plan for a birthday cake so Blake can have a cake to smash. With all his food limitations I had to really do some research. I found a cake recipe that is dairy free and soy free with a milk and butter replacement and decided to do a test run. I also replaced the eggs since that is something else that Blake hasn't tried yet and is a common food allergy. I ended up using almond milk, vegan butter, and applesauce as an egg replacement. Since I didn't want to make a full cake, I just halved the recipe and made cupcakes instead of a full cake. I'm sure this would make experienced bakers cringe but I like to experiment in the kitchen, haha. I filled the cups up about 2/3 of the way and they totally expanded over the sides but luckily didn't spill over in the oven. The second major issue was that the consistency of the cake itself was way too fluffy and basically just fell apart. After thinking long and hard about what went wrong I realized that I substituted for 3 eggs instead of 2 (the recipe calls for 4). Hopefully this was the problem and when I try it next time it won't just fall apart. This was my first time ever making a cake from scratch so there were already a lot of new things to think about. Since I never bake I don't have an electric mixer either which I was worried about, but since it was a small recipe it didn't end up being too big of a problem to just whisk. The cupcakes ended up being really tasty and the icing was fantastic despite all the substitutions... and I don't even like cake. The next time I make it I think I'll reduce the amount of sugar the cake calls for though since it was ridiculously sweet.

The other thing we tried this week was a new tactic to try and treat his eczema. We found a couple sources that recommended using breastmilk to treat it. We figured what did we have to lose? After 3-4 days of 2 applications per day, the couple little spots on his face seemed to look much better as well as a finger sized dot on his hand that has been lingering for a while. His feet on the other hand looked terrible after not using his standard treatment of lotion multiple times during the day and using breastmilk instead. We're still trying to figure out what the cause is but there are just too many things to test.

This week, Blake:

has been pointing at EVERYTHING. We walk him around the house and point things out to him and tell him what they're called and now he wants to know the name for anything and everything he sees. He's started doing this at the grocery store... sorry buddy, we can't go down all the aisles and play this game.
when you try and get him to tell you the name of things that we've pointed out, the best you'll get is "ck". A lot of things we point out either start with a C or end in a CK so I guess he's just hoping he'll get something right eventually. Some of the things that fit that category are sock, clock, drink, and cup among other things. The other thing he has been saying a lot is "mama". I'm starting to think he means it.
is all about buttons. He loves pointing out the buttons on Daddy's shirts before he goes to work. He also loves pushing all the buttons on his toys. He's even gotten good at pinching Scout's paws to get him to play songs and talk to him.
has been eating a few more solids. Lunch is the best time for him since it takes a while when he feeds himself and breakfast is usually in a rush to get out to a playdate and by dinner I'm ready to hand him off to Daddy so I can tackle other chores. This week he loves toast and ground beef. He always gets excited and points to his Cheerios but will only eat them until something else is offered, then they're "old hat".
has been battling the runny nose and is finally over it we hope. Getting him to stay asleep has been the tricky part since he'll wake up gasping for breath during his naps. As long as I'm there to rub his back he'll relax and go back to sleep. Hopefully it's just a cold and not allergies that he'll have to deal with like I have.
has been sticking his tongue out constantly. I guess he likes to feel his new tooth with the underside of his tongue. Man he has a long tongue.
has been getting quite mischievous. We try to get most things out of his reach so we don't have to constantly say "no touch" when he's in an area where we let him explore. However the trash can is one thing we can't move really. I was telling him to not touch it and he thinks my attempts at reprimanding him are hilarious... he just starts laughing. Oiy.
has been nursing so much faster. It used to take 20 mins to eat and now it can take as little as 7-8.
will put anything in his mouth off the floor. He has gotten really good at feeding himself so he'll pick something up and have it in his mouth in less than half a second. Taking him to the park really isn't fun since he just wants to play on the ground and eat things. However, now it should be more fun to take him to the park since he:
made huge improvements in his walking! Previously, he would just take a couple fast steps and land on furniture but now he actually walks up to 7-8 steps and even stops and stands. You can tell he is so proud of himself when he makes it to his destination and just has this huge smile on his face.