Another of the myriad lessons I've learned: As the months passed, feeding Elise got easier.
And a lesson I'll learn within a few months: Just when she's eating splendidly, she'll hit the toddler age and get to be a food stickler. (That's a food snob in a diaper.)
But back to that second lesson, the one about eating getting easier.
A year ago, it didn't seem easy. Far from it.
----
We're home from the hospital and these feedings are every few hours, like clockwork -- throughout the day and multiple times in the middle of the night, of course. You can't blame the newborn for wanting to eat, but if there is even the slightest lapse in bottle washing it could prove problematic, no doubt frustrating parent and child at the 4 a.m. feeding when the last thing we want to do is scramble and fumble for a clean bottle.We do not have a dishwasher and for some unknown reason look suspiciously upon the microwaveable bottle cleaners, so we scrub bottles by hand. Oh, sure, we aren't digging ditches with a dull-tipped trowel, but it still is a hassle. You need a separate scrub brush and a drying rack made especially for bottles, which, while it's great to keep the baby's bottles separate from dirty dishes in the sink, a separate drying rack takes up valuable counter space.
But look at this: She looks so peaceful as she feeds.
----
She's now a few months old and it's time to start introducing "real" food. Lovely. How exciting. She's getting bigger.And, hooya! That means fewer bottles to wash, store, prepare and not lose in the couch cushions. But taking their place (and taking up space) are multiple boxes of nutrient-packed dry cereal, to be mixed with home-prepped fruits and vegetables. (Yes, we -- well, usually Anni -- steam veggies, including from our garden, and fruit to feed Elise.)
It's kind of tedious. And don't forget the many little plastic spoons and bowls you need at your disposal. Make sure they're washed and ready. You might as well store them with the bottles, which we still have to use a handful of times daily, in between the cereal/fruit or rice/veggie meals. There is just no room for all of this stuff.
But look at this: She's sitting in a high chair, eating so nicely.
----
Finally! We've moved beyond mixing real food with the cereal. So that means we can get rid of those dry cereal and rice boxes and most of the small containers used to measure the amount of liquid formula to mix with the cereal or rice. That means there is room for new, bigger bowls in the cabinet and extra drying rack space for those bottles that we're still using.Oh, what's that? The food we give her can't be any bigger than my smallest finger nail? Can she even taste it when it can be measured in micrometers, not centimeters?
She's finally eating real food, but it's so hard to keep track of what she can and cannot eat, what she has had at home but not at school, what she already had today and what is most healthy for her.
But look at this: She's learned how to grasp food with her "pincers" -- her thumb and her index finger. It's such a simple exercise, but it's amazing to think she figured out how to do it. What a joy to watch.
----
Yes! She just turned 1 and we have successfully eliminated all bottle feedings, the birthday being more of a coincidence than a drop-dead bottle ban. We finally can pack away the bottles (You never know when you'll need them again.), fold up the plastic bottle-drying rack up and toss the scrub brush. And that container of formula mix? Won't be using that anymore.Wait, doesn't she still need to be drinking something other than water in a sippy cup? Oh, she's now going to drink whole milk or 2% milk? So we have to start buying it now? I don't even drink that stuff. And, you mean to tell me there still is some foods she cannot eat? Ugh. When does that list disappear?
But look at this: We're all eating the same meals, sitting together for breakfast and dinner.
A year ago, it didn't seem possible.
No comments:
Post a Comment