We like making our own homemade baby food from sweet potatoes. We put in the effort so we can control the ingredients and ensure our boy William Tell has foods without a lot of chemicals we can’t pronounce.
For example, today’s recipe for sweet potatoes is….
Wait for it…
Sweet potatoes and water.
Making it could not be simpler – peel and cube sweet potatoes, boil until soft, mush and serve.
I find it is easy to use a food mill to get a consistent texture, but you don’t have to do so.
Our boy likes it, and it saves quite a bit in food costs.
Now that Genny is getting healthy, she constantly searches for healthy recipes. She is proud of the lifestyle changes she has made, and I can see a difference in he – both physically and emotionally. She is wanting to slim down some more before we get serious about another child. But I can see a new baby eating homemade food exclusively.
To be fair, homemade food is more time consuming to make than opening up those little jars, but it is not hard and does not take that much time to make.
I took off of work to bond with my son – I guess men generally don’t take off of work as long as I did, but I had the time and really want to bond with my boy – I know he won’t remember any of this, but I will. Now, since I am off, I am doing a few things here and there that later, when Tell is older, I can show him that I was thinking about him.
This may seem a little strange, but one of my “projects” was to start on a war club for him. As a child I was very interested in Native American culture and handicraft. I remember reading about a custom of some tribes to tie an overhand know in a young tree, so that as the tree grows it turns into a knot perfect for the end of a war club. The idea was that is a father did this when his son was born, by the time his boy was ready to become a warrior, the tree was ready to be fashioned into his weapon. I clearly remember thinking, I wish my dad had the foresight to make me a war club, so…..
The video above shows the process of making William’s War Club, I doubt he will ever use it, heck – I pray he will never use it, but I bet we will think fondly of me as he looks at what I made for him when he was so young.
I spend a lot of time getting him things that he can use when he is older – I don’t think he will remember toys, but things like this and the lifetime hunting license I bought him at he second birthday will stay with him for life.
She wanted to show off the nursery she worked so hard to create. Her family really helped, her mom and sister came and painted. Additionally, her youngest older sister painted some really cool pictures. She even sneaked in an apple with an arrow through it for Tell…
As Genny shows the nursery you can tell her pride in the work. As well as the excitement of having our first child. I am glad WT has a nice nursery. However, I care more about the boy than I do his bed.
Update:
Now that the boy is 4 years old we finally packed up the crib, he doesn’t spend much time in here anymore – as he would much rather be out and around folks trying to get them to play policeman, army man, doctor, or, his favorite, cooker (chef).
I am glad he had such a nice nursery, but he is a lot more fun now that he is bigger. Now the boy has a 2×4 loft bed that has stairs and his name on it. I was going to build one, and even bought a book for it, but Genny couldn’t wait and found one on craigslist.
I cannot hardy contain myself – the weight of it and the wonder
Today, my son was born.
I spent years – decades really, waiting on him, preparing for him, finding his mother – ensuring that she was strong and able in all the ways I am not. I wanted to make sure I found someone that is better at expressing emotion better than I am. In case you haven’t noticed I use humor to dance around how I really feel, that’s a great coping mechanism, but not so good at letting a boy know where he stands in the world.
So I found a wonderful woman to be his mom, and MONTHS listening to her talk about baby clothes and nursery decorations. Important, without a doubt, but as a man, a prospective father I was worried more about how to teach him how to be a man.
It started with choosing his name, which I was able to do before I found his mom (it took me longer to convince her to agree to the name then it did to find it).
I wanted a strong name, a historical guidepost. But it had to be common enough not to get undue playground attention… I choose William Tell. Now most people are familiar with the story of how William Tell shot the arrow off his son’s head, and many people know it is because he refused to bow to the hat of a noble that was placed in the court square as a symbol of oppression.
Fewer know that William Tell drew two arrows that day, and after he shot the arrow off his son’s head the nobleman asked him why he drew two arrows since he obviously would not get a second try. William replied “Because if my first arrow killed my son, my second would kill you”… Obviously the nobleman did not appreciate the honesty or the sentiment so he took him into custody.
William escaped, killed the noble, and started the revolution that started the Swiss Federation.
Good story, it shows a man that is skillful, confident, honest, bold, and not afraid to stand for what is right even if it costs him. All ideals I want William to hold dear. These are the ideals that our Country needs but is losing.
But it does not stop there, I am sneaky…
William Tell is also a primary character in one of the best western series of all time, Louis L’Amour’s Sackett Series (in the movie he is played by Sam Elliot). Tell’s dad tells him he named him after a man he admired for his ability to shoot, and for doing what’s right.
I plan on spending a lot of time with Tell reading him Louis L’Amour westerns, outside the Bible, I doubt there are few places that pack so much knowledge on being a man than in those books.
As I look at him, I marvel, I see so much potential, a blank slate.
I wonder who he will grow to be. But as I wonder and wish for him to have a happy and successful life I don’t wish for him to be richer or have more, or easier a life than I have had – But I do want him to be happier, stronger, better prepared, more able to adapt. I want him to be the type of man that other men look to in crisis, a leader, a man with an unshakable moral foundation. I want him to be better than me.
I don’t care what he decides to do for a living, as long as he works hard at it, and is the best he can be.
I want the best for him, and for him to get it, I realize how much I have to do to help him prepare. My life has changed forever because…
