apparently he has a digestive sensitivity to citrus, but he eats clementines (aka cuties!) all the time then is just beside himself from the pain and discomfort caused by what is going on in his little diaper (he's going to kill me if he finds out about this when he's older).
so i hit the laboratory. i spent most of last night heat infusing organic extra virgin olive oil with organic herbs: calendula, st. john's wort, aloe vera, comfrey, and myrrh. all of which are anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, healing, and calming. (this took a few hours, so i watched the fantasy movie "inkheart" in the meantime. it's actually good despite brendan fraser's attempts to be a cheeseball).
after straining the herbs, i added candelilla wax (a vegan tree wax) to make a salve, then lavender and tea tree essential oils which are astringent, and ta-da! my new baby bottom balm!
i figured i'd send some of the baby wipe solution i make too... it hasn't been selling very well despite rave reviews. Oliver's mom has been using heavily perfumed commercial wipes and i could just strangle her! (I hope you're reading this!) mine contains aloe vera gel, an organic calendula hydrosol i made myself, castille soap, apricot kernel oil, organic virgin coconut oil, lavender, and tea tree. it's nice because it's concentrated. so you can put some in warm water and use it throughout the day, or throw the bottle in your purse and spray it on a warm wet wipe as needed.
I had just sent my family a huge box of last season's preserved goods that i knew i couldn't eat... jam from strawberries i picked on sauvie's island, plum jam from my step-grandma's trees, spiced peach butter from peaches i picked in the columbia gorge, and pickled green beans from my own garden. I could have saved a few bucks by tossing in the baby products but that's what i get for trying to send surprises!
