Grand opening!

I'm quite excited- it's been a very full week. Turning thirty, sleep issues with the Milk Monster, and opening my online shop have all left me feeling wrung out.
Perhaps Zak was reacting to the excitement of me churning out all sorts of salves and potions, but he's had a hard time sleeping at night lately. He 's not had this much trouble since those early days, but I'm sure we'll pull through. In the meantime, I've been logging some good time on the treadmill because of this. At least he's still able to get to sleep by being in the Moby wrap or Bjorn while I walk about. But I'm burying the lead: Zak has now been "introduced" to solids.
We skipped over that nasty rice cereal stuff and went for roasted sweet  potato. Zak wasn't terribly thrilled with it, and I'm hoping that avocado or apple goes better. I figure that if I were that young again, I'd want some flavor, some sweetness, and maybe even some texture- none of which can be found in your box of rice cereal. So it's fruits and veggies to start with.
In the meantime, Zak is still almost exclusively breastfed, if you count the 2 tablespoons of sweet potato he's had in the past week. This may shock the doctor we're scheduled to see- anyone know what to do when the doctor faints?
At long last, the store is open. I've got a great salve for everything from diaper rash to dry lips, a rich hand and body cream, a brown sugar scrub, and an oatmeal soap that's ugly but my favorite so far. Take a look at:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/ummzak .
Someone's next set of teeth may be coming in, so I've got soothing to do. Be well.

Fresh Man-baby scent.

Zak lacks that "baby" scent, as I don't put him in scented diapers, nor do I use commercially prepared baby products. I recently made a chamomile soap for him, and his all-purpose baby oil has chamomile and a bit of lavender, but otherwise, he smells like sour milk. And while I'm not fond of the artificially scented junk for babies, I kind of feel like the son of a woman who whips up handmade body products ought to have some interesting-smelling stuff on hand.

When Zak was born, I had to mentally file away my lovely patterns for girls, but also my plans for lavender-infused products for the most part. Lavender is not the best thing for little boys, so he gets very little of it in his baby oil, and none elsewhere. Chamomile is fine, but the essential oil is quite expensive, leaving me wondering what I could use on Zak that I can afford.

I'm considering rosemary and tangerine for Zak: tangerine is a less-common citrus allergen, and rosemary is antiseptic and good for enhancing memory. It's also not a "girly" scent. If you think finding a "manly" scent is tough- guys can be prickly about that- try a "manly baby" scent, or anything that's both masculine and appropriate for an infant.

This may be relevant beyond personal preference: I would like to include baby products in my line. Also, as I'm looking toward the end of Ramadan, body products and Zak are coming together in an interesting way.

This is Zak's first Ramadan and Eid. Last year this time, I was hoping that some miracle would occur to save my marriage and make Zak's first Ramadan one with him going to the mosque for prayers with Dad tucked in his Bjorn and family photos sent out with Eid cards. That miracle didn't happen, obviously. I'm in no way sure that Zak will get a gift from his dad, as there's nothing for my ex to get out of it personally. So, I decided to ensure that Zak will get at least one gift that didn't come from me, by participating in a gift exchange.

My lucky (or not, depending on how you feel about it) recipient will get some bath salts and hand cream. Any suggestions for the hand cream scent? The bath salts are already prepared, with bay, rosemary and eucalyptus. In return, I'm hoping that Zak will get a book or a toy that he will like; either way, he'll have a bit of the Eid I'd wanted for him- a few gifts and lots of love.