Mealtime Sucks — Hello Someday

As we’ve slowly crept into the 9 months-old stage their loads of exciting (and not so exciting) things Ailish is conquering on the home front. One exciting thing, Ailish has NOT figured out how to get through the dog door yet! Hallelujah! Over a month ago I thought it was going to be a few days… maybe a week, before she poked and prodded her way to outdoor freedom. Nope! Ha-ha baby, you stay inside!

I know, I know, I just jinxed* myself. She did just figure out how to put her sippy cup outside the door so… time will tell.

Another awesome thing – although she’s gone from three naps down to two naps, those two glorious naps have gotten longer! Sweet baby lady luck, I almost don’t know what to do with all that “me” time… oh wait, I have work to do, that’s right. But it’s still amazing! Also, I can eat without her watching me like a hawk, licking her lips and smacking them together. The peace and quiet are pretty sensational!

Now that brings me to HER mealtime. She has moved into the “finger food” phase. Parents, it sounds like it would be a fun and exciting stage, and trust me, I was super excited at first. “Oh, all the fun new foods we’ll try,” and “no more wasted jars of pureed baby mush,” because, for real, those jars of baby food expire about 5-minutes after you opened them. Trying to get her to eat them in two-days is damn near impossible.

It started great. Little bits of this and that. It was fun to watch her face change with the new tastes and textures. Well, it was fun up until she started choking and gagging on everything. I signed up for a CPR class right after those first heart attack-inducing moments.

I have to give her some credit. She is still willing to try whatever itty-bitty-bites I lay before her until she realizes it’s disgusting and she hates it. Then, of course, she ends up with avocado spiked hair because she’s so distraught with the betrayal that I’d give her something so terrible.

It sucks. For everyone. I’m mad. She’s mad. The Huz is stressed from me texting him how mad I am. The dogs, however, are STOKED! They have hit the jackpot. They stand on high-alert waiting to snatch up those tiny pieces of food flying around the room, usually before they even hit the floor.

So back to the drawing board on what new finger foods I can introduce to her next. I know I’m dreaming but I’m desperate to find any veggie or fruit that she’ll gobble up like she does with yogurt or Cheerios. For now, I’m going to try tater tots next…those are technically a vegetable, right? But seriously, I’m looking for suggestions. I need ideas for foods a kid with 6-teeth can eat. Anyone? Anything that’s not beige or a starch? Please and thank you and much love.