Stock Up + Chicken Introduction

We've had a hectic few weeks, and my stock pile of freezer food has dwindled to low levels.  Today after getting back from Grandpa's funeral, I started peeling, dicing, steaming, cooking, and baking to build up the food store for the next few weeks.  Since T has been really struggling with ear infections, teething, and now a really nasty case of diaper rash, I limited the new items to one: Mangos.  One the docket for today: crock pot carrots, mangos, baked sweet potatoes (a new method for me!), and peas.  I managed to get everything cooked, then stuck it away in the fridge to puree tomorrow.  My plan was to do it all today, or at least a portion, but T started having a really tough time and needed some cuddles so that too priority. 

Also, we started meat tonight!  (I know, I just mentioned how I wasn't going to start anything new due to all the misery from the past few weeks).  I pulled out my handy-dandy recipe book and realized that they had less-pureed food listed to begin between months 6-8, including meat.  Well, T is nearly 8 months old so of course I had a mini-panic attack thinking she was behind.  Then I remembered the pediatrician suggested meat around month 9.  Anyways, I was planning to grill some chicken tonight for dinner, and cut off a piece for her before marinating ours.  The hubby grilled it up and I stuck it in the baby bullet, then mixed it in with some of her previously-frozen green beans.  Notes for meat: use the smaller container for the baby bullet, use some liquid otherwise it practically vaporizes, and be prepared for an interesting reaction from the baby.  She liked the flavor, I believe, but wasn't sure how to eat it because the texture was different and had larger chunks.  Overall it seemed to go well though!  Anyways, I had major guilt after giving her something new and thinking that I was going to add to her issues, so we're going to hold off on meat again until at least the diaper rash clears up.

One of my concerns with her ear infection is dairy.  I'd slowly started working tiny bits into my diet to see if she could handle me eating ice cream at the cabin.  They were minute bits (we're talking potato chips with some seasoning that had dairy), but it's still dairy.  Well, looking back, her first ear infection started about the same time I started eating some dairy again.  Then this weekend, half way into her 2nd round of antibiotics, I had cheese bread after grandpa's visitation.  We also had zero non-dairy options after the funeral, so I had dairy there too.  These were huge leaps straight into dairy.  Well, suddenly last night she was fussing again and grabbing her ears, despite being partially through her meds.  Research showed that dairy can cause ear infections in kids with dairy allergies or sensitivities.  So now I have major guilt (again).  It's basically the story of my life.  Being a mom is so challenging!!!  I'm not ready to give up nursing yet, but it's episodes like this that make me question my sanity.