Womze - Cross Cultural Parenting

This week Baby Brother did not seem overly interested in his dinners, whether cereal or the varieties of jarred stage 2 dinners.  We even tried stage 3 mushy dinners with tiny floating chunks but his response was the same.  Perhaps it’s because he’s teething.  He’s had a fever, maybe he’s fighting off something and is experiencing a loss of appetite. But even before then, his interest in food seemed to have decreased.  He still drank his milk so I wasn’t worried.

When I sat him in his seat at the dinner table and cooed and cooed, trying to get him to eat some mixed cereal and fruit combo and he stubbornly resisted by averting his mouth from the spoon, I concluded that he was not hungry, that he had no appetite.   So when Adoring Father joined us at the table with a plate of ogbonno (a West African soup) and Baby Brother practically leaped out of his seat towards daddy’s plate, I was surprised.  “Could he want that?”, I wondered aloud.  Adoring Father gave him a chunk of something from the soup and the boy mashed it down with his gums and two teeths and called for more.  I was shocked.  Not because I can’t stand ogbonno (it has a strong odor aroma) but because I didn’t realize an 8 month old baby could be that selective.

Could he be bored with baby food?  Could he be ready for bigger-boy culinary delights?  Could I really serve him from our dinner plate?  I hadn’t experienced this with his older sister as she ate within my dictated guidelines till age one when I removed all restrictions and fed her from anything we ate.  I remember she was very delighted to join us at dinner but she was one year old.  I didn’t have to worry about sharing an omelet with her since egg whites were now okay.  And I was a lot less worried about her choking on food bits.

Now that I know that baby’s not “not hungry” when he turns his mouth away from his chicken noodle dinner, macaroni and cheese (which was a favorite), sweet pototoes in pureed form, I’m trying to cook baby-friendly meals that he can eat.  I found a baby food guide at WholesomeBabyFood.com and I improvised with foods I have at hand.

So far he’s done very well with my home cooked meals.  He’s cleaned up his bowls and ‘asked’ for seconds.  We’ve had:

• Spinach rice - very soft boiled rice, added a dash of leftover stew (tomatoes, onions and peppers), crumbled spinach into it and crumbled in a boiled egg yolk.
• Egg noodles - Noodles boiled very soft, added dash of leftover stew, added a crumbled egg yolk.
• Cheesy egg noodles - Noodles boiled very soft, added mozarella cheese

I need to go grocery shopping with baby in mind and expand our food repertoir while he’s very interested lest he grows up to be a picky eater like his sister is (or like I was once).

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This evening as I was mixing Baby Brother’s cereal, the picture of a stack of pancakes caught my attention.  I bought a new box of Gerber mixed cereal last week and I had not noticed the recipe on the back.  “Pancakes for baby?” was the first thought that flashed through my mind.  I don’t think the thought is ridiculous, afterall, Baby Brother has two tiny teeth and has demonstrated the ability to chomp down crackers, cheerios, boiled egg yolk, potatoes, small bits of chicken and even my arm.  He can definitely tackle some pancake, but a whole stack of ‘em?!

So I looked closely.  It says to add Gerber rice cereal and First Foods applesauce to my pancake mix for an additional boost of iron and vitamin C for kids accustomed to eating solids.  Would that be Darling Angel at age 4, accustomed to eating solids (in all forms); or Baby Brother at 7 months, accustomed to eating solids (mashed and in smaller quantities)?  Hey, it says it’s for the whole family.  Adoring Father included. 

It does take a long time to go through a box of baby cereal and I’ve felt some impatience at times at the slow rate of depletion since I was eager to try new ones - all of which Baby Brother has been indifferent towards (I wonder if they - rice, barley, oat, mixed - all taste the same).  If I had realized that I could use the baby cereal in pancakes, I just might have been able to finish up boxes quicker.  The thought of baby cereal in my pancake however feels very unappealing.  So maybe not.

But why would I add 1st Food applesauce?  Why?  Why would I use the teeny baby one when I could buy a big jar of applesauce for just a fraction more?  I could buy organic.

Perhaps if Baby Brother outgrows his baby foods and I’m stuck with 1st Foods applesauce, Adoring Father will end up eating pancakes infused with baby food.

Now, I’m going to gerber.com to see what else I can make for my family from baby food.