The Do's and Don'ts of Visiting a New Mom (straight from the horses' mouths!)

A new (again) mom friend of mine suggested I do a post on what NOT to do when visiting new parents. As I am expecting Baby Sister to arrive in about 4 weeks, I am gladly obliging in selfish hopes that I will benefit from doing so. This is a progressive post, so keep commenting about what I should add!!

And, If you are expecting a baby soon, share this post (passively...) on your Facebook page, or as a spam email, so your family and friends can be prepared to be the most supportive of you!!

Thanks!


Food

• Do not show up without (easy-to-heat) food. In disposable containers.
• or, if you are staying with the new parents, do be proactive and plan to cook meals.  Tell momma and daddy as such.
• if they have a small child already, do make meals that will be eaten by said child (i.e. avoid super-spicy foods)
• When bringing food, do consider other items in addition to, or besides, dinner such as:
• breakfast
• fresh fruit and veggies, sliced and ready to be eaten for snack (edible arrangements!!)
• dessert
• alcohol! :)  Wheat beers are good for milk-making mommas!
• Do bring chocolate

Mom's condition

• Don't pat new Momma's belly and comment about it not going down yet (yes this really happened...)
• Don't ask her if there is another one in there (yes this really happened...)
• Do tell her she looks amazing (even if she looks like dog poo)
• Don't come over too gussied up (because she won't be!)
• Don't ask if she's ready for another!

Volunteer

• Do be proactive - clean litter box, take trash out, fold laundry, do dishes - don't wait for the parents to ask
• Do offer to help or watch baby for a moment while momma takes a break (like a shower!) - but give her back the moment baby gets fussy!
• ... but don't take baby from her!
• Do offer to wash your hands before holding baby (without being asked)!

You are not a guest

• Remember you are not here on vacation so don't expect the new parents to take you shopping, out to eat, to the movies, or to accommodate your need to watch specific football games
• Don't make a mess!
• Don't express too much interest in what is happening under the nursing cover
• Don't talk about your breastfeeding horror stories

They Need Rest

• When visiting new baby, remember parents need to sleep when baby is sleeping so don't stay too long!
• Don't tell her to nap when the baby naps (while so true, it gets old to hear when other stuff just needs to be done sometimes)
• Don't ask to see (or awaken!) a sleeping baby
• Don't drop in unannounced
• Don't come over sick (if they, or the baby, gets sick, ain't nobody getting rest!)
• Don't comment on how tired Mom looks
• Don't complain about how tired YOU (the visitor) are.

Dinner --> Toddler Lunch Leftovers

This week's lunches are the toddler versions of this week's dinners :) They are made from the very same food (with a can of Bebe's homegrown greenbeans to sub for the lettuce in the salads) + our not-so-green (we will work on that!) pre-packaged snacks.

summer salad: chicken, almonds, strawberries, goat cheese, green beans (instead of lettuce) and Annie's snack mix (original)
steamed carrots and raisins
yogurt and a cereal bar

taco salad: shredded cheddar cheese, ground beef/red&yellow peppers/onion mix, green beans, Annie's snack mix
cherry tomatoes, blueberries, raisins
cereal bar, yogurt

chicken nachos: rotisserie chicken, avocado/tomato/onion mix, black beans, shredded cheddar, Annie's Snack mix (in the pink container)
applesauce, raisins (we had a lot of these from our plastic Easter eggs!)
yogurt cereal bar

Cheers! Pizza! heirloom cherry tomatoes, orange sections
raisins, applesauce
cereal bar, yogurt

Sausage and Rice, strawberries
blueberries, raisins
blueberry multi grain waffle, yogurt

Tanaka Farms: Harvest Tour



wading through broccoli



Wow. What a great activity for kids of all ages!!

We had planned a month or so ago to check out Tanaka Farms in Irvine for a Strawberry picking tour, but with our house hunting schedule not meshing with the tour schedule, that got delayed. We finally got the chance to go a couple weeks ago only to find out that the strawberry tours were on hold due to the all the rain we had the previous week or so, which wiped out the crop that loves drier climates. Instead, they were offering "Harvest Tours" which meant that we got to check out 6-8 other crops they were growing, harvest some of our own, and take them home with us. And we were the only ones at the 9:30 slot (tours leave every half hour... reservations required in the busier seasons), so we had a personal tour!

learning about the crops

This was actually really fun for hubby and me. M enjoyed tasting the crops, fresh from the dirt, and surprisingly he tried pretty much everything we did: fresh sugar snap peas, fresh celery (which he carried around like a sword), carrots, and broccoflower, which was all of our favorites. We also took home some Maui onions, bok choy (please let me know if you have a recipe for cooking this?), regular broccoli, and red and yellow beets, too.

celery sword!

We learned about how the farm used a lot of companion crops (for example, planting onions in the snap peas to confuse the bugs), since they are organic and don't otherwise use pesticides, etc. Our guide was very knowledgeable.

We loved how hands on this was, and that we even got a tractor tour of the farm afterwards, to take us back to our starting point. There, we could use our tickets to get a discount for any of the produce they were selling.

We will definitely plan to come back for watermelon and pumpkin seasons, and we'll need to try again for strawberries!!

Strawberry Farmer-in-Training
waiting our turn for the tour to begin

a shot of our guide and the farm from our tractor ride

Flying with a Toddler!

one way to entertain an 'infant in arms'

We just flew across country with our son for the third time, and we are starting to get the hang of it. I think we will only be getting one more in before he turns 2! If you are planning to take a trip by plane soon, and will be traveling with your toddler, check out our tips and experiences below!

The setup. Since we were going to need our carseat at our destination, we purchased this simple carseat- suitcase strap to attach it to a carry-on suitcase (M's, in fact, so that we could get to extra clothes and diapers if needed, and to be sure that his stuff made it to our destination). Attaching the seat can be a little frustrating, but its nice to have the seat with you, especially if you get lucky and the flight isn't full, you can ask at the gate to be re-assigned next to the empty seat and use your carseat. If the flight is full you can always check the carseat at the gate.

a blurry look at our carseat-carryon setup

I also dusted off our old, full size diaper bag to be my 'personal item' and filled it with toys, snacks, diapers (cloth ones! traveling with cloth can be another post altogether! but also a couple disposables that we always keep on hand for backup), headphones, my phone and wallet, etc. One other thing that we bring when we have room in our carry-on allowance is a trunki (we bought ours through Amazon). It is mostly useful during layovers (to ride, or provide a fresh set of toys or refill essentials), since its pretty unwieldy to be opening in your seat, unless the little one has their own, and even still... but it could make a good suitcase for short car visits and be an extra toy at your destination if you don't expect there to be others.

Also in preparation for our plan trips, we've been reading this amazing airplanes book. I am not sure M totally gets it yet, but he loves the page where the cabin crew are passing out snacks, and a doggie passenger is drinking a beverage with a straw. And he is sure to point out every plane in the book.

Oh don't forget your water bottles!! They have to be empty through security, but finding a water fountain to fill them up is an entertaining activity! M likes to press the button and drink from it, too.

Infant in arms: if you aren't buying a ticket (only allowed for kids under 2), you should indicate with your carrier that you have an "infant in arms". And be prepared to show proof that your kid is, in fact under two. The first several times we flew (on Delta), no one asked, but this last time Southwest wanted to see some ID A birth certificate or shot record preferred, but we had a MetLife ID card that showed his birthday that they accepted.

Wardrobe, please! There were two legs of our trip out and two changes of pants (one was needed during the security check). We went through 4 diapers on the first 3.5 hr, leg, and he was totally dry on the second, 2 hr, one. My recommendation is to pack twice as many as you think you'll need and have more handy in stowed carryon that you can get to in an emergency, or to refill your stash during layovers. On the trip home, I double-stuffed our cloth diapers and they lasted a bit longer. Each way we put a fresh one on before boarding if it was the tiniest bit wet. Depending on how risk-averse you are, you might pack and extra shirt  or outfit for yourself and other family members. One of the other toddlers on our flight got sick all over her parents. We definitely did this when M was still nursing, since the chances were much higher that some bodily fluids would be getting on us.

Food for flight. A friend recommended we pack 'double the snacks', which was good advice, since our flight was around lunchtime, and I was hungry too. It can be a while before they start cabin service and make those little peanuts available! And if its a short flight you might not even get that. So we packed some steamed carrots (from our farm visit), Colby-cheddar cheese sticks (one for each of us, and those went fast!), Cheerios in a self serve cup (which were consumed right after the cheese and right before a big nap), an apple-carrot baby food pouch (and packed two more in the suitcase - I am excited we are finally able to use these. I am glad we found organic ones and veggie combos, but I am bummed about the packaging waste... I will research some reusable options...), a whole apple, snack packs of cheddar bunnies, Lara bars, raisins and snagged a bag of Wheat Thins from the free Southwest snacks to keep with us over our visit. Be choosy about what you bring to avoid needing ice packs. We also bought some sandwiches to eat on the flight for ourselves, but I spied other families consuming homemade PBJ's. And, after M fell asleep on leg 2 we both ordered ourselves adult beverages! (one other note, our Delta flight did have whole milk available, but the Southwest one did not have any kind of milk. If you want to take milk try these milk boxes that don't need to be refrigerated - but be prepared for a pat-down in security if you carry them on.)

Ear popping. Our little guy sucks his thumb, which helped with ear clearing. But also we brought a sippy cup that requires some effort to extract its contents just in case. If your child still nurses then you have a built-in option, too. If its any consolation, I think the pressure change helps make them sleepy...

Time to play. For entertainment we played with a new peek-a-boo book about trucks, a mini can of Play-Doh, his Leap Frog Tag Jr. book reader and two books, iPad (with the newly loaded Pat the Bunny app, but also old favorites, Elmo ABCs app, Ink Kids flash cards app, and The Monster At The End Of This Book book). Other entertainment included sleeping, eating, looking out the window, and standing on our laps +  playing peek a boo with the other passengers. Other toys on deck include coloring book + crayons, a few small trucks, and more apps. And more snacks.

Rockabye. M is too big for our fabulous sling that we used last time. I brought an adult sized neck pillow, even though I have never successfully slept on one. But this flight it proved to be a great elbow rest while I had a 30-lb toddler in my arms. We had packed one of our muslin swaddle blankets to keep him warm during the chilly flight. On the second leg, it was bedtime, and we found out that our guy is pretty wed to sleeping on his tummy. After about 15 super squirmy minutes, he finally ended up with his head in hubby's lap, body across mine and legs dangling. And snoozing solidly. After we landed around 9:30 home time, he was awake, but sleepily and somewhat grumpily greeting his grandparents. We took the opportunity to change into his nighttime diaper and pjs. On our 45-minute ride to the house, he fell back asleep and transferred beautifully to his already-set-up pack-n-play at Grandma's.

And by all means, allow your little one to stretch their legs during layovers! They will have to sit still a lot so if you can afford to go slower and let them walk between gates, do it. And don't forget to ride the people movers or escalators, too. The afore-mentioned Trunki helps here a lot, too.

What are your air-travel tips and tricks?

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Date night toddler lunch!!

So... we have lived in SoCal for nearly three months and we finally found a babysitter. That process is probably an entirely different post (How do you find a sitter when you don't know a single soul and your coworkers either don't have kids or have their parents living with them?!), but the point is we did find one, and we had our first mini-date Wednesday when we joined some kid-less coworkers at a hockey game. To stay on top of lunch-packing, I packed two lunches Tuesday night. Granted, one of them was a little less put together, and the title of this post is slightly misleading, since I actually forgot to take a picture of that particular meal, but let me tell you how grateful I was when out-of-practice me got home at 11 PM after having two glasses of wine... and felt hungover and exhausted the next morning. *sigh* My, how times have changed from the college days...

Anyway, back to the goods you came to see: what was in our toddler lunchbox this week?

(and scroll to the bottom for a very easy, veggie-filled Sausage and Rice recipe)

Lunch: Brown rice, rotisserie chicken, frozen peas, frozen (but cooked at this point) cubed butternut squash, strawberries, orange slice cubes.
Snack 1: canned (organic) green beans, steamed carrots, rise and shine zucchini carrot muffin (from this post)
Snack 2: kiwi and Yobaby blueberry yogurt

Lunch: leftover toppings from our nachos the night before (black and pinto beans, cheddar cheese, avocado, tomato, onion), pretzels, steamed carrots, shredded rotisserie chicken
Snack 1: rise and shine muffin (see above) and orange slices
Snack 2: yogurt and a cereal bar
(note the ice pack that I haven't previously mentioned. This was the only one I could find after looking at two grocery stores and two different Targets on a single weekend, when we first moved here and had to start packing lunches. Turns out its pretty cool, since its flexible, and we usually wrap it around his cup of milk.)

Lunch: leftover sausage and rice (see below), blueberries, mango, and kiwi
Snack 1: half a blood orange, rise and shine muffin
Snack 2: strawberry slices and yogurt 

Lunch: leftover Taco Salad toppings (beans, tomatoes, sauteed peppers and onions, ground beef, cheese!), pretzels, frozen organic peas
Snack 1: Rise and Shine Muffin and kiwi
Snack 2: strawberries and yogurt

Veggie-Filled Sausage and Rice:

1 cup white rice

2 cups water

1 package pork or turkey kielbasa, cut into 1/2 inch thick, half-rounds

1 broccoli crown

1 red pepper

Add rice, water and sausage to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce to low. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, chop broccoli and dice the red pepper (discarding stems and seeds). At the 10 minute mark stir the rice, and add veggies on top, and re-cover. Continue to steam for 10 more minutes.

Stir and Serve!

You can swap our veggies for ones that make you happy. Experiment and tell us what your family likes!

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Toddler Food Thursday: Single Mom Lunches

This week we threw in an extra challenge: Daddy is out of town! Honestly, I could/should have made a batch of veggie pasta. But I just didn't.

So I get the fun of making dinner and lunch (and breakfast) for 5+ days!! Hm... this doesn't sound a whole lot different from other days, but somehow having no relief pitcher is just intimidating. Even if I do get to eat thin mints and drink red wine in bed while having the iPad all to myself... its the burden of being solely responsible that drives me to such measures.

But I digress... here was this week's menu! I definitely went for easy peasy stuff: we made a batch of cauliflower mac n cheese (+ peas) Daddy's last night in town for dinner, and had plenty of leftovers for another dinner this week, 2 toddler lunches, and one Mommy lunch... and there is still some leftover somehow. In preparation, I bought a rotisserie chicken and some frozen veggies. I chopped all the straggler veggies in the fridge and steamed them together into one big batch. And I made a batch of brown rice over the weekend.

I will say, I underestimated our fruit needs this week, and just in the nick of time we got our first shipment of 'Mostly Fruit' from our new CSA and some of the citrus from the shipment were featured in dinner this evening and the lunch packed for tomorrow! Stay tuned for the post on the CSA details!

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leftover cauliflower mac n cheese + strawberries, blueberries, halved cherry tomatoes;
mango + kiwi + cereal bar;
steamed baby carrots + yogurt

pulled rotisserie chicken + brown rice + leftover steamed veggies + mozzarella + kiwi + mango;
 applesauce + cereal bar;
 carrots + yogurt

pulled rotisserie chicken + brown rice + leftover veggies +  minneola slices
kiwi + cereal bar
toddler trail mix + yogurt

cauliflower mac n cheese + rainbow: steamed baby carrots, halved cherry tomatoes,  mango, blueberries
rise and shine (whole wheat zucchini and carrot muffin, from weelicious.com, that i had in the freezer) + yogurt
toddler trail mix
milk

cheers! pizza! + frozen peas + strawberries + heirloom baby tomatoes
mango + blueberries + rise and shine muffin
steamed baby carrots + yogurt

one happy eater (usually... mostly... sometimes...)

Toddler Dinners (including a super-fast option!)

I was a single mom for a couple of nights this week. The first night, we had leftovers, which took a lot of pressure off for the evening. The second night, however, I didn't plan so well. In fact, I thought Daddy was going to be home in time to help with dinner/kid management, so I had actually planned to make a totally new meal. But I was wrong. I started to make one of our favorite, 20-minute meals: Cauliflower Mac n Cheese (recipe at the bottom of this post). However, with the help of my toddler this was taking much longer than usual, and I had to bail about halfway through, when it was 6:30 and I still was nowhere near close to getting something on the table. So I pulled out a piece of bread and a slice of cheddar and got started on a half a grilled cheese sandwich. Somehow this cooked perfectly, and landed on a plate with a few steamed carrot sticks (a staple in our fridge) and a handful of (still) frozen peas. AND HE ATE THE WHOLE THING. Our guy has been boycotting dinners this week (except cheese and milk), so I was glad to see him gobble this meal, and ecstatic that he ate the bread and veggies, too! See the photo of a couple minute in.

I wanted to include a few photos of other lunches we have packed this week, constructed of leftovers:

The entree here is the guts of an enchilada (see recipe below), torn half a whole wheat tortilla, cubes of steamed sweet potato, strawberries, blueberries, mango, kiwi, a yogurt-covered pretzel; Snacks: yogurt and granola; applesauce (in the container) and toddler trail mix (pretzels, raisins, craisins, diced dried apricots)

Cauliflower Mac N Cheese, strawberries, blueberries, cherry tomato halves, steamed carrots, yogurt -covered pretzel; Snacks: yogurt, frozen edamame (in a Dora single-serve pack - full disclosure, most of these came home...); halved grapes, fig cereal bar

Cauliflower Mac N Cheese

(based on a recipe from What to Eat When You're Expecting)

8 oz whole wheat macaroni

1 small head of cauliflower, chopped into bite-sized pieces

2 tbsp butter

1.5 tbsp whole wheat flour

1 cup milk

1/2 cup shredded Gouda

1/2 cup shredded cheddar

1 cup shredded mozzarella

1.5 tbsp wheat germ

1.5 tbsp Parmesan

Start cooking macaroni according to package directions. Meanwhile...

Steam cauliflower. Meanwhile...

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour for a couple minutes to create a rue. Add the milk and simmer until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and stir in Gouda, cheddar, mozzarella until smooth. Add macaroni and cauliflower, and stir to coat.

Mix together the wheat germ and Parmesan.

At this point, if you like baked mac n cheese, like grandma makes, you can transfer the mac n cheese to a baking dish, top with the wheat germ/parm and bake on 350 for 10 minutes. We usually can't wait this long and dish it right up, and sprinkle the topping right on our bowls.

For more veggie sneakiness, we have tried stirring in peas or sauteed kale. Broccoli would be an easy swap for the cauliflower. And chicken or beef or edamame would be an easy addition if you feel like you need more protein.

Easy Enchiladas

(based on a recipe from my friend Shelley)

10 oz canned chicken

1 cup black beans

1/2 cup shredded cheddar

1/2 cup salsa*

1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt (or sour cream)

7-8 whole wheat tortillas

1 can enchilada sauce*

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine chicken, beans, cheese, salsa and yogurt in a bowl. Scoop even amounts of filling into tortillas, and roll into tubes. Nestle the tubes side-by-side, touching, into a baking dish. Pour enchilada sauce evenly over the tubes. Sprinkle a little more cheddar on top.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes.

Serve!

*To really make this toddler friendly, use a mild salsa, and look for a non-spicy enchilada sauce (unless your little one likes heat. We couldn't find our usual brand, and the replacement was still hot, so we only served him the guts, with pieces of dry tortilla.

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Toddler Breakfast!

Typical oatmeal breakfast (in a convenient coffee mug) + fruit

For this week's lunches we are back to the veggie pasta (from Toddler Lunch Part II), so I thought I would share some of my favorite toddler-friendly breakfasts for our family.

During most weekdays we stick to instant oatmeal, either apple-cinnamon or plum flavored in the convenient (to pour and measure water) pouch - our favorite brand is Mom's Best. Part of our routine is to mix it, microwave it for one minute in a coffee mug, and then add an ice cube and let it wait at his place at the table, until he is up and dressed and ready for breakfast (does anyone else struggle with getting a meal made and cool before your toddler is ready to eat?). We usually pair this with a fruit - a banana, some sliced strawberries, a handful of blueberries, a cubed kiwi, or whatever other fruit we are test driving that week.

Leftover pancake breakfast with banana and honey for dipping

Our second most common breakfast is leftovers. At least one day during the weekend we make either pancakes (Aunt Jemima Whole Wheat or Trader Joe's multigrain) or French toast (whole wheat bread dipped in egg+ a splash of milk and a generous sprinkle of cinnamon). And there are almost always a few leftover, that we put in a ziploc bag, and reheat in the toaster for weekday breakfasts. This weekend we made both, and I am looking forward to them during the week! I like to mix it up by adding a schmear of peanut butter on a pancake or giving M a quarter-sized dollop of honey to dip his bites in. He is very into dipping these days.

We nearly always have hard-boiled eggs on hand, or may have leftover scrambled eggs and/or biscuits from the weekends. Often we add yogurt as a side (or for dipping fruit!). Or the blueberry muffins (see the Valentine's Day post with our raspberry version.

Another breakfast we have tried just recently is a bowl of cereal: Cheerios, with about 60% of the milk I would use for myself for the same amount leaves the cereal wet, but not so much milk that it gets sloshed everywhere.

What do you do for your kids' breakfasts?

Ps. Here are a couple of lunches from this week :)

A peek at the pasta lunch this week: veggie pasta, apple chunks,  string cheese,  yogurt pretzels; yogurt, pommegranite seeds and kidney beans; kiwi and cereal bar

Leftover Taco Salad lunch (sans the salad; ground beef, kidney beans, tomatoes, shredded cheddar, tortilla chips), grapes, steamed carrot sticks; yogurt and granola; kiwi and pretzels

Food For Big and Small

This week is brought to you by the rotisserie chicken and quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah).

We started the week with some leftover quinoa, and a freshly roasted rotisserie chicken (which is really a great deal since you can buy it piping hot and ready to eat, and it can make eight or more meals at our house!). We first paired the chicken with baked small red potatoes and slightly sauteed (fresh) asparagus. I set some aside for Toddler Lunches this week, and made the rest into Curry Chicken Salad to be served on bread or rolled in tortillas. Admittedly, the asparagus didn't go over well with M, but I will keep trying. I also tried out hummus on him and got a grimmace. But I think there is potential there. Especially because he likes the dipping aspect.

For the quinoa, we are all still getting used to this food and its texture. Its rice- or couscous-like, but can be the featured protien, which I think makes it tricky to pair things with. I admit, I love the idea that its a complete protien, and still isn't meat (not that we are vegetarians - see rotisserie chicken above- i just think its good to skip meat every now and then). I was inspired by several recipes at Weelicious, so this week we tried banana 'rice' pudding and Mexican Quinoa salad. The former didn't quite do it for us, but the Mexican salad was a hit with everyone, much to my surprise. Quinoa is sold as a dry grain, that you cook with 3x's the cooking liquid until it is absorbed and you can see the little swirl of the germ in the grain. For the pudding,  it was cooked in coconut milk, but just water for the Mexican salad.

Lunch ideas this week:

Monday was a holiday, so M and I had lunch out with Daddy. We packed yogurt, hard boiled egg, and steamed veggies and shared our soups and sandwiches, and let him color the kids menus.

Tuesday, I forgot to take a photo. But I packed a hummus, cream cheese, and minced steamed veggies in half a rolled tortilla as the 'main course' with the usual veggies and fruit, yogurt, and cereal bar.

Wednesday, we packed leftover acorn squash risotto, steamed broccoli, and apple slices; snack1: yogurt + pinto beans; snack2: cereal bar and steamed carrots.

Thursday, leftover sausage and rice (with broccoli and red pepper), perfectly ripe strawberries, steamed carrots; snack1: halved grapes + cereal bar; snack 2: yogurt + pretzels.

Homemade Baby Food

Very exciting, but bittersweet. My little teeny baby is growing up!

At 5 months he isn't going off to college or anything yet, but still... Also, at 5 months, he's going for the gusto a little earlier than usually recommended by pediatricians, so if you are out there reading this, be sure you check with yours, and check the million checklists that are out there to see if you think your kid is ready.

So far we started with about two weeks worth of rice cereal. My first thought was that it didn't sound very nutritious, but the Pediatrician assured me that it was really for more of the practice, but also that it was fortified with iron, which babies are in need of at this age, particularly if they are breastfed (ours is).
We started with a tablespoon once a day, to two, then three tablespoons once a day, and then we added a second meal at two tablespoons, then three. (Quick aside: we saw food being recommended in increments of tablespoons, but I wasn't sure if this meant the flakes or the mixed product. The hubby and I decided "they" meant flakes) of organic brown rice cereal. We went with this brand of cereal because it was organic, and because it came in a resealable bag, which was a good call by the husband. This stuff is pretty inexpensive, even organic, so we decided just to purchase this. If you make it yourself by pulverizing rice into a powder, it still requires cooking. So between the labor and the cost, I figured purchasing was the best route.
Don't let the packaging fool you: we didn't find that adding rice to his diet affected his sleep whatsoever, so if you are thinking of starting early so your little one will sleep longer, I would still say check with your doc first.

After getting to two meals a day, we started a third: breakfast. And this time it was with a "real" food. That we made ourselves!!

Sweet Potato
1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed
1/4 c water

Place cubes and water into a microwave (and baby!) safe container, and nuke until soft. It took us about 4 1-minute intervals. Puree until smooth (we used a stick blender or Magic bullet). Add water (or formula/breast milk) to the consistency that makes sense for your baby. I think I initially made this too thick and will add a little more liquid with his next meal.

A website for reference: WholesomeBabyFood by Momtastic (this link points to food suggestions for -6 month olds).