Magical Fairy K's

I haven't made it to the hospital yet today due to work (graduation hairstyles) and then the very necessary nap for my darling daughter. Who is still sleeping. Then we will be going to see how grandma is today.

Something I haven't written about yet but has been an ongoing challenge for us lately has been meal time. Specifically Miss A's meal times. (I could tell you about my lack of motivation to cook anything other than grilled cheese sandwiches. This could also be considered a 'challenge'. But for now we'll talk about the child's issues.)

Baby A has, with the exception of her breastfeeding difficulties, been a great eater. (She is, after all, my flesh and blood.) Once we introduced solids at six months she would gobble them up with an enthusiastic “Um!”. There seemed to be nothing she didn't like. Peas, Squash, Sweet Potatoes, whatever. It was all good as far as she was concerned. I am happy about this because I have the reputation of being a picky eater and I didn't want her to inherit the same trait.

I had thought about introducing finger foods like cheerios or small pieces of fruit. The only thing holding me back was the fact that she had no teeth. I figured I shouldn't rush it, I'd wait for the teeth. So I continued feeding her mush of all kinds. We started meat mush at nine months. This was around the time when the problems arose.

My baby, the one who liked everything and enjoyed eating began to fight me at meal times. It was a struggle to get even half the usual amount into her mouth. She would spit a lot of it out, protest, cry and turn her head away AND trying to grab the spoon. I'm a control freak. There was no way I was going to let her feed herself that mush. It would be disasterous. I was perplexed. I hadn't changed anything, so why didn't she want to eat anymore.

Then one day Grandma decided to try giving her 'Popcorn Twists'. I figured it couldn't hurt. They are soft and when broken into little pieces wouldn't be a chocking hazard. She loved them. She loved chasing them around the tray of her highchair. Loved picking them up between her tiny finger and thumb and putting them in her very own mouth. By herself!

This was a breakthrough for us. I discovered that as long as she has something on her tray to feed herself she'll let us shovel in anything else between. So it's the popcorn twists at supper time and at breakfast she has 'Special K's' which I just call K's. It's hilarious how excited she gets when I sprinkle these on her tray. You would think I am sprinkling magic fairy dust by her reaction. I am just relieved to have found a way to get her excited about eating again. Another Mama lesson learned. Just because the kid has no teeth, it doesn't mean she doesn't want to feed herself. She can feed herself the 'fluffy' stuff and I can feed her the substantial stuff. Problem solved. For now.

I have gotten more adventurous with feeding her stuff. Tiny pieces of fruit, toast or whatever we might be eating. She still loves to eat but she is developing the independence which demands she feed herself. It's a learning curve for both of us. She's very coordinated and I enjoy watching her guide things to her mouth and “smack, smack, smack” them around in there. Once she actually gets some chompers imagine the fun we'll have!