I know that I never felt as much a part of the Fort Greene / Clinton Hill neighborhoods as since I’ve had Cameron – mostly because I spend so much time walking the streets, playing in the playgrounds and parks, and meeting my neighbors. Anyways, that’s why I do posts about neighborhood news – because I know most of my readers live in this part of Brooklyn, and I think they want to know whats going on in their ‘hood….
I was walking today down Myrtle to go visit the Pratt Post Office and I saw two new businesses opening – both are going to be Grocery options with Organic Items – one smaller than the other.
Two New Grocery Stores for Myrtle Ave. Bring it on!
You can learn more about them on the Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership website. The store opening in the Walgreens Building (375 Myrtle Avenue between Clermont and Adelphi) is going to be opened by people who run a few Organic and produce markets on Fulton. The smaller grocery, Mr. Coco says on the awning that it will be open 24 hours – that could be interesting. It is located at 414 Myrtle Ave. I wish them both luck! And I hope the quality of the food is good – we could sure use that!
Now, on to the Post Office. As you may know the Pratt Post Office is closed for repairs. I finally got a note in my mail about it! I went today to the Mobile Unit to pick up my P.O. Box Mail. There are two Mobile Unit trucks parked at the Post Office during the hours of 9-4 M-F and 8-1 on Saturday.
Skip the Mobile Unit on Myrtle and head around the corner for some real service!
The truck out front only sells stamps – so don’t bother waiting in line there for anything else. There is another truck parked in a small alley on the side of the post office which handles giving out the packages and the P.O. Box Mail. Be sure to bring your ID if you need any of those items!
Cameron loves eating organic YoBaby yogurt, and I love giving it to him – although I’m not crazy about all the sugar. The other day I was over at a friend’s house with Cameron and she told me that Fresh Direct now has YoBaby plain yogurt! I didn’t think that Cameron would go for the non-sweetened version, but he didn’t even bat an eyelash. So from now on at this house it’s YoBaby Plain from Fresh Direct, maybe with a little apple sauce or bananas stirred in.
YoBaby goodness without the sugar!
The other day I was at the playground and a mom got out some pretzel sticks as a snack for her little girl, who is the same age as Cameron (12 months). She asked me if he would like to try one. I was sure with his limited teeth it would be too hard for him, but I gave him one anyways, and boy did he prove me wrong. He loves chomping on them! I ordered some from Fresh Direct, but perhaps you can find them at your local market. The only thing to be careful of is when you get down to the last bite – sometimes Cameron shoves the last big chunk in his mouth, and it can be a little big!
Snyder's Organic Oat Bran Sticks Pretzels
Back in early October when Cameron had his first bad cold it left him with some diarrhea. At first I thought it was just loose poops because he wasn’t eating much solid food during his sickness. But it went on and on, even after he got his appetite back. His poor little butt was suffering with some terrible diaper rash, he was having trouble sleeping, and I was getting worried.
Other than the issues “down below” Cameron was fine. His cold was gone, he was eating, and drinking plenty – so I wasn’t too concerned about dehydration, but I had to solve the problem so I referenced my fail safe, baby 411, and hit up google to see if I could find some advice from the internets.
I read that sometimes babies that are not normally lactose intolerant can become so once they already have diarrhea. This sounded kind of crazy to me – Cameron has been having milk based formula pretty much since birth – but I was desperate, and willing to give anything a try. I called up my pediatrician and asked her opinion. She agreed with the info I had read on line, so I switched Cameron to Soy formula. I thought he wouldn’t drink it because it might taste different, but he seemed fine with it. And in 2 days his poops were back to normal. Yay! I saw her this past Friday for Cameron’s flu shot, and we talked about the diarrhea. She said keep him on the Soy formula for a few more weeks, and then transition him back to dairy.
the Soy Solution!
So if any of you out there have babies with diarrhea that won’t seem to go away, try taking them off dairy…. it might be the thing that does the trick!
As I mentioned before I am always searching for things that Cameron and I both like to eat. I’ve started making instant oatmeal for him (it seems a little less labor intensive than Cream of Wheat). I get the Arrowhead Mills Organic Original Instant Oatmeal from Fresh Direct because its just plain oatmeal with no sugar added.
Yummy Yummy!
Before I microwave it I add some mashed bananas and a dash of cinnamon. The bananas and cinnamon sweeten it up without adding any sugar – so it tastes great! The idea of adding cinnamon was given to me by Celia, who had originally suggested adding it to pureed pears or apples (also, super tasty!) I think it makes anything taste like apple pie, and totally delicious. Cameron agrees!
