YUM!

Kelsey has not been all that interested in eating her morning or noon bottle lately. So, today, after struggling to get her to take even an ounce at lunchtime, I made a spur of the moment decision to let her try baby food - sweet potatoes. I was going to wait until after Christmas to tackle this, but she technically IS old enough to start, so...... I jumped right in. She is used to taking her probiotic drops off of a spoon, so she was familiar with me putting a spoon in her mouth. She did pretty good. I'm not really sure just how much of the sweet potatoes actually ended up her in stomach, but .... it was good first attempt!

"SETTI"

Yum! Spaghetti!!!!!!

"Bapple!"

I love apples! ("bapples") I saw Daddy eating an apple today....but he was eating it kinda funny. I always eat my apples cut up in a bowl. I insisted on having some of his "bapple" and I wanted to try eating it the way he was. I actually did pretty well, and kept coming back for more!

EVERYTHING TASTES BETTER WITH APPLESAUCE

As stated in a previous post, I have become quite the picky eater all of a sudden. When I won't eat my veggies or meat, Mommy simply gets out the applesauce and slips those veggies in with each bite of applesauce and suddenly...my veggies are all gone! Mommy says I take after Uncle Brad. When they were growing up, if he didn't like something Grandma fixed, he'd simply ask for applesauce to mix with it. Yup. Everything tastes better with applesauce. :)

FOOD FIGHT

I used to be a girl who LOVED to eat. I would cry if I didn't get my food right NOW. Mommy always was so happy that I would basically eat anything she put in front of me. Oh, I had my favorites, like crackers, sweet potatoes, bananas, etc. But I really just loved to eat, and would even crawl up to my highchair and sign/say "eat" even when it wasn't time to eat. When we'd go out to eat, Mommy would bring food for me, and I'd have it all gone before Mommy and Daddy's food had even gotten there. I was the girl who could down a whole ice cream cone (without the ice cream) in no time flat. Well, Mommy is wondering where that little girl went to, because in the last two weeks, I have become a very finicky, picky eater. It started that I wanted nothing to do with my "milk." I started drinking milk again, but now I do NOT want to eat. I mean, I could go all day without eating and be happy. Not even my favorites can entice me. Oh, I'll eat maybe part of a cracker or a few small bites of banana and then be "all done." I won't even touch vegetables anymore. I will sometimes eat applesauce or oatmeal or jello, things that "slide" down easily, but that's about it. I even have gotten into the habit of hitting Mommy's hand or pushing it away when she tries to give me something. (Mommy is trying to teach me how to say "no thank you" in sign language. I can do it, but usually only with Mommy's prompting AFTER I have hit her hand away.) Another thing I have started doing with my food instead of eating it is mashing it up or playing with it, which usually means it ends up on the floor. I just DON'T WANT TO EAT! Mommy wonders if it is because she tends to give me the same foods a lot due to my milk allergy. I can't just eat what Mommy and Daddy are eating. (Mommy wonders if she should adjust her cooking and maintain a "dairy free kitchen" so I CAN eat what they eat, but Daddy does NOT like the sound of that.) Today Mommy tried a few new foods, including strawberries and beans, but NOPE. Would have none of it. Mommy says who wouldn't like strawberries!? Anyway, Mommy is hoping this all has to do with my not feeling well, but she's afraid it's a phase/stage I am going through. We'll have to wait and see, I guess.

I was starting to get on a great sleeping schedule again, waking around 8:00 or so (at least that's when Mommy hears me....she doesn't know how long I just lay there awake since it's dark out and I think it's still night...). Then, I'd go about my morning pretty happy, and I'd take a nap from about 1:00 to 3:00 or 4:00. Then, I'd go to bed around 7:30-7:45. I'd been going right to sleep with no troubles, and life was good in the sleeping department again finally. Well, now with being sick, it's thrown everything off again. I am usually up between 3:30 and 4:00 in the morning with a coughing spell (Mommy has to come in and hold me in the chair for awhile to stop the coughing spell), and I don't ever really fall asleep again since I just keep coughing off and on. So, by the time morning comes around, I'm already exhausted. That makes for a very grumpy morning, and I'm getting into a lot more "trouble" now too and not obeying Mommy very well because I'm so tired and grumpy. (Plus, I now can walk anywhere I want to and get around really well, so that is another reason I am now getting into things and doing things I don't usually do.) For naps, I don't always sleep well or it takes a while to get to sleep because of my cough. Sometimes Mommy has to come in and hold me so I don't cough. And last night I cried for awhile when Daddy put me to bed, and I was super grumpy all evening. This being sick stuff is NO FUN....for me or for Mommy and Daddy either. Let's hope I get better soon!

ANOTHER VIDEO OF MY FAVORITE SNACK

A NEW WAY TO EAT NOODLES

I love eating pasta noodles. The other day when Mommy cut up my noodles, I found a really cool way to eat them.....by putting them on my fingers. They taste better that way. :)

SNEEZES AND SIPPY CUPS

Today I tried another new vegetable.....carrots! Yummy! I loved them! But when I was eating them I sneezed real big and got orange carrots all over me and Mommy! :) I also have a new sippy cup that works better than my other ones.....all I have to do is press down with my lips and water comes out. I have finally figured out how to hold it and take drinks by myself. I think it's pretty fun.

I LOVE MY VEGGIES!

I have been doing so good eating my rice cereal that Mommy decided today that it was time we try some veggies. She had only purchased one kind so far because it was on sale and she had a buy one get one free coupon on top of that. (You know Mommy and her frugal ways!) So, needless to say there wasn't a wide variety to choose from, but I liked it well enough. Can you guess what it was? :)

You guessed it - Sweet Potatoes! I didn't even make a silly face when I tasted it for the first time. I kept opening my mouth for more. Mommy was proud of me. We'll keep eating those for a week before introducing anything new just to make sure I am not allergic to it for some reason. With my allergy already to cow's milk proteins, Mommy is a bit nervous about other foods as well. I wonder what I'll try next? Squash maybe? Or maybe carrots?

EATING LIKE A CHAMP!

I am really enjoying eating in my big girl chair! I have finally figured out that it works best if I open up my mouth for Mommy to put the spoon in! :) Before I eat, we always say our "God is great" prayer. Then I get all excited because I know what comes next! :) Again, for Grandmas and Grandpas and anyone else interested enough to watch me eat. :)

BACK TO MY BIG GIRL CHAIR

It's been quite awhile since I got to eat in my big girl chair! When I was sick, I didn't want to take the effort to eat from a spoon. Now, I am back to eating rice cereal for breakfast and lunch. Mommy wondered if we'd have to "start all over," but I have continued to enjoy this way of eating. I am getting better at it, too. I smile when Mommy brings me my food and I open my mouth pretty good most of the time. I am also not getting as messy. This is a picture when I got done eating today, BEFORE Mommy cleaned me up. Not bad, huh? :)




Mommy doesn't let me play with the spoon while she is feeding me, though I try! But when she gets done she lets me play with a different spoon while she eats her lunch. I'm still working on the correct grip thing. :) I am also beginning to investigate what Mommy calls a "sippy cup." It's fun to play with. A few times when I put it in my mouth (like I do with everything I get my hands on these days) I noticed some liquid getting into my mouth. Not sure about that....

I DID IT!

Today I ate from a spoon for the first time! I have been taking rice cereal in my bottle for awhile now to help my reflux, so the taste wasn't new to me. But the experience of eating it from a spoon sure was! I did a great job, though. After getting used to my highchair the last day or two and watching Mommy and Daddy eat with a spoon, I didn't do too bad. Mommy mixed 1 tbsp of rice cereal with 4 tbsps of warm formula. (That's about the ratio I get in my bottles and seemed runny to Mommy so she then added a bit more rice cereal.) I ate about half of it before I got tired of it. Mommy documented this "first" on video. It was rather long, so here is just a couple minutes of the ordeal.

Is this stuff supposed to go IN my mouth? :)

I was a bit tired after I was all done. It's hard work eating from a spoon, not to mention messy!

I let Mommy wash my face without a fuss, and after she changed my bib, I was all smiles from my accomplishments.

MY HIGHCHAIR

This week I get to try eating solids for the first time. (Though the doctor said to start with rice cereal on a spoon and I've been getting that in my bottle for a couple months now for my reflux, so the taste won't be really new to me, just the way I eat it.) Mommy got out my new highchair that her class last year bought us, and she has been letting me sit in it and get used to it today. So far, I think it is pretty nifty. I am finding it is pretty comfy. I like sitting in it while I watch Mommy eat. I'm taking notes so I know what to do when I get to do it. :)