Thursday, January 21, 2010

Tomorrow, it's steak and potatoes.

FINALLY.
I will say it again: Finally. Adam finally started eating cereal today. He is 7 1/2 months old, but we started trying at 6 months. (We started at 5 months with Leah - she didn't take well to it, then we took a trip, then she got a cold...so we tried again at 6 months and it went much better. We learned our lesson.)

And that baby gagged like we were stuffing the spoon itself down his throat, instead of gently putting to his lips a spoon of almost-water baby cereal. It was the complete package - eyes watering and turning red, coughing, shuddering... So. Much. Fun. He loved it too, and you could tell by the way he'd clamp his lips shut after the second spoonful.

After a few more trials, we decided to try different flavors - but peaches and applesauce were met with a similar reaction. (And NO, I didn't try mixing breastmilk with the cereal instead of water. I'd gone 6 months without pumping and didn't want to start!) However, he loved to gnaw on a pizza crust. Until he'd break off a chunk and it'd hit the back of his throat - then there was more gagging.

A few weeks ago I broke down and bought a set of these, and Adam loved it! He ingested a good amount of banana by chewing the little bag thingy. We thought we had a winner! And then Aaron tried putting applesauce in there. Adam clamped down on it and immediately got a mouthful of goo - which he gagged on. Aaron freely admits to ruining him on that new feeding tool.
But today I decided to try cereal again. And I almost did a little dance when he SWALLOWED, without the usual dramatics! Both this morning and at dinner, he actually consumed a measurable quantity. Of course, he did have to add his own personal flair by blowing raspberries into the spoon, so that cereal would fly all over his face and bib.
But you know what? I'll take it.

7 comments:

Noel said...

The baby-safe feeder with integal mesh bag was invented by Donald P Berry of DeBary Florida and is covered by US patents such as 6,524,272 and 7,001,357. He appearently licensed the invention to Munchkin.

Nice invention by an appearent independent inventor.

Melissa said...

Iliana won't eat spoon food either, but does love crackers. I'm investigating making my own teething biscuits with veggies in them. I'm not really worried, though..., she won't be breastfeeding in college. (right?!?!)

JJ and EJ said...

Oh Adam baby, you just have to tell your parents who's boss every once in a while, don't you. : )

Rhubarb and Venison said...

Those mesh feeders are a nice idea, but a disaster to clean. At least for me. But a little dried banana never hurt anyone, right?

Lyz said...

Noel, I could have sworn a desperate mommy invented them.:)

Mel, if you find a decent recipe let me know. I'm kind of grossed out by Gerber's teething biscuits.

EJ - this child is sent from God to let us know that we most definitely are NOT in charge.

Beth - that's the theory I'm going with! As long as it's been rinsed super well with hotish water, I figure it's good.;)

Noel said...

Sometimes inventors are married to desparate mommies, but they come up with a robot instead of a netted pacifier in response to a given situation.

Ray Bradbuy's short story "The Electric Grandmother" comes to mind... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Electric_Grandmother

Noel said...

Speaking of supper and kids, Steinbeck's _Of Mice and Men_ came up at supper tonight. In giving a synopsis of the book, my wife used the word "befriend". One of my daughters then asked "Is "befriending" someone like "unfriending" them?" I guess 20th century English is becoming as unfamiliar as Shakespearing English. At least the 21st century kids with the baby safe feeder won't be mewling as much as 20th century kids when it comes time to move to table foods.