The Baby Food Blues

Welcome to chapter 834 of Where are my parenting instincts?!!

Up until now Remy has been eating Gerber baby food. To be honest, its because I'm lazy. Because obviously I have better things to do than to make baby food for my child. You know, like watch E! True Hollywood stories, or procrastinate doing laundry or pseudo-stalk people on Facebook. Plus, for some strange reasons related to my psyche it seemed easier to increase our Target budget than our food budget since I feel like I already spend a ridiculous amount of money on food for two people.

But the time has come to have Remy eating solids. Up until a couple weeks ago Remy refused solids, gagged on solids and was generally all around uninterested in solids. I knew the day was coming soon when baby food would no longer satisfied him and last week he just seemed hungrier than usual. I have a hand grinder that my sister gave me and I have not used much because my little noodle arms scream with agony every time I try to grind the tiniest amount of food. But last week I ground up a chicken and rice dish we were having and Remy chowed down. Ever since, with the exception of one meal, Remy has refused to eat baby food. We offer it to him and , if we are lucky, he takes one bite. But generally he turns up his nose right away.

For the most part he is pretty good about eating food that is cut up into pieces but the real crux of the issue is that I have no idea if he is getting enough to eat.

Before it was all measured out in nice little portions. I knew exactly how much he ate by how much was left in the jar. Now when I cut up a piece of toast for him and there are a bunch of pieces left on his tray when he is done I am horrible at gauging how much he has eaten... hmm do you think if I put these little pieces together I would have half a piece of toast, quarter of a piece of toast? Another issue is that if I am sitting with him I end up eating some of his food, absentmindedly, simply because its in front of me (much like a cook sampling their food during the cooking process). But, since its absentmindedly, I don't exactly remember how much I have eaten vs. how much Remy has eaten. Not to mention, that despite nice little charts the WIC nurse gave me (which I promptly lost), I have no clue how much food Remy actually needs.

Since Remy has refused baby food he has seemed even more fussy than usual, leading me to think that he must be hungry. Or maybe its because we are trying to wean him from his bottles (also making me even more nervous that he is not getting the nutrients he needs and what if he is dehydrated?!!) and he misses his old routine? Either way its driving me crazy. Common sense says that babies refuse food when they are no longer hungry. But what if Remy is just bored with eating and then I let him go play and a half an hour later he is still hungry? Or what if he decides he doesn't like any of the food I am offering him after sampling some?

Or maybe he is just crabby because his tummy hurts since his mother is over-stuffing him with food?