Yum
Emma is a self feeder. She thinks spoon feeding is a joke, purees are for other babies, not her, no way, no how. In fact, this is what she thinks of spoon feeding:
(This pic was taken at her first feeding almost two months ago, but her perspective, for the most part, has not changed.)
But! She does like food as much as the next gal. Well, maybe not AS much, but she is liking it. She just has to be in control. Enter the
mesh feeder, in all its glory! You just put in anything, chunks, frozen cubes of puree, and voila. Food with a handle! Here, she is having baked potato:
Next up, beets! Delish!
We are also trying to follow some of the ideas from
this website, about baby-led solid food introduction. The gist is that babies reflexes and development coincide with their ability to self-feed, and that they are able to manage their own food without choking, within reason (don't worry, we're not giving her grapes or carrot wheels or anything). Historically, babies have managed quite well without being spoon-fed purees, but by eating small bits off whole chunks of food. Emma LOVES this idea...here she is enjoying a pear:
Yummy!
Road Block
Well, Nap Regime 2007 has encountered a road block.
Teeth. The girl is teething. As we attempted some crib napping this afternoon, things quickly deteriorated into inconsolable screaming. She was very very unimpressed with the whole situation, and nothing, not even nursing, would help.
I have been feeling the bumps on her lower gums the past few days, but today I could see the telltale white lines. I gave her some Tylenol, and took her to bed with me, where she calmed down once distracted by stories. She slept with me, but woke twice when I got up. I have some homeopathic teething gel which we may try tomorrow.
So, here are the stats, but we are going to play it cool for a few days and see what happens. I don't think we will have much success with the new sleep routines if she is in pain, so for the most part that will have to be put on hold.
Total napping today: 10 min in stroller, 5 in arms, 40 in bed
Crib attempts: 2 miserable ones, plan aborted quickly
Mins sleeping in crib: 0
Asleep for night: 7:45pm
