Current Mood: Happy
Well if you know me and how I am with Mia, then you know how OVERLY protective I am of her. I am always on constant watch of all her actions, how her routines are, and especially what she does and doesn't eat.
I felt everything was going ok, until I kept getting repeative comments from family (both sides Pizano/Cardoso) about her eating habbits. I usually keep my ears closed to any criticism or jokes/teasing because she is my daughter and I do what I feel is right for her. However, it wasn't until Adrian started jumping in too that I then started to realize maybe I am being alittle to strict and harsh on certain things. Mainly what she eats. I have been semi-loosening up on other things (ie. how rough Adrian plays with her, letting others feed her and change her diaper, etc) but I have been really stern about her diet.
To be honest, it mostly stemmed from her not having many teeth. I figured we would introduce more "adult" foods once she gained more teeth. (Right now she only has 4 with two more coming in anyday) I waited awhile before I even introduced baby food to her. Actually per her doctor, he said not to introduce it until she was 4 months old. I waited until she was almost 6! and even that was with reluctancy. The semi-solids and puffs, snackies and stuff all came way after that, and again I was reluctant. Mia, on the other hand, LOVED the foods. She never choked (another fear of mine), never threw up or had an allergic reaction. She learned to chew really early which also helped a bit. So I began slowly showing her different foods. Mostly fruits (ie. pears, watermelon, cantalope, mango, blueberries, strawberries, etc) Most of this all comes from Adrian's encouragement and sometimes him doing it behind my back! Like her first taste of candy at a birthday party and eating popsicals!
Anyways what really started making me realize I was over doing the whole food restriction thing started during her baptism weekend. My over protectivness was in high gear and I actually snapped alittle at both my Mom (who fed her alittle bit of spanish rice) and my mother-in-law (who fed her some potato from a burrito). I wasn't out of line with either but I was mad and my face showed it. I didn't want to hear how "shes old enough for this..." "this won't hurt her" I was just angry they were feeding my baby something "I" didn't even feed her. Later that night I reflected on many things and how certain things were handled. One of them being her experiencing new foods and my over protectiveness of that. Later I found out a few other friends I have who have babies all around Mia's age if not younger were already on table foods. Then after talking to my bestfriend, Mona (whos son, Koa, is a couple of months older) eats all kinds of variety of table foods. She was as over protective as I was once, but she said she had to let it go once the babysitter was feeding him all kinds of different stuff anyways and he was ok. Adrian spoke up at that party too and mentioned how I am too over protective of her diet and I need to loosen up. So after a long talk with Adrian I finally realize I am being alittle to harsh. Which leads me to today...
I finally decided it would be ok for Mia to eat adult food, of course if it was baby-friendly food. So I cooked a small pot of fresh homemade beans (I learned how to make awesome beans thanks to my Mother-in-law) I cook them with a tiny bit (a clove) of finely minced fresh garlic, which counter-acts gas build-up from beans and a tiny bit of onion for flavor. I didn't add any salt so they were pretty blan. I wasn't sure if I should mash them or feed them to her whole. So I decided to feed them to her whole since it would promote her chewing practice. I got a small bowl, set her up, and gave her her first bean. She didn't make faces or spit it out, infact she kind of liked it! Before I knew it, the whole bowl of beans were devoured and she wanted more. Thats my girl! A true Mexican, already liking her beans! haha I had some white rice steaming and after that was done I fed her that too. She loved the rice and ate tiny little clumps. She LOVED to feed herself, which was a real treat for her when I let her. She never choked or anything and when she was done she drank her water from her sippy like a pro.
She is really growing up. So after today's experience and seeing she is ok with table foods I am considering lightening up my grip on what she can and cannot eat. Adrian put it best when he said, "shes almost 1! what do you think that once she hits that "Magic Number" all of a sudden she will be ok at eating table food?" I guess I have been alittle harsh, I mean I do want her to be able to eat her birthday cake on her birthday! haha So we will see what other new food adventures she will encounter. Though I am going to loosen up about the whole table food subject I am SOOOOO NOT going to loosen up on my ideal of feeding her healthy non-processed food as much as possible. I keep all her sugar and sodium intake to the bare-minium and I have never let her eat processed sugars (corn syrup) only natural sugars that come from fruits and veggies themselves. I know I can't control her meals for all her life and eventually she will venture into the dark-side of refined foods and sugars but if I can give her the best start in the begining for developing healthy eating habbits then I am going to do whatever I can do give her that best start. Afterall, she is still my little Butterfly Princess.
