My girl loves cheese

or Adventures in Finger Foods

Occasionally I have the opportunity to see other moms feedings their babies baby food. They make it look so easy. Feeding Rosa continues to require creativity and endurance. Pretty much as soon as she is put in her high chair, she starts squirming and writhing until I give her something to keep her hands and mind busy. Not just a toy, but something she has to "work on," like putting a lid on and off of a jar or taking a scoop in and out of the 1/4 cup measure. We had a tough lunch today (more on that below in the Adventures in Finger Foods section), and then for dinner I gave her a bottle with a lid and a jar with a lid. She spent the whole meal testing over and over to see which lid fit on which container. She pretty much always got it right, but had to keep doing it over and over. It was the easiest meal I've fed her in days. No refusals, no spitting, no throwing!

Her need to be busy with her hands and mind keeps making me think she needs to be the one feeding herself - this would solve the problem, right? She would be keeping busy picking up all the little pieces of food, and this would keep her calm and happy. So we've been making forays into finger food. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. Last week she happily ate 1/3 to 1/2 a banana in little pieces, and this week all she wants to do is create banana mush by squeezing all the pieces to a pulp. The front 1/3 of her hair was bathed in banana mush at lunch today. She's super unpredictable at what and how much she will be willing to eat.

But I can always count on her eating cheese. American, cottage cheese (she loves cottage cheese), and grated cheddar so far have never been rejected. Only smoked gouda has been deemed unacceptable so far (ok - not a surprise probably!). My girl loves cheese. Now if I could only get her to eat the little pieces of soft fruits and vegetables I so painstakingly cut up. Oh well, I guess we'll keep going with the purees for a while...