Two of the biggest and best changes inCurly’s babyhood for us were 1. mobility and 2. eating solid food
I’m going to skip talking about mobility because this post is all about food. When Curly began sitting in his high chair (which is really one of those space-saving chairs that straps onto a regular chair) and eating with us, everything changed for the better. It’s amazing how important it felt for us to eat together, and not just that, to go out to restaurants together. Nutella and I are big “foodies” and we love going out to eat. The time period after Curly stopped sleeping through meals at restaurants (around 3 months) to the time before he started feeding himself finger foods well and sitting in a restaurant high chair (7 months) was limiting to us because we’d try to eat out only to have Curly get frustrated and/or bored. So we stopped going unless we had a babysitter, which was not often. Granted, we’re only talking about 4 months here, but we felt the impact.
Nowadays, we know we can go out to have a meal (not a leisurely one, but around an hour or so) and Curly will be fine. He’ll be so good that sometimes we get compliments which puffs our hearts up. We hold and bounce him until the food comes, at which point, he sits in the high chair and gets some of whatever we’re eating as long as the food doesn’t break any big rules (like nuts). Let me tell you something- our boy Loves. To. Eat. He will happily stuff his face for up to a half hour straight.
For Valentine’s Day, we went out to brunch together. I got a Belgium sugar waffle with strawberries on top. Nutella had some kind of special oatmeal, and we ordered a side baguette with fancy spreads. Curly happily ate my strawberries cut into small pieces and the bread….oh, he was all about that baguette. The baguette was very crusty and he couldn’t quite get through the crusts, so we scooped out the soft interiors and gave them to him. And then we found ourselves left with just the crusts 😦 But as long as he’s happy!
We send him with 3 containers of food to daycare daily. His breakfast is usually a mini muffin or cheerios, with banana slices. Lunch is chicken or tofu and some other fruit…pear or clementine slices for example. His afternoon snack is usually veggies- a mix of sweet potato, steamed asparagus or broccoli. We’re trying to work cubes of cheese into the mix as well. It’ll be interesting when we transition to a solids and whole cow’s milk diet around 1 year. I’m hoping we won’t have issues with that…but if things continue to go along as they have, I don’t foresee any problems. This is probably all a precursor to trying to keep up with feeding a growing boy who will end up taking in more calories than we do!
Oh, and we tried a new sippy cup with water last night. He did better than we thought he would!
1 In Vermillion 
Mmm… the crusty bit is my favorite part of the baguette. I look forward to the day he can have the crusty bit too! 🙂
I love this post. It’s so fun to read about this stage–maybe because I’m looking forward to it so much with BG. I hope he’s as good an eater as Miles is! What fun for everyone!
We’re right there with you on eating out! Owen has reached his “I’m not going to let you eat quietly” phase, so our nights out are limited as well. At home, we throw him in his bouncer and put him at eye level on the table so we can all eat together!!
So glad that you’re able to enjoy going out together!
It’s a huge relief when they can sit with you at home and out. We love that we can enjoy a meal with both hands free! I’m happy you get to have some time out again.
There are few things better in this world than a kid who is a good eater! Cat is terrified that w will have a kid who doesn’t like to eat because she is such a foodie. I assure her all the tim that we will make sure they get to taste everything as soon as they are able.
Hooray for going out to eat!
I too love reading about Miles’ progress because our boys are right there with him! They are all about food right now, however we are not brave enough to take them to a restaurant yet! At least not alone! I think we need more arms for that. We also tried water in a sippy cup but they haven’t quite figured it out. Soon maybe?
That is so fun. I love visualizing the three of you going out to eat together! Yay for enjoying solid foods!
How do you prepare the tofu for him? I am looking for more protien based foods for Anara since she does really well with fruits, veggies and chicken. The few times I have had tofu I don’t really like it, so I have no idea how to prepare it.
Look at that big boy with the sippy cup! I’m so glad that he enjoys food as much as his moms do.
You are so lucky to have such a good eater! More than any other quality, I hope for my kids to be good eaters. Elizabeth has a 12 year old cousin that only eats beige foods- plan pasta, plain buttered bagels, etc. It absolutely kills me to be around that boy! My father-in-law once offered him $20 to eat a strawberry, and he refused. I don’t know what I’ll do if my kids turn out like that.