Monday, February 4, 2008

Yet Another Peanut Update

So here's the thing. Peanut has started to eat a little bit of food.

Finally.

It's been a month and a half since I've been trying to feed her things, but she decided she was ready only well after crossing the six month mark.


I started by trying to feed her mashed bananas, which a lot of people including my doctor recommended. She rejected it completely, screwing her face up like it was the worst taste ever and wailing as if I were trying to poison her. I gave up that fruit pretty early on, but after a few consistent tries.


After that, it was a long journey of trying many different things to start her to eat and to get along without me for a few hours.


... boiled and mashed apples.

...boiled and mashed apples with a bit of jaggery, as suggested by Rohini.

...Nestum with expressed breast milk.

... cereal made more runny than usual, as suggested by Sue.

...boiled and mashed Lauki.

...a special homemade rice cereal, as suggested by a neighbour.

...Dal ka soup, as suggested by Cee Kay.


...using the sippy cup to feed her expressed milk, as suggested by Parul.

... expressed milk with a cup and spoon, as suggested by Sur.

...trying to feed her when she had nursed first for a bit, as suggested by Sur.

...trying to feed her when she had not nursed for a while, as suggested by Rohini.

...warming her food, as suggested by Mona.

...mashed potatoes, as suggested by Sue.

...adding a tiny bit of salt to her food, as suggested by Sue.

...a bit of good old Khichdi, as suggested by everyone.



I'm sure there was other stuff which I am now forgetting.



But two days back, when I ran out of everything, including patience to prepare anything even remotely complicated, I mashed a banana and held it hopelessly, listlessly out, under her nose.



And that's when she sniffed it suspiciously, stuck her little tongue out and tasted it and then proceeded to calmly devour the whole thing. I watched in amazement as she finished, smacked her lips and looked at me expectantly for more.



Her entire aspect was that of a person who is saying 'Now THIS is more like it, this is what I was waiting her. Why didn't you think of this earlier, Mama?'



WHATEVER! Now I know I'm going to go prematurely grey.



Anyway, so the thing is that now she seems to be a little more open to eating a few things, including Khichdi, the Homemade rice cereal, Carrots and Apple. But the Banana continues to be her favourite.



I hope to expand her repertoire but this is yet another lesson that worrying doesn't help, my baby is pretty much going to decide when she wants to progress from one thing to another, at her own pace.



Thanks a ton to you all for your suggestions. Sur and Sue have been really helpful on the phone. Mona, Parul and Cee Kay have been giving me tips on email.And Rohini was kind enough come over with Ayaan with special feeding spoons. All of you, really, and anyone whose name is escaping me at the moment due to temporary amnesia.You guys are awesome.



Soon I shall be able to go to work and leave her behind and know that she will not starve without me. Oh, Joy.


Oh, Hell.



............................................................................................



Yes, and also, she sits now. No one told me you're supposed to make a baby sit and let her get used to it. I was watching her quite keenly all this while, waiting for her to get up on her own. I was quite interested to see whether she would think of it herself and how she would manage it.



Is there anything else I should know about her next move? Will she start crawling on her own or am I supposed to crawl in front of her so that she tries to copy me? These books are all hopelessly inadequate. Not that I'm in any hurry to have her crawl, mind you - it's quite tough managing her squirms and wiggles nowadays.



Here's a picture of her sitting and watching her father playing my guitar. Pretending to play. He knows only one tune - that Kya Zamaana tha tune from that old reincarnation movie of Anil Kapoor's - Lamhe! Well, he knows only one line from that song. And he always gets it wrong. It drives me crazy.




But she didn't seem to mind. The perfect audience.

Edited to add: As per Stuti, the hero and movie are Rishi Kapoor and Karz, respectively. I stand corrected. And NO, it was not a test.

18 comments:

  1. Please say you meant it to be spotted!! Please, Please!

    The song - Kya zamana tha, correct.

    The theme - reincarnation, correct.

    The movie - Lamhe, incorrect. It was Karz.

    The actor - Anil Kapoor, incorrect. It was Rishi Kapoor.

    You didn't mean to write that, right. Please say you didn't.

    Else, get Vijay to proofread anything you write about Hindi language, Hindi songs, Hindi movies!! His "rishtey mein to hum tumhaare baap lagte hain" are to be trusted.

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  2. madam, i have become a fan -of your posts not your knowledge of hindi songs. how could you say lamhe???

    and peanut- yippee, you have got the hang of spinning the poor mom around. see that blur passing by-yes, its her!

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  3. ah. brat loved bananas and only ate them for months. still does that for weeks on end. fikar not. first child is always a painful eater. better luck next time :D

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  4. Oh goody - I always find A does what I want him to when I am at the verge of throwing in the towel - they are not the innocent creatures, we think they are, I tell ya...

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  5. Y,

    welcome to What-does-mom-know-land! You have a beautiful baby!
    The picture of her sitting up is so cute, I love the froggy pose most babies adopt when they first start sitting.

    M

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  6. LOL, but can imagine what a relief it must be.

    btw daliya is also a good baby food.

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  7. Ah, the relief, Y! A collective sigh of relief from all of us Peanut and family fans:)
    Attagirl, Peanut.

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  8. You forgot to thank me. But that's all right - I'm sure it was just an oversight.

    I don't have a baby but if I was in little Peanut's place I would be saying "Mother, I've had my fill of this fibrous shrubbery, could we perhaps move on to the sausage pizza and hot chocolate fudge?". Can you tell that I'm missing Nirulas?

    On a related note, Shaun Tait's nickname is Sloon. It's because the Australian cricket team once checked into a hotel in Sri Lanka. The hotel clerk looked at his name, seemed to struggle with it forever and finally let out a "Sloon". It's one of the better nicknames in cricket. And I thought you'd want to know.

    And yes, you know you're welcome.

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  9. Hi Y. First time in your comment box, and a quick note to say you have been tagged:
    http://winkiesways.blogspot.com/2008/02/how-easy-it-is-to-do-tag-like-this.html

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  10. Good job Peanut (at eating and NOT at making Mama run around in circles, you naughty girl!!)

    Y, don't mean to alarm OR criticize but I remember S' doctor in India told me not to give her sugar, honey or Jaggery (specially not honey or jaggery) until she was one year old. All these have high levels of impurities. Just dissolve a piece of jaggery (or a spoon of sugar or honey) in a cup of water and you will see these impurities settle down at the bottom. It is OK to give sugar/jaggery IF it has been cooked with the food. But, IMHO adding jaggery to the food so they would eat it will set you up for food-struggles in the future. Saw it happen with my nephew. Again, just my personal opinion.

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  11. how about trying some peanut butter? smooth, i think.

    - a fan

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  12. kids, i tell you, they just like to watch us being driven up the wall - there's no other explanation for it!
    and i wonder how hana, who never liked tummy time or learned to crawl will learn to sit up, but i figure these kids, they all come with their own master development schedules and they run by it, no matter what we do.
    sit back and enjoy the ride, y.

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  13. P.S. i'm in real-estate, hence the terminology. haha.

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  14. Stuti: okay, okay, OKAY

    Suki: Thanky!

    Sur: I am SORRY for saying Lamhe! I will check with Vijay in future.

    MM: Better luck next time, ha ha, very FUNNY.

    Ro: They are anything BUT innocent!

    M: Thank you :-)

    Choxbox: Thanks, will try dalia in a while, my doc also said so.

    Dipali: Hai na! Thanks

    Ganju: Ummm...??? I also want a HCF from Nirulas...!

    Tharini: Will do, will do :-) - and welcome (again)

    Cee Kay: Thanks for letting me know - the jaggery failed anyway in the apple, but I do add some to the homemade rice cereal - it does get boiled, but I think you're right and I'll cut back on it. Have certainly heard about the honey part, but my neighbour's paediatrician said a bit of jaggery won't hurt. But yes, I do believe it will set us up for exacerbating her obvious sweet tooth, so will certainly curb its use. Thanks!

    Anon Fan: rrrright...no peanut butter till peanut is a year old. You obviously don't have any kids! Why you being anon?

    Mona: Amen! :-)

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  15. Coming over from Parul's blog... you had a complaint about me not leaving my paw print on your blog?

    Here I am now... :-)
    And with this I raise a toast to Peanut continuing to eat well and not giving you too much trouble in that department :-)

    http://howiwishfornewbeginnings.wordpress.com

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  16. hurray! So its bananas the Peanut is going bananas over!

    My sis faced the same issue, the firstborn refused to eat any solids for months and now, just over two, continues to be a fussy eater!

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  17. Yay, she's eating and sitting!

    The image of Peanut sticking out a suspicious little tongue and licking the spoonful of banana is cute beyond words :).

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Hi there. Go on, say it. Well? WELL?