Tuesday, August 16, 2011

What a 1-year-old eats...at least, what MY 1-year-old eats

We've had a very laissez-faire approach to feeding Desmond solids.  He started off with avocado as his first food and moved on to pureed varieties of several foods (squash, sweet potatoes, etc).  That lasted about a month or so and then we just started mashing and grinding our leftovers and giving it to him and, it turned out, he enjoyed our food so much more than his slightly more bland baby food. 

Des enjoying his first taste of avocado.  He now prefers his avocado guacamole'd.

He loves spices: cinnamon, curry, chipotle powder...The kid definitely has a penchant for worldly flavors.  He gets it after me.  Seriously.  I loved eating Thai food, Indian food, and Mexican food while I was pregnant.  I mean, Ekamai Thai and Chipotle burritos were my go-to foods throughout the week.  All that deliciousness was emanating from my guts, into my bloodstream, and into his amnio-pod.  So, the whole time, Des was just swimming in amniotic fluid that smelled (and probably tasted) like garlic, curry, and cilantro.  Don't believe me?  What happens when you eat a shit ton of garlicky pickles and then go work out?  You emanate garlic from your pits.  What happens when you buy a round of cheese from a cow that ate chives and garlic shoots at pasture?  The cheese tastes like garlicky onions.  Still don't believe me?  Read (or listen to) this article from NPR:

But Mennella says that not only is the amniotic fluid and breast milk in humans flavored by food just like cows, but memories of these flavors are formed even before birth. That could result in preferences for these foods or odors for a lifetime. In other words, if you eat broccoli while you're pregnant, there's a much better chance your baby will like broccoli.

Of course he's declined several foods over the last few months (just recently, he declined a deliciously creamy potato soup I made), but I have a few tricks up my sleeve to get him to try everything and maybe end up liking good-for-him stuff in the long run.  First of all, sometimes, he'll just be in a mood to assert his independence and want to wear his big-boy shorts and he'll turn his head when I offer him food.  At this point, I'll have known he's hungry (either he hasn't eaten for a while or he'll blatantly point to his treat cup...those cups with those weird lids on it that kids could stick their hands in and get treats out).

Munchkin snack catchers


So, I'll patiently wait until he opens his mouth then pop some of that food right into his gullet.  Usually he spits it out right away, but once he can process the taste, he'll ask for more. 

Second, I have been letting him try to feed himself with a spoon or just his hands.  He thinks this is fun and will actually try to put the spoon into his mouth and inadvertently end up tasting the delicious meal I lovingly made just for him (read: last night's dinner leftovers). 

Des eating a whole tomato like it was an apple.  He finished probably 1/4 of it.

Des with yogurt all over his face.


Third, if he absolutely wants nothing to do with it, I don't push it.  I take him out of his high chair, put the leftovers that are stuck to the tray on the floor (the dogs lick it off.  What?  It's less for me to clean when I go clean the tray off in the sink), and wash him off.  I will make a mental note that today he didn't like steamed broccoli, but maybe next week I'll put a dash of zatarain's on it and maybe he'll eat it.
 
First taste of gazpacho with Grandma Donna at the Farmer's Market.  He initially disliked it.
Asking for more after the initial first bite.

Point is, a baby who's able to crawl and can grasp stuff pretty adroitly (and I am using adroitly very loosely), can probably handle grown-up food, mashed according to dental capacity (Des has 6 teeth now and he's on to eating slices of apple, albeit not very well yet).  Feeding Des our leftovers actually has made me cook more nutritious, whole-food meals for ourselves (whole food as in no processed, usually vegetarian foods, not necessarily bought at Whole Foods).  Right now, I would say that his calories are half grown-up food and half milk. 

What we need to work on now is how to curb his growing love and crackhead affinity for treats (those organic O's that you can buy that are like apple flavored).  He loves that stuff and if he even sees the tub of Os out in the open, he'll shriek like a banshee and point and say "ugh ugh ugh."  I think part of it is that he loves being able to carry a portable source of food and he'll walk around waving his treat cup all over the place and handing treats to the dogs.  Unlike me, who never likes to share what's on her plate, he's a very generous consumer of food. 

Business lunch.  Des is CONSTANTLY on his blackberry.

Saw some treats go by on a tray.  This is his "ugh ugh ugh" face.  He's grasping an animal cracker in his hand.


So, point is, don't be shy about giving your kid different non-Gerber food.  Get him used to different, APPROPRIATELY mashed/cut/torn food so that he turns out to (hopefully) be a lover of good, delicious, wholesome, and healthy food. 

Des is lucky to have his godmother Jen, who makes incredible raw and vegan food, like this nut-based dip.  Des LOVED all of the raw food Jen gave him.  Dead serious. 

Munching on a carrot dipped in some nut-paté.  Look at his healthy glow!


Disclaimer: we have given Des french fries.  Once.  At the airport when he was FREAKING out and we were ready to board the plane.  And I've given him some of my chocolate malt shake when I was out in small-town Missouri looking at antique shops.  I don't let it guilt trip me; I figure that a heavily restricted diet will lead Desmond to grow up, rebel, and binge on McDonald's every day for lunch in high school (just like happens sometimes with teens and other abstinence-only programs...let's not get me started on that.)

Feeding Des some ice cream in Colombia.

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