Solids....

So, I mentioned in a previous post that we had started Caylee on solid foods.  On doctor recommendation we started her on solid foods over a month ago (at 4 months old).  I was SO excited!  I don't know why, but I was very excited to start letting her try new foods, seeing her reactions and getting her adjusted to real life.  I was SO wrong!  This has been a very LONG month....  Here's the story...

The doctor recommended we start her off with rice cereal.  He said it's very bland and most babies do really well with it.  We began this cereal about a week before we left for Texas, with me thinking that by the time we got there she'd be a pro.  Not so much....

This is her first bite ever... 

I know, you're thinking, "That's not so bad, it's new to her and she is just getting used to it".  But I kept trying to give her bites and she began to scream.  Poor thing even had tears and Caylee rarely gets so upset that real tears come out.  So I gave in and gave her the bottle....

She was MUCH happier with the bottle. 

The days went on and I kept trying to feed her.  Initially, the doctor said once a day and then move to 2 times a day, but I jumped it up to 3 times a day.  I felt like maybe she didn't like the spoon and each day was starting over, so 3 times a day she only needed to take about 2 bites each time and we'd be done!  Still... each time she screamed and cried and shut her mouth as tight as she could.

We finally get to Texas and I'm still not having any luck with her.  However, I thought our luck was changing when Sherry started feeding her because she at least wasn't screaming, not too much anyways.  Plus, between David, Melanie and myself there seemed to always be someone around to distract her long enough to put food in her mouth.  Things seemed a little better, but then we noticed a rash.  Caylee isn't held very often by many people (just because it's usually just me and her), but that week she had been held by tons of people, which meant tons of perfumes/colognes/detergents etc.  So maybe that was the cause... either way, once the rash had broken out I quit the cereal.

Back in Kentucky the doctor suggested trying again and seeing if she broke out again or moving to oatmeal.  Well, since I really didn't think she liked the taste of the rice cereal I moved on to oatmeal.  All that progress I thought we had made was gone... she was back to screaming like crazy and every meal time was a battle.  I tried ignoring her, but she screamed louder.  I tried distracting her, but just by myself I'm not that interesting.  I tried feeding her half a bottle, then food, then the bottle, but that just made her mad.  I tried alternating between bites and a sip of the bottle.  Nothing seemed to work... Then we were off to St. Louis.....

And guess who fed her this time and made her smile?  Yep, Cass.  So now, I'm thinking, well good, if other people seem to be able to get her to eat then they can have her trained by the time I get home!  I can see some of you moms getting a little too emotional and saying "my kid doesn't like me, they only eat for strangers"... nope... I was thrilled!  So we finished up the weekend in St. Louis and Caylee did great, a little fussing when she was super hungry, but overall great. 

When we got back it was time to try veggies... first up, Peas please!  Yes, I tried to go in the order the dr recommended (green veggies, other colored veggies and fruit).... 

Here are the peas....

Yes, she's choking, except she's not really choking because she didn't swallow anything.  She was just gagging bc she hated them so much. 

When the peas didn't work and she had gone back to not eating cereal well for me I just decided to forget the whole thing and just find something she'd eat... so we moved on to pears.  She hated those too so I tried peaches... those were ok, but she still spit them everywhere and gagged a little.  Next we moved to sweet potatoes....

 

They were a huge hit!!!  After trying peas for a few days and almost ruining several outfits, I just decided to take off her clothes for the remainder of our "learning to eat" period.  Good thing too because sweet potatoes are a mess! She tries to feed herself and ends up grabbing the spoon and potatoes go everywhere... when she gets tired of eating she starts to rub her eyes and eventually everything ends up in her hair too... GROSS! We do bath time after meals now... sometimes I can just wipe her down, sometimes a full bath is needed.  Anyways, since the sweet potatoes worked we have just tried bananas and those seem to be ok too. 

Besides being a mess when she eats, she doesn't scream anymore and she seems to enjoy a few of the foods.  I still think she hates the oatmeal, but mixing it a little helps some. 

Oh.. you might wonder where Matt has been in all this.  Well, a vet's job is tough right now.  This is their SUPER busy season, so he gets up early and by the time he comes home dinner is done.  However, I did leave him one night to go out and he was in charge of feeding her.... the text I got from him said "This is not fun".  Yea!  At least he understood all I had been going through trying to get her to eat :) 

Who knew that eating would be such an ordeal!?! My new goal is to figure out how to make her a cleaner eater... I can't take her out in public eating this way!