youtube link

this link really made me laugh and brightened an otherwise very grey day:
laughing quads

croup

we won't be posting for a little while as charlotte has a nasty case of croup and is off her food again. we spent all last night in A&E with her as her breathing was so bad.
she's a lot more settled and less wheezy now, but it will be a while before she's back to her old self.
back soon.

fish cakes

we really are getting adventurous now. it spurs me on when i see that charlotte is getting more interested in food, and yesterday i made fish cakes.

i decided her first fish would be cod, so i cooked up some cod and some potatoes, then added a little chopped spring onion and parsley, mashed it together and then fried up fish finger shaped cakes. we shared them last night for tea and again today for lunch and they seemed to go down well.

my attempt at making them easy for her to hold was a waste of time though - she picked them up and crushed them in her fist so they oozed between her fingers. she then poked around in the mess and picked out bits that she wanted to eat. messy (what isn't?) but as long as she enjoys it i don't mind.

pizza

i bought some bruchetta slices, ready to toast, from waitrose yesterday. my plan was to use them to make mini pizzas for charlotte. i toasted one, added a good layer of my pasta sauce and then grated some cheezly on top. it looked great, and i tried a bit - not bad at all. i let it cool and gave it to charlotte - i think she liked it...


she also had some alpro peach yoghurt for pud. i'm so pleased that she is finally getting to grips with food. she still woke 4 times to nurse in the night though, yawn!

lots of good news about food

firstly, i made some pasta sauce for the monkey today. it was griddled courgette, carrot, chicken and cherry tomato with basil. i didn't puree it, i pulsed it until the lumps were quite small. she had some with pasta for tea and ate a piece and a half of pasta and also some of the sauce on a spoon (lumps and all). she also had a good amount of pureed mango and banana for pudding. yippee!

other good news is that i had a reply from the ABM to my e-mail. i had asked about delayed introduction of solids and if it had any health implications. the email included a link to a kellymom page which was brilliant. it explained a lot about why babies don't always want solids at 6 months and made it clear that breastfeeding exclusively for up to a year is perfectly ok. there are also loads of links on the following page regarding delaying solids.

i am really pleased about all of this. i know it does not address the frequent night nursing or early waking, but hey, one thing at a time!

pasta success

now we have decided to stop worrying about the amount charlotte eats, she has started showing an interest in food again. i'm pleased that she had no reaction to tomato as it has opened up a whole world of new meals for her.

she had pasta with a tomato sauce and melted cheezly (soya cheese) for lunch and after sucking on a few pieces of pasta popped a whole piece into her mouth, chewed it and swallowed it. i was stunned, and am convinced it didn't actually happen! she also had some mashed up papaya/melon/mango as pudding.

she is still waking up hungry in the night, but i guess this is to be expected until she's eating more solids.... it's a slow process.

back, but still not eating much

not much of an update, but we are still struggling to get food into charlotte. she's not really interested in anything that we offer, be it finger foods or spooned food. she just has a quick taste and then gets bored with it or grumpy with me and throws it all on the floor.

this has led to fequent night wakings to nurse as she is not eating enough during the day. it's tiring and frustrating and i have no idea how to get things to change. i am not too keen on speaking to the health visitor after the last run in, so not sure what to do next...