We got the beet, we got the beet

Evie tries turkey on Turkey Day.
Like the rest of us, she was exhausted
 after the meal

Where Evie struggles with sleep, she makes up for in eating.  That's where I get the chance to "show off" in front of my other mommy friends.  For the most part, Evie is an excellent eater.  I attribute this to the fact that we never spoon fed her, and instead followed "baby-led weaning" which is a practice whereby she self-feeds from day one of solids.  It was recommended to us by our pediatrician, his point being babies don't need solid foods at all during their first year (just breastmilk or formula), so let food be about exploration and learning, as well as nutrition.  He also suggested we hold off on offering her solids until she had better dexterity with her hands.  So, her first real meal ended up being on Thanksgiving; what a way to start!

Since then, she's taken a liking to almost everything we've offered her, from brussle sprouts to broccoli, from blueberries to bananas, she seems to love it all.  Her favorite foods thus far are peas, chicken, blueberries, cantaloupe, peanut butter, bread, avocado, cheerios, and most of all beets. I try to vary what I give her over the course of a week, but I know if she's in a "mood" that the sure fire winner will be those delightfully messy finger and face staining red beets.

Beets and brussel sprouts

Watching her eat is one of the most hilarious parts of my day.  Each time she takes a bite of something new, she makes a face as if to say "no, I do NOT like this" and then proceeds to swallow whatever the offending food was, and grab for more.  There are a few exceptions to this of course, despite my trying she typically isn't the biggest fan of tofu or asparagus.  I'm still not ready to give up on those though.

Licking her lips after
peanut butter toast

There are a few challenges with baby-led weaning, the biggest of which is trusting your baby to tell you when she's had enough.  I think it's so ingrained in Will and I to encourage her to eat more.  But, the premise behind self feeding is that a baby (or toddler, as she is now) is capable of knowing when they've had enough to eat.  And, that teaching them it's okay to not stuff themselves will later help fight potential obesity or obsession with food.  Now, who knows if this is true, but it sort of seems to make sense.  So, we work on not forcing her to eat more than she wants to.  Since I'm still breastfeeding Evie, I know she gets all the nutrients she really needs.  But, it's hard not to doubt yourself when she has meals, or even days where she just eats a few bites and throws the rest on the floor.  I checked with her pediatrician and he said as long as she's given the chance to breastfeed regularly then she'll eat whatever else she needs provided I give her the opportunity.  He agreed there was no reason to push it.  Of course, we have our little tricks to get her to take juuuuust a few more bites.  Her favorite of which is when we pretend we want a bite off her plate and she goes to feed it to one of us, then quickly pulls her hand back and eats it instead.  She thinks that is just hilarious.

Covered in beet juice

The other challenge is that when she has decided she doesn't want anymore of a certain item of food on her tray, she has taken to throwing that item on the floor.  I guess that's a challenge for any parent of a one-year-old as most kids are feeding themselves by this age.  At first we just ignored the behavior, hoping it would go away.  No such luck.  Now, the new strategy is to say "bummer! Looks like breakfast/lunch/dinner is over for Evie!" and take her tray away.  We will have to really be consistent if we want this to work, and I know it's now time to start disciplining, but it is definitely hard to take away her food when I feel she hasn't eaten enough.  So, we've taken to offering her the tray once more after the initial food dropping.  If she throws anymore, it's done.  So far it seems to be going okay.  But, I'm nervous for the inevitable day when she decides to call our bluff.  Ah, let the real parenting begin.