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| 7 months pregnant in our old apartment. |
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| At our new apartment days before Eliana was born. |
Since
she was stuck in there, she had no choice but to “eat” what I did. I guess she
still does to a certain degree through nursing. But now, she can actually
refuse food! This leads me to The Bad about feeding Eliana solid foods.
(I like to end on a good note, so let’s get the bad stuff out of the way
first!)
The
Bad
So,
obviously if she doesn’t want to eat healthier foods, I’m not going to be happy
about it. I want her to like healthier foods and then seek them out when she
isn’t with me or my husband there to offer them to her. Sure, there will be a
time and place for the unhealthy stuff, but I envision that those times and
places will be limited. I’ve already decided that when she is a bit older and officially eating
dinner with us, I will do my best to make only one meal for our entire family and
she will eat it or nothing at all. (Yikes!) I think the idea of a kid’s menu is
kind of insulting to kids and sets parents up for battles at home. But, that is
in the future. You can read about that drama as she gets older! The Bad (for
now) has been: figuring out the timing in our day to give her solids, making
something she likes, stressing about whether or not she has eaten enough and
not beating myself up when the above does not go well.
Our
pediatrician warned me at our 6-month visit that feeding her solids would take
over our day for a while. That was mid-December. I would say I didn’t really
start all of this full-force until the first days of January. So, we’ve been at
it for around two months. I have to find times when she isn’t starving because
then she might not want anything “new”—at those times she will prefer a bottle
or nursing vs. solids. But, she shouldn’t be full because she won’t want more
food. And then there is the nap issue. She usually takes 3 of them a day
and since we don’t have an official "schedule", I watch her like a hawk for tell-tale
signs of sleepiness (e.g., glazed eyes or yawning). As you know from reading Fungus
Among Us- Part 1 it takes forever to change her diaper and/or clothes since
she won’t stay still- so that sucks up a good part of our day too. It may not
sound like it, but that is a whole ton of stuff to try to pack into a 12-hour
day. Much less go outside, see our friends or make it to a Mommy-Baby class at
the YMCA. I literally feel like I am either feeding her or trying to do
something nap-related at any given moment. There is only so much I can fit into
a day! I’m not Super Mommy!! (But don’t tell Matt that. I like to keep him in
the dark about that one.) So, timing has been hard and there are days when she
eats two "meals", one "meal" or even no "meals."
I feel super guilty about the “no meals” days.
As
you know, I like to cook. You’ve probably figured out, I also like to eat! (My
first word as a baby was “more” as in more food!) I think it's fun to take recipes and play around with them
to make them a little healthier and/or vegetarian. I spend time thinking about
how to do these things and then put a lot of effort and love into it. Of course, I’ve done this for Eliana as well. As you’ve seen in my recipes, I add a bit of
seasoning and/or spices and some onion to her vegetables or ginger to her pear purees. When
I’m not sure about how to make something or if it is totally wacky to consider
giving it to her, I will reference Cooking for Baby by
Lisa Barnes and then I take the suggestions and make the recipe my own by changing it up. And you’ve seen that Eliana has also eaten the
more typical baby foods of applesauce and sweet pea puree but then I go out on
a limb and make yam soup, pan-fried trout with mustard, or give her potatoes and kale. I
have fun making it all... And then, get totally bummed out, and maybe a little
insulted, when she doesn’t like it. Hello! I made it just for her! (Did I
really just say that I get insulted by the behavior of an almost-9-month-old?
Oh, boy! I’m sure I’ll address these issues with a shrink one day.)
But,
back to her eating…
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| Yuck! I STILL don't like red pepper puree! Thankfully, she has only rejected solids a handful of times. And I can’t always blame her. I don’t particularly like bell peppers, but they are an essential ingredient of vegetarian chili. I had extras lying around after I made chili for the grown-ups, so I figured I’d make some peppers for Eliana. Unfortunately, she didn’t like them very much. (I re-confirmed this today when I tried giving red pepper puree to her again.) And she is on the fence about sweet pea puree. She liked it one night but then not the next day. What made her reject these foods? The taste? The time of day? Her level of hunger? Aargh! But, at least the list of rejected solids is short. |
On
top of all that, I need to make sure she eats enough quantity. I think
I’m “safe” in that most of her nutrients and calories are still supposed to
come from breast milk and formula. But, we Mommies talk and I know that some of
my friends’ babies are eating ounces of solids at a time! I’m psyched when I
get a few spoonfuls of food in her mouth or even an actual tablespoon during one
sitting. Of course, each time I actually measure out her food, she won’t finish
it. When I don’t measure it out, she eats it all and even wants more.
Obviously, right? Since she doesn’t eat a ton, combined with the fact that her food is
only good for up to 3 days, and that I have to put at least a cup of food in
the machine so it will actually blend and puree, I end up freezing a lot of it, too.
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Alright,
enough whining! This hasn’t been an all-bad experience. It’s actually been
really fun when I’m not stressing about how much she eats, when she eats, and
if the food is ruining her clothes. (The potential stains on her clothes was an
obvious “Bad.” You didn’t really need me to mention it, did you?)
That’s
it for now, but check back soon for The Good and The Messy.
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