A big boy, going veggie, with friends

This is my main vegetable patch. Or some of it, anyway. Visible is the broccoli in front, and the potatoes behind. Semi-visible are the cabbages and chard, and nearly invisible are the beets and celeriac. Every day we are scrambling to devour all the green yumminess--we can barely keep up with production rates. I collected a good amount of beet seeds from a few plants left from last year. I won't know till I plant them next year, but won't it be the coolest if they grow?

For many reasons but mainly in a bid to be healthier, Partner and I have cut back a little on eating meat. I doubt we'll become full-time vegetarians any time soon, but we're dipping our toes as part-timers, so to speak. Two or three nights a week sees us consuming non-meat-based meals. Now, instead of buying the cheapest meats at the supermarket, we're trying to buy better-quality locally-reared meat. True, it's more expensive; but if we eat meat less often, the cost evens out.

Big boy Franklin is now five months old and learning to drink from a sippy cup. He thinks it's fun to have a drink of water, but when he gets his milk from it, he gets very serious indeed. Partner has been teaching him to drink, as he'll need to when I go back to work (not for several weeks yet). We decided that we'd rather not introduce a bottle, in case it interfered with breastfeeding. So I'm trying to remember to pump in the evening when Franklin's in bed, and freeze it into cubes for later use. I won't be working full-time, and he will be able to eat a little bit of other foods by the time I do go back--hopefully it'll all work out.

We're about to embark on the messy journey of baby weaning. There are two disciplines in the Way of the Baby Food. First is the spoon-fed puree school of thought. More adventurous is the put newspapers on floor, give baby bowl, and stand clear method. Personally, I think the second sounds more fun (and less time-consuming, as baby can play and eat what you eat, while you eat), though we'll have to see how it goes. Maybe we should get a high chair this weekend.

I met some friends at a cafe a few days ago--the first time I've actually made a date to see people since Franklin's birth. True, I've been to see my friends at work a few times, and I usually pop over to the neighbor's a few times a month, but to sit and drink lattes and gossip...I think I need to do this more often.