Thursday, March 25, 2010

Feeding Frenzy II

Is every parent obsessed with what there baby is eating? When Isla was eating pureed foods, I went to the baby aisle each time, hoping something new and excited was going to arrive on the shelves, which it didn’t. I tried making my own and freezing it, but after a good sale and coupons, I got a variety pack for 10 cents a jar and realized how easy it was to just pop the lid on a jar. It was so exciting to find bananas with granola! Mmmm…I love granola- I am sure Isla will too! But my granola did not have the sticky, gelatinous consistency that the baby food did. It was like that green slime they pour on people’s head on Nickelodeon in the nineties. Gag.
Now that she has been approved to try anything without nuts and shellfish, it is so exciting! What should we try next? She has had waffles, ravioli, pierogi, couscous, and this weekend we made her a quarter sized cheeseburger using baby waffles as a bun. Although she gnawed on the meat, I don’t believe she actually digested any-most of it was spit out after sucking all the goodness from it. I was worried about her protein intake and that she wouldn’t eat chicken, so I tasted the poached chicken I made-yuck! I wouldn’t eat it either. Last night I made homemade chicken fingers and she liked it. (Of course she did, she takes after Daddy who would eat a sock if were battered, fried and served with a mayonnaise based dipping sauce!) My little girl likes flavor! We tried plain mozzarella, but no, she wants the sharp cheddar!
I guess my biggest concern is: is she eating enough? How much is a baby supposed to eat? Right now she would probably eat an entire one pound bag of peas and a jar of peach puffs at one sitting if I let her, but variety is the spice of life. I read other blogs and am amazed at what kids her age are eating. Aren’t their stomachs only the size of a golf ball? I try not to get too worked up about it knowing she is getting all kinds of nutrients straight from the tap. (aka boobs) Sighhh…I guess worry is part of Mom’s job description.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Feeding Frenzy

Introducing Isla to solid foods has been an adventure! First, she seemed to like it all. Then she banned peas. And green beans. So I hid those green veggies in her carrots. She stopped eating carrots. I tried pureeing chicken to add to her veggies for protein and she clamped her jaw shut so tight a crowbar couldn’t open it. (At this point, I tried the chicken and I don’t blame her, yuck) As for fruit, she likes it all- prunes, peaches, pears, mango, banana…she likes apples but they don’t like her. Yogurt is also a fav.
The one thing she would always eat is Gerber Puffs. In fact, I thought she was turning into a puffs addict, so I have made them the dessert course. She enjoys them so much she actually pointed and demanded puffs by pounding her fist on the chair! After trying the puffs, I don’t blame her. The peach are positively delicious.
Now we are onto finger foods. She has been cleared to try anything we are eating except nuts and shellfish. Interestingly enough her current fav is peas. She refused to eat them from the jar, but she’ll eat them whole. She actually cried when I started cleaning up her tray when I thought she was done!
Isla loved pizza. Her first slice was cheese, light sauce, from the Cabin. We started out with strips cut from the pie, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to give her a whole slice and have a photo shoot. The other night we had cheese tortellini with pesto. I left a couple of the tortellini plain and cut it into bite size pieces and she wasn’t interested. Then I gave her a whole one tossed in the yummy pesto and she loved it! After she was in bed I remembered pesto had pine nuts and those are a no-no. I checked on her more times than usual and she survived. Last night we had peas, soft bits of carrot, sweet potato fries and cheese quesadilla. I wish I knew what was for dinner tonight…