munchkin meals: 12 months

Another month, another munchkin meals link up!  Head over to Brittany’s blog to check out what other babies and toddlers are eating.

Last month, I was really worried about Alma’s solid food intake.  It turned out that she was getting a cold, and a few days after that post, she started eating even less!  It seems like ever since Alma was two weeks old and we found out she wasn’t getting enough milk from me, I’ve been worried that she somehow won’t be taking in enough nutrients/calories and I will miss the signs.  Despite having read from numerous sources that babies will never starve themselves, and will eat just what they need (aside from health or sensory issues), I still worry.

Until I found this book – My Child Won’t Eat!  by Carlos Gonzalez.  I wrote about it in Alma’s 12 month update, but I can’t recommend it enough for parents who are worried about how much their child is eating (or if they have weight gain concerns).  Since reading the book, I have been completely relaxed about Alma’s meals, and my change in attitude has had a positive effect on Alma.  I’m sure that she could feel my frustration and worry, and probably felt pressured to eat beyond her own hunger cues.

Now, meal times are stress-free, and Alma is actually eating a little bit more.  Of course she has meals that she barely touches, but she makes up for it later.  Here’s a look at what Alma has been eating lately:

Morning Snack (7:30am):

This is a new addition.  She usually skims a few bites of my oatmeal, and has a small snack of graham cracker squares, puffs, or dry cereal.  This morning she devoured a serving of strawberry-beet puffs.

loves her snack cup!

Breakfast (9:30ish):

Alma has been loving yogurt for breakfast.  I started buying some (very expensive) almond milk greek-style yogurt since it has 6g of protein per serving.  Her coconut milk yogurt had far less.  It has more sugar added, though, so I mix it with the plain coconut milk yogurt to reduce the sugar. She has been refusing bread products (waffles, toast, pancakes) until yesterday, so we are adding them back into the mix again.  Fickle babies!

Today I offered her:

• 4 oz of blueberry almond milk & plain coconut milk yogurt mixed
• one slice of tempeh bacon
• 1/2 a banana pancake (made with breast milk) topped with earth balance and 100% fruit-spread.
• full-fat coconut milk mixed with hemp milk in her straw sippy

she ate almost all of it!

She had one ounce of milk from her sippy.  When she was done, she started playing and showing off her newest trick:

lovely

Lunch (2:30pm):

Alma eats lunch late because she usually nurses a couple times after her morning nap.  I might start playing around with offering her lunch earlier, but for now, it seems to be working for her.  She snacked on a few puffs, a bite of my banana from my smoothie, and some milk from her sippy while we were out playing at a baby gym.  When we got home, I offered her:

• 1/3 of a big veggie burger (yes, she is finally trying a new one after nearly 5 months of eating the same one every day!!)
• 1/2 ounce Daiya (vegan) cheese
• 1/4 large avocado mashed with 1/3 of a banana
• hemp/coconut milk

ate everything except for about 1/3 of the avocado/banana mash

She finished off her hemp/coconut milk, so she had 3 ounces total between the sips at the baby gym and lunch time.  A little more than usual, because she only nursed once after her nap.

This is the veggie burger she’s been eating lately (Andrew and I think they are really tasty, too!):

Afternoon Snack (5:00pm):

Alma had about 3/4 of a graham cracker and 2 oz of her hemp/coconut milk combo.  She almost never drinks any milk from her sippy cup at this time, so that was unusual.  She also nursed twice after her nap.

Dinner (6:45pm):

Alma had leftovers from eating out last night.  The dinner I was making for Andrew and me wasn’t ready in time, otherwise I would’ve have given her that so she didn’t have vegan cheese twice in one day.  I offered her:

• 1/4 quesadilla made with Daiya cheese
• small scoop of refried beans
• 2 tablespoons sliced olives
• 20 freeze-dried peas (I don’t usually count them!)
• 1/2 cup tropical-fruit sauce
• hemp/coconut milk

I had a few bites of her quesadilla…

She tried everything, but only had a few bites of her quesadilla and beans.  She liked them last night, but I guess they weren’t as appealing tonight! She ate about half of her fruit, and she is getting really good at eating with her spoon.  She still needs a lot of help from us, though.  She drank 1.5 oz of her milk.

She loves putting olives on her fingers (what kid doesn’t?):

notice the lack of bib – major bib struggles going on over here

This was a pretty big food day for her.  Especially when it comes to her sippy cup.  She had a total of 7.5 ounces, which is the most she has ever had from her sippy.  Lately, it’s been more like 4 ounces.  Maybe a growth spurt?  She also nursed 9 times today, which is pretty typical for her.

A few weeks ago, I tried out the nibble tray for a couple days.  Alma didn’t really like it – she seemed overwhelmed by the options.  I think she eats better when she’s given only one or two different foods (and only a few pieces of each) at a time.  I did use the tray to pack her some food when we went out to eat last night, and I just gave her some pieces from it, instead of giving her the whole tray.  I think down the road we will get some more use out of it.

I’m excited to read what the other kiddos are eating!

And for fun, here are all of our munchkin meals posts:

• easy meals (6 months)
• a day of solids (8 months)
• challenges (9 months)
• another day of solids (10 months)
• alma’s eats at 11 months