Day 9: Fermenting and Playing

Last night went remarkably well so we are cautiously putting duck egg yolks in the "safe" category. I feel like it's a little too early for a big "hurrah!" because some foods have taken days before they caused a reaction for Ellie, but I remain cautiously optimistic.

After having several good nights of sleep in a row (one waking to nurse is so much easier than two or three) I felt a burst of energy this morning so Ellie and I tackled some fermenting projects. I have made sauerkraut several times before, but never with much success. Thankfully my new friend Chris posted awesome tips on her blog for how she creates fail-proof kraut. I incorporated some of her tips and the kraut already looks better than any of my other batches. Ellie had fun helping me pound the cabbage:

She did a pretty good job of not eating the raw cabbage - she only managed to sneak one small piece. :) After that I made my first batch of beet kvass, which I learned how to make from the Reversing Food Allergies online cooking class I'm taking. It was the simplest ferment I've made so far! And so pretty. After about an hour and a half, I had two jars of kraut and a gorgeous jar of kvass:

This evening after dinner my husband and I were both in awe of our little girl. She was playing joyfully and independently. She wasn't whining or asking to nurse or following us right on our heels as we moved about cleaning up after dinner. She pretended she was driving a laundry basket, sang "I'm a Little Teapot," bossed her baby doll around and spun and spun until she was shouting "DIZZY!" and falling on the floor. As Ellie and I headed upstairs for bed I turned to Ian and said "Am I crazy? Or is something huge happening here?" Ian agreed with me that her mood and independence were remarkable.

That said, bedtime was still a disaster. Ahhh well. We can't get everything fixed in one day, can we? Ellie's ouchie tummy returned for bedtime and after much crying and kissing of stuffed animals, she is finally asleep.