Time To Eat

For now I'll blame my lack of blogging on the fact that my mind has been in overdrive trying to figure out what Olivia will eat! She is practically the PERFECT child with the exception of her eating stress - or I should say "my stress of her NOT eating!" She's fully transitioned to whole milk -which wasn't at all an issue! However, the transition from baby food to 'real' food is a current hurdle we (I) am ready to jump! Olivia doesn't want much to do with any food other than fruit! She likes banana, mango, kiwi, strawberry, apple, pear, blueberry, etc... She'll try 1-2 bites of almost anything, and then spit it out!

Last night I made a delicious vegetable pasta - totally homemade! I put some of the sauce in the food processor to minimize the massive chunks and she did eat that for lunch today! (I might add that she spit out each bite until I mixed it with her #1 favorite food = pear yogurt) Gross, you might think? She loved it... But, really?! I don't want to mix all her meals with pear yogurt... This is the only trick that really works! We've tried cut up bites, letting her feed herself (she loves this, but just plays), pureed people food, mashed food, dancing, different forks/spoons... If you have any other ideas, I'd love to hear them!

I'm finding some comfort and a LOT of humor in a book that a friend let me borrow ...

-From the chapter entitled "Let's Get Real:"

"Having been through my own drama of one disastrous breastfeeding experience and one baby whose lips clamped down like a clam shell at the sight of a spoon of food coming, I am only too aware of the pitfalls that await conscientious mothers. I know what it's like to cook and freeze a zillion little ice cubes of nutritious food only to have it completely refused. And to have a chile react hysterically to anything green until someone (not me) finally persuaded her to try avocado at the age of 21."

"The reason why some babies take to food and make their mothers' lives easy, while others are difficult and highly selective, remains one of life's great mysteries. The notion that mothers can turn reluctant eaters into good eaters by cooking up special little recipes or having access to some secret knowledge is simply not true. Nothing is worse than carefully cooking nutritious meals and having them continually rejected. If this happens it's best to keep simple, easily prepared items even if, for a time in your toddler's life, it's the same old thing day after day."

So for now, we are focusing on the reality that she's healthy, growing, walking, babbling, laughing, and pretty close to perfect... and this is just a phase.... If she turns into a banana I'll post pictures :)