Happy Halloween!

(Let's just pretend I actually did publish this on Halloween!)

Not Quite BLW

So I set out with the intention to do BLW, but then I didn't REALLY get what it was--because I wanted my kid to eat healthier than I eat, which doesn't quite work with STRICT BLW (sharing food with baby).

And, as it happened, I got a baby with a million food allergies, and then, constipation issues (to rice, banana, apple, other grains, etc) . . . so he needed to eat mostly a prune/raisin/apricot/peach/squash/beet/carrot/soy yogurt, etc type diet while I am eating like fake mac and cheese and tofu pups and bean tacos and also healthier things, but typically flavored with soy sauce, nutritional yeast, "butter", tchratcha sauce, etc . . . so, he can't eat it.

So this is what we've been doing. Now at nearly 11 months he's been having 3 meals a day. Breakfast at 8 am is the most recent meal addition--we started that third meal maybe a month ago, around 9.5-10 months. He wants to eat by like 7:30 - 8 and I couldn't deal with the mess of letting him self feed. So this is this one meal that I feed him soft food with a spoon and don't let him even help more than one or two seconds per morning . . .

So, 8 am, I feed him unsweentened soy yogurt mixed with diced rehydrated prunes and prune syrup. The prune adds some sweet to the unsweetened yogurt, plus this whole mix gets his sensitive system started out right, so he doesn't get constipated.

Then at noon he eats lunch, and at this point we do let him self-feed, but it's not really what we are eating. He usually eats a few prunes, or sometimes raisins or apricots (all rehydrated--ie, floating in water/syrup and all wet and MESSY but ideal for promoting pooping). And then usually some kind of veggie--grated carrot or beet or daikon, etc--steamed broccoli, asparagus, green, etc--sliced tomato or avocado, etc. And then usually some other kind of whole fresh fruit--slice of mango or kiwi or a whole peach, plum, nectarine--now just starting to give apples and it seems to be going okay (woot).

Repeat a similar style of meal around 4pm--his dinner I suppose. I also try to give him some kind of easy-to-eat protein once a day, like tofu, lentils, hummus, bean soup, etc. He LOVES hummus but I need to make my own because all the brand ones make him react.

And then sometimes he has dinner with us (usually a small amount of a selection of what we are having if we eat before 6:30)--otherwise we eat after he goes to bed.

So I guess as he approaches a year I'm thinking of making that 6:30 meal more significant (and prob changing 4pm dinner to 2-3pm snack). I might even make buckwheat/quinoa cereal with breastmilk (and mixed with prunes/raisins) and let him practice eating with a spoon at that meal/us feeding him.

So that's where we are at! In terms of self-feeding, it's going really well. He loves to eat, he loves all food basically. He'll eat for a half hour, fairly steadily, when he has lunch and dinner. He does the pincer grasp and is really good at eating everything with his hands, including whole unpeeled fruit. Like any 11 month old baby (I would think) he's not great with using spoons/forks, and we aren't great at letting him practice because he's actually more messy than when he uses his hands. Maybe that will be part of "dinner" now, too. He did actually "get" recently the whole putting the spoon/fork in the spoon as a means to eat, so I guess now it's time to practice, hehe.

Sorry for not updating more--james LOVES the computer and he won't let me type when he's awake. And when he's napping there is so much more to do! And in the evening I am so tired, I've been going to bed at like 8 or 9. And sometimes he doesn't fall asleep until 8:30, sooooo yeah. And sorry also if I have been a bad friend/family member in terms of calling back/hanging out. This parenting stuff is totes a full time job!! Mama's tired.

In Which I Discover it is Possible to Rock my Baby to Sleep

So if you recall a previous post, I explained that I needed to strap James down to get him to go to sleep. Like, in his swing, carseat, or stroller.

Well, while I was on vacation, and unable to fall back on my swing. . . I was forced to learn to rock my baby to sleep. And DAMN IT IS HARD TO DO, but it is possible, and it actually only takes 15 mins (unless he is in pain from teething, or not quite tired enough, or constipated, or he sneak pooed and I have yet to notice it or something, in which case it can take 30 mins or longer sometimes).

BUT for the most part, it can be done in 15 mins. But it's like . . .

5 mins in which the baby screams, thrashes, kicks his feet at you, scratches, bites, claws your eyes and mouth, cries, etc.
5 mins in which he does all of these things with less gusto, with moments of calm mixed in
5 mins in which he is calm and more and more appears to be asleep

I honestly wish I could have a video of this because it's really ridiculous.

And finally he is really asleep and it is possible to transfer him onto his side on a bed or in a pack and play, and then to sort of shake him there for a second, and finally you can leave.

So now having discovered this I am pleased to find myself developing more self-efficacy with getting him to sleep, in different locations and bed situations.
Now I rarely have to resort to crying-it-out, because I really did hate it . . . for over a month now we've been rocking our hearts out! Better than CIO, but it's still hard, and teething makes it worse. I need to do a whole (other) post on teething, too.

Behind

I hate when I haven't been blogging enough because nothing is explained . . . I can't figure out where to start with how much he has changed, what our life has been, what has been going on. Maybe it's the new normal for the weeks to fly by like a flip-book. Can't believe my boy is nearly 10 months old--time to start planning a first birthday party?! Crahazy!