Breakfast Blues

Breakfast can be so difficult when you're two. He will eat eventually, this much I know. He will also have to get over the picky phase, because Mommy is tired of making more than one meal at a time, just so they will eat. So, today's attempt to get them to eat last night's left overs bombed. I will prevail... right? Not everyone will agree with my method, but I'm not everyone else either.

Spaghetti Night

I'm at the point that I still don't like cleaning up any more messes than I have to. But when it comes to dinner I'm really past eating cold food for the sake of feeding Evan so that I don't have to clean his mess. So I just decided to hand over the food. Arabella went through this phase at a much younger age but Evan, well he's a boy, and a really intentional messy one at that.

He did better than I'd hoped. Knock on wood, nothing made it to the ground except his fork. He gave up using the fork for eating and opted to pick everything up. Whatever it takes I suppose. I ended up getting to eat a hot meal and he was pretty much quiet throughout dinner.

Of course after he was done he chose to use the fork for teething. After all he did cut two new teeth in, which I have yet to blog about. And of course being that they are teeth that affect his sinuses he's a dripping snotty mess. God bless being a Mommy.

Table Food

"Please feed me table food Mommy."

Evan is getting to a point where he refuses baby food, vegetables at least. We've been working at giving him more table foods. So far he is in love with strawberries, grapes and blueberries. He will also eat just about anything off of my plate. He's had tacos, cheese & lettuce included; any kind of chicken we make, and hamburgers/turkeyburgers, steak fries, tator tots. He is a P.I.G.

Tonight he inhaled an entire carton of pasta pick ups, a carton of fruit mixed with rice cereal, Gerber puffs, and a large squeeze pouch of pumpkin banana. He also stole some of my tortellini. This was after he snacked on a half cup of yogurt bites. I mean seriously, where does he put it all?

I cannot wait for him to be a teenager. If he's anything like Adam was as a kid, we are going to go bankrupt trying to feed him. Wish us luck.

Please Learn

Tonight Evan got his first teething biscuit and it will be his last for a long, long time. He enjoyed it but he scared Mommy & Daddy to death. So please learn from our mistake, don't give your children teething biscuits until you are absolutely certain that they can handle them.

He was digging on his biscuit and it was keeping him occupied so we could do some of our monthly cooking. It was joy, quiet in the house, and we could get work done. I still had to snap some pictures because it's a first for him.

After a while he had it whittled down to a sloppy mess. And then I knew it the minute I saw his little face. My baby was choking. Arabella had gagged on things now and then, but never fully choked. Evan was gasping and trying to breathe, but he just couldn't. All I can see is the terror in his eyes. As if he were asking me for help. This is the last picture I took.

This is when I knew something wasn't right. I immediately put the camera down and tried to lean him forward thinking maybe it was just gagging him. But he just started to writhe from the lack of air. I ripped the tray off of the high chair and Adam continued to try to lean him forward. I screamed "get him out!" Finally he was loose and instinct kicked in. It has been ages since I took a safety class but I just knew what to do. I turned him over on my knee and proceeded to start Infant Heimlich. After two or three good blows he started puking teething biscuit all over the place and this tiny half an inch piece just fell out. He had tears streaming down his face and this look of disbelief. Never again will he get a teething biscuit. I say that, but for now it won't be happening, just later on when I'm 100% certain he can handle it.

So I say this with all the love in my heart, PLEASE take the time to learn Infant CPR and Heimlich if you do not know it. Had I not known what to do tonight I very well could have sent our infant son to the morgue. That is not something I could have lived with. I'm grateful he's okay, and thankful I took the time as a teenager to learn what would be necessary "just in case." Never in my life did I think I'd actually use it, let alone on my own child.

For more information on Heimlich Maneuver for Infants visit Harvard Medicals Family Health Guide.

For more information on CPR for Infants visit Harvard Medicals Family Health Guide.

For more information on taking a CERTIFIED CPR Course visit The American Heart Association.

First All Big People Meal

On September 28th, Bella had her firt big people meal. She has mooched food from us before but I wasn't feeling all up to feeding her that night so she shared in our pasta with meat sauce. It took her a bit before she figured out that the noodles were okay to pick up, but she did great with it.