Part of the reason I write this blog is for my children someday - should they choose to become parents themselves - to look back on and encourage them during the difficulties of raising my grandchildren. Well, one of the difficulties I have with Avi is getting her to eat. She's just not that interested in food. And if she does sit down at the table, her attention span lasts for about 1 minute. This is not long enough for her to get any substantial amount of nutrition in her (and nor is it long enough for her parents to come close to finishing their meal). So, in order to get her to eat, we let her eat in unconventional places (i.e., the car seat, the kitchen floor, mommy or daddy's arms, while walking around...) and we feed her whevener she is hungry (afraid that if we fed her only at set times during the day, she might wither away). Part of the problem is that Avi is tiny! She is in the 1 or 2% for weight and 5% for height. So, we feel pressured to have her eat whenever and wherever she can! Ahhh, how I miss the months of just breast-feeding and her fat, chunky, healthy baby fat! Now, feeding her is work - whereas breastmilk was always ready, fresh, complete and loved-by-Avi.
Since returning from Hawaii, our whole family has become addicted to coconuts. Avi LOVES drinking the milk and eating the meat. The other day she wanted to hold the coconut herself while drinking. Well, this proved difficult, so we had to move the coconut to the floor to accommodate her preferences.
Another problem with Avi and eating is that Avi thinks of food as a toy more often than not. Here she takes the food from the bowl, puts it on the table, runs her finger through it on the table (in essence, finger painting with her food), then she finally brings the trace of food on her fingertip to her mouth. Hence, getting calories in can be a laborious, long process.
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