Thank you to MoorMum Jenny from Menston for sharing her story.
Click to go straight to part 1, part 2, part 3, or part 4.
Day 23
Posh nosh: appreciated
Rice cake and avocado for breakfast today – but didn’t go down very well at all. I would have gone for a plan b of weetabix – but no whole milk and managed to forget the formula option again!
My dad popped over and brought a delicious venison stew for us all to share. Jacob loved it though it wasn’t made with babies in mind so we didn’t give him too much gravy. He’s becoming such a little meat eater, sucking and chewing the chunks of venison very happily! Not too much gravy though – it wasn’t made with babies in mind! All had a lovely lunch – it was the first time in a while that my dad’s seen him eat and was quite impressed/amused by his progress. J himself is a lot happier in his high chair now that we’ve added a booster cushion.
Day 27
Guilty moments: 2
Possible sugar come down : 1?
Skipped breakfast – what a bad mummy!
Another cheat lunch with a spit roast chicken. Wanting to show off to his Dad I gave him the wing and he flapped it around – but no repeat of his Turkish performance – clearly munchkin doesn’t eat on demand! Short of inspiration I served it with ricecake and avocado – which was a hit even though he didn’t go for it yesterday.. so it really is worth re-offering things. For pud he devoured some melon – just served up as a wedge … it was perfectly ripe and juicy. No interest at all in the strawberries. This has got me thinking a bit - he’s completely ignored strawberries each time I’ve tried. The book says that some babies instinctively avoid foods that they’re allergic to – will be interesting to see whether this is the case with him and strawberries – just in case I wont be hiding strawberries in anything else.
Later in the day and after a chaotic shopping trip late in the afternoon – Dad and I chilled out with an ice-cream. Figured it was ok to let him have a taste and boy did he go for that. In fact I’d say he had his first tantrum when we quickly finished them up ourselves! Ouch – guilty moment number 2 – giving him a taste of something and then taking it away cause he liked it too much!
Day 28
Proud parents: 1 couple
Attempted broad beans; 20?
Food handling skills: coming on very nicely!
Proper sunday roast and all the trimmings. Eating with real purpose now… J spent about 15 minutes chewing on the beef alone and sucking up all the juices. And then he went on to demolish a couple of roast potatoes – and I was very pleasd to see he was really enjoying the spinach. We just started with a veggie box this week – and the spinach was a lot tastier than the usual spinach in a bag. As far as handling veg is concerned – he seems to be tearing them in to smaller chunks – will have to keep an eye out and see if that’s really the case.
There was a scarey moment when he seemed to get a bit of skin from roasted aubergine stuck – but he dealt with it. He’s still gagging quite often but I’m happy that he can manage – that said, I do keep a close eye on him – just in case.
And finally – definitely in my top 5 weaning moments - watching as he diligently tried to handle broad beans… it took quite a few before he managed to pick one up – having sussed that, it took a few more attempts to keep hold of a bean long enough to get it to his mouth and then once he’d cracked that – he kept persevering as bean after bean then tumbled out of his mouth before he could eat it…. in the end I couldnt resist the urge to help out – and peeled one and stuck it on my fork so that he could get a taste of them! Yeah Jacob!!
Day 29
Mini shredded wheat: proceeding with caution and much gusto
Guilty moments: 1
Carrot falafels: demolished
New skills: ramekin spinning
We decided to give mini shredded wheat a go - (later this morning checked with the HV – she said that it may be too much whole wheat – but that so long as it wasn’t everyday, and that we keep a look out for any adverse reaction that it should be ok). Anyway he absolutely loved them – a perfect size – non-slippy and non squishy – so great for handling.
HV also said that I really should be giving him 3 meals a day – as much as anything so that he gets in to the routine. I’ve been skipping meals quite frequently – so feeling a bit bad and going to have to get that sorted. Timing for that kick up the behind is good really – he’s eating with a lot more purpose now – so it’s possibly at the stage where he’s getting more dependent on the calories.
But think on this occasion I found redemption shortly after. For lunch I cooked up some carrot falafels which in a rare flash of motivation and organisation I’d prepared the night before. (Look out for the recipe on moormums.com – it’s a good one and ticks lots of nutritional boxes!) He wolfed down what seemed to be 3 grown up size falafels… what an excellent show of appreciation!! He went on to nibble on some pitta bread and lettuce – both of which he waved over a pots of salsa and hummous – as if his intention was to dip them! He he … clever little munchkin!
There was quite a lot of gagging – think as he gets better at chewing and moving the food round – there’s just more stuff getting further back in his mouth to deal with. But he’s very adventurous with it and wasn’t at all bothered – so again I was happy just to let him get on with it.
By the time he’d had a go at the banana and yoghurt mush (and mastered the art of getting a ramekin to spin across the high chair and sometimes sending it crashing to the floor) .. and hour and a half had passed (excluding preparation). All good fun – but still that’s a big chunk of the day dedicated to eating!
To be continued…
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