Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Mmmm buono?



"mmm buono lewis??" I ask as I slide the spoon filled with avocado into his tiny mouth. 

Once you think you've mastered the teething dilemma it becomes time to "ween".  To finally introduce some sort of texture and flavor to the liquid diet .  


Oh yes it's feeding time  everyone!!!!


When to start? How to start? What foods to start with? Boiled or steamed? Oh you can bake really? What age is best for what foods? Cereal or no cereal?  Veggies? Fruit? Meat? What comes first?  


I knew Lewis was ready.   We had just come back from a vacation down south
(my sis got married in the Dominican republic)   I noticed he wasn't satisfied when he drank.  Then it happened- he bit me, yes you read me right, he BIT my nipple!  Hard enough that my first impulse was to smack him,  NO I DIDN'T!!! WOW it hurt! I sternly said NO Lewis,  and put my throbbing boob away.  He got the message.  He was frustrated ...  so i looked into it, and asked his pediatrician, it could be my milk production was low,  i  was told to get these  two natural products to help:
-blessed thistle, a tincture you add to water 1-3 times a day 
-fenugreek- an herb in pill form which you also take 1-3 a day
Before I knew it,  I had the milk flow I had when Lewis was a month old!!!! I hadn't felt that feeling of fullness for awhile now, this stuff really works!!! 


Yet he still looked at us so intensely when we ate, to the point where i felt uncomfortable (like the kid who sits across  the lunch table with the thin,  almost empty dry sandwich. Watching me eat my moms amazing fritata sandwich,  loaded with mayo and lettuce.  The kind where you open the wax paper, and it bounces up at you it's so thick!)  
What can i say,  we're Italian,  food is everything!
You see since Lewis was a tiny tot, I've been making him smell foods, anything I'd be cooking, I'd bring over to him to smell.   With everything I put beneath his tiny nose,  he would take a deep breath, as if he were actually taking it all in. Future chef-Perhaps.  I sit him down on his high chair at my counter where i do all my chopping and preparing and he loves to watch and touch.   So really  it was only a matter of time for him to want to start eating !!  One morning I just did it . I took out the brown rice cereal I had bought (healthy times organic cereal)   added my milk making it really liquidy and fed it to him..... HE LIKED IT!!! And so it begins Lewis is eating solids!!!! I went through all the books I  had on the topic and again all mixed messages.... no fruit , only fruit, cereal only , veggies first, add milk,  add water.  So i asked the  pediatrician, and then asked my friend what her pediatrician said? And well all were different.  What to do?
Who knew really? 
So i took everything I had heard and read and asked and decided on the things I  felt to be ok. I decided no fruit right now, lots of veggies and always for 3 days in a row ( in case of allergies)  so if it's zucchini ,organic of course, steam  (they say it's much more nutritious)
skin and all and then puree it,  add some of the water from the pot. 
(the exception to this rule is carrots, never add the water from steamed or boiled carrots) 
I always add a little of my milk so there if some sort of familiar taste for him,  I can't wait to see what his favorites foods are... hopefully  very many!!!


Things are going so fast, it seems like we want each step to move along, especially the  colic and teething steps but the introduction to foods makes you want to freeze time, each and every moment.   I will enjoy every bite along side him, As he begins to discover a big part of life.  What unites people in almost every country,  for almost every occasion;  food!


Buon appetito!!!
L&L

2 comments:

  1. OMG!!! What an AMAZING post and picture!!!! I think you do the best thing Laura....you do your research than follow your instinct!!! Way to go amazing mom!!!!xoxoxoxooxo Luv and Light to you and your beautiful family:)!

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  2. thanks d!!!! i kept doing the veggie thing and then constipation hit, poor thing, so i introduced fruit in the morning and in the afternoon with the veggies, and like my pediatrician said it would it worked! he's lov'n it all.... big kiss

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