Many of us love food and who in his or her right mind wouldn’t? The journey to getting a baby to enjoy food isn’t always a straight forward and simple one.
So as her second child reaches the six-month mark, Mabel shares her experience with preparing a child, a premature one, for the all-important (and wonderful world) of food.
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Between the two of us, we enjoy not just Asian cuisine (Asam laksa, nasi lemak, roti canai, briyani, curry, tom yam, etc) but also European cuisine such as quiche lorraine, moussaka, tzatiki, burgers, steak, lasagna, pizza, pasta…well, you get the idea.
Eva is of no exception. Even when I first started solids, it was evident that I was going to have a foodie on my hands.
She took to solids like how a fish takes to water – with much gusto, leaving a lot of empty bowls in her trail!
I have plenty of videos of her downing food with open lips, smacking lips, and well, just of her enjoying solids. As she got older, her daily menu became more elaborate and adult-like.
Homemade muffins, pancakes or waffles for breakfast, sometimes an omelette or sandwich. Lunch and dinner could be anything, from baked vegetables to pasta, pizza and so forth.
So after two years of a rather easy journey of introducing solids to my eldest, I thought the journey this time would be no different.
All I had to do was just to do some reading as a refresher course, dig out some of Eva’s food storage and feeding things and that was it.
Nearly two weeks into starting solids and I am beginning to see that Noah is definitely not in the same league as Eva when it comes to food.
I am not too sure if he’s being a premature baby is an influencing factor but getting him to finish his solids is always a challenge.
Every session sees me playing the entertainer, the clown and him looking on, almost half-heartedly and sometimes utterly bored.
On top of that, he seems to have decided that if a certain food was not up to his liking, he would just not take any. Pursed lips are the way to go!
A food must be made a certain way, taste a certain way and well, look a certain way. Never mind that it is still good food (or at least that’s what Eva declares all the time since she is the one finishing the leftovers)!
While Eva likes her purees fresh from the fridge, Noah likes his a little on the warm side.
While Eva doesn’t mind thicker but smooth purees, I need to almost liquefy his food and make sure it’s extremely smooth – not a single lump!
While Eva is all about food and not so much about water, Noah, yes, you can guess it, likes water but not so much purees.
Talk about being as different as day and night!
The other major contrast is how physically developed they were prior to starting solids.
Eva was already rolling over and had no problems being on her tummy. She could lift her chest up easily and was sitting up supported well. She was already reaching out for things easily and enthusiastically before stuffing the object in question into her mouth.
On the other hand, Noah is still contented to face the world on his side or back. While he does not mind sitting supported, he is more contented to look like a king who is looking down on his subjects from his seat.
In other words, he doesn’t exactly play when he is seated. Sometimes he will obligatorily reach out for something and try to bring it to his mouth but otherwise, he is just contented to watch the world go by.
Perhaps the only thing he shares in common with his sister is that he “talks” a lot.
As I psyche myself up and remind myself that he is his own little person, I do wonder sometimes if my little man will be a foodie like his parents and his sister. In the meantime, I will just have to keep trying, be patient and well, just don’t give up.
After all, there is such a wonderful world of food out there!