Oh, my poor babies! Though in good spirits, their little eyes look terrible! Titus woke up yesterday with pink eye in one eye. I just knew that’s what it was as soon as I saw it. Then this morning when Jada came into my room both of her eyes were red and goopy. I’m doing my best to keep them clean by dabbing with a warm washcloth. I called Adelia yesterday for advice, and she had me come over and gave me some Eye Bright herbs and told me to make a tea with it and put drops in Titus’s eye a few time a day. Now I’m doing it with Jada too. I read that breast milk is the best thing for pink eye, but of course I learn this a week after I’ve weaned Titus (that’s another post!). Bummer!

So, I was wondering if anybody had any advice, or knew of any other natural treatments that might work well. Titus’s eye does look better today. Hopefully it won’t last long! Poor things!!

Apple Spice Cake

As with any "non traditional" cake, the batter for this cake will not seem "right".

1/2 cup molasses
1 cup applesauce
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1-3/4 cup flour
1 tsp ginger

Mix the molasses and applesauce in a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Bake in a nonstick 8 x 8-inch baking pan or one sprayed with a non-stick spray, in a 350° F for 30 to 45 minutes, or until it tests done. **The batter may be a bit dry and you may need to add more applesauce or a bit of water. Try adding 1/4 cup of applesauce first then gradually add a bit of water by tablespoon**

We have added a bit of pure cocoa (2 tablespoons) to make a chocolate flavor.

Applesauce Spice Cake

3 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 1/4 cup frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped dates
1 1/2 cups ground almonds (optional)
2 Macintosh apples – peeled, cored and finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour one 9 inch square baking pan.

Beat the eggs until they drop like ribbons from the beaters. Continue beating and add the oil in a thin stream. Beat in the 1 cup applesauce and the 1 cup unsweetened apple juice concentrate then mix in the flour gradually until well blended. Add the baking soda, ground ginger, ground almonds and apples. Fold together until well mixed.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees F about 40 minutes or until the cake tests clean with a knife or toothpick. Cool completely before frosting.

(This is Titus, Kendra’s son (since I didn’t have a good teething picture of my son). As you can tell, he’s not doing so hot)

Five in the past three weeks. Five teeth , that is. Yes, our poor son started poppin’ out teeth left and right…so we’ve been on a fast and furious teething ride since! Now that things seem to be subsiding, we’re holding our breath to see if there are any stragglers! He now has a total of seven teeth (four on top, three on bottom)…I think he’s ready for a steak.

As you can imagine, it has been a…rough…three weeks. I’m so, SO, glad that I’m a stay-at-home mom, because I really can’t imagine having to roll out of bed and go to work after rocking the poor teething babe all night! I’m probably doing the world a favor by keeping my frumpy, mother-of-a-teething-baby self inside and out of view anyways.

I’m not sure what your baby is like, but mine gets particularly clingy and quite irritable when teething. I love the clingy part (because that means more cuddling), but it does get a little overwhelming when trying to cook, clean, fold laundry, start a garden, etc. The hardest part (other than watching him in pain and feeling like I couldn’t do anything about it!) was the lack of sleep.

Fortunately, I think we are finally emerging from this teething marathon and his sleep schedule has gotten back to normal!

For those of you mamas who are anticipating a teething baby, or who are in the midst of it right now, here are a few things to try:

Hyland’s Homeopathic Teething Tablets. These are my favorite and shall always be in my cabinet, diaper bag, or purse.

Hyland’s Homeopathic Teething Gel . I haven’t used this yet, but I recently saw it on the market and am very interested in learning more about it! What a great alternative to orajel.

Herbs for Kids Gum –omile Oil. Contains Oil of Clove which is a well-known home remedy for teething and toothaches.

Infant Pain Reliever . Try holding off on this until it is most needed, since it can’t be given around the clock. Perhaps wait until bed-time so that it’ll help your baby (and you! ) to get some rest.

Teething Biscuits. After I realized that my son could eat finger-food (I’m a dummy), I started giving him teething biscuits and he has loved them!

Massage . The counter pressure of massage often alleviates teething pain and soothes the gums.

Allow your baby to chew on something…anything! . Ok, well, not anything! Make sure that whatever your baby chews on is clean, non-toxic (avoid plastic items, especially soft plastics) and not small enough to choke on. Refrigerated bananas, wet wash clothes and frozen bagels are good choices.

Here is a recipe that Kendra gave me for the Oil of Clove homemade teething solution:

4 drops clove bud essential oil

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Combine ingredients. Try this out on your own gums first and adjust formula accordingly, keeping in mind that a baby’s gums are much more sensitive than yours.

What have you used and found successful (or not successful)? Any more tips for dealing with teething babies?

Check out more Works-for-Me Wednesday ideas here .

This is like the third time in four weeks…

Poor guy. Last week it was a high fever (with a few symptoms: congestion, minor cough, irritability and sleepiness). This week? A lower fever (101 F), a horrid cough (flemmy and very nasty), and tons of green boogers.

Last night was not fun for him (or I) as he was up all night coughing…and gagging (on the flem). Needless to say, he didn’t get much sleep. I took a picture of his slimy face this morning…I had just finished getting dressed and walked into the kitchen where he was playing in the pack-n-play…and saw his face…it was covered with green slime that he had smeared all over his face. It was disgusting. So…the good mother that I am, I had to get pictures of his first really slimy face. Don’t worry, I’ll spare you the pictures (lest I ruin your day).

All that to say, I’m trying a few things to ease the coughing and nasty nose and need more suggestions:

1. Running the cool-mist humidifier

2. Making sure he’s eating often

3. Using saline drops and the nasal aspirator (to his chagrin. He turns into an 8-month old boxer when I try to suction his nose)

4. Giving him “Sniffles” (by Newton Homeopathics)

5. Giving him Baby Plex Vitamin C drops for Infants (by Nature’s Plus) to whip the cold

So…any more suggestions?

You see it printed at the end of every section on childhood ailments in your baby manual …you also find it listed on all of the medicine bottles that you possess. Yes, that notorious phrase that you read when in need of pertinent information for caring for your little one: "Please consult your pediatrician"

Don’t you hate that? Well, I do. Nobody likes being a pest . Nobody likes calling the pediatrician in the middle of the night as he groggily answers the phone to say…"Uh…Hey Dr. ______, it’s me again. I hope this isn’t a bad time (*nervous laugh*). Um…my son is running a fever, so I was wondering how much Tylenol I should I give him. The bottle said to consult a pediatrician"…

This past week I was busily trying to keep my 8-month old’s high fever down. Well, after about two days of this high fever we took him to the doctor.

While there, his pediatrician gave me a VERY helpful little chart…something I’ve been wishing I had since the first time he got a fever!

The Medicine Measurement Chart!

Yep, this is the same info the doc will tell you in the middle of the night when you call him for help. What a blessing! My doc was so kind and said, "By the way, here’s a helpful little chart for your files. This is the info about infant baby medicine measurements that they’re talking about when you read the back of the bottle…just in case you were wondering" . Thank you, Doc! So, since there are many young mothers out there who could benefit, I thought I should link a copy for you. So, here you go!

Click on this link to download a copy: medicine-measurement-chart.pdf

I will be making copies of this, scanning it into my computer, and making sure that it’s filed away safe and sound for when future needs arise

Graphic from allposters.com

We’ve tried a few things, with little success, so I’ve been studying it out a little more to see what we can do. I guess this is a common occurrence, so I wanted to let all of you new mommies know what you can do about it if your sweet baby ends up with the same kind of rash! Here is what Dr. Greene says:

Getting a rash under the neck is very common at 4 months because the skin of the neck’s folds rubs against itself. The heat, friction, and moisture combine to irritate the skin and interrupt the normal outside, protective layer. This rash will often stay there until kids are sitting up most of the day, no matter how it is treated.

Sometimes yeast can get into this irritated skin. When that happens, a yeast cream should reliably get rid of the infection within two weeks, but the rash will usually stay. If the rash is spreading to other spots of high friction or moisture, that would be expected, but if the rash is spreading to normal, exposed skin that doesn’t get this kind of stress, it should be checked again.

As for cleansing the area, soap can be irritating. I prefer just using warm water and a very soft washcloth, and then drying it very carefully. Air to the area is very healing, and sometimes a very thin layer of something like A&D ointment can protect the skin.

I’ve also read/been told that the following are possible solutions:

• Cornstarch
• Monistat
• Burts Bee’s Baby Powder
• Calendula Ointment
• Aquaphor

Has anyone ever tried any of these? Any ideas on the subject?