the custard incident

we went out for lunch on saturday with some friends who have twins the same age as charlotte. during the meal, one of the boys dunked his hand in a bowl of custard and we were all worried that he may burn himself as it was quite hot. he took it in his stride and then returned to the play mat on the floor to continue playing. unfortunately, there must have still been some custard on his hand as a few minutes later, charlotte's dairy rash came up on her face. they had been sharing toys and, well, you can guess the rest. luckily it was a milder reaction as there was so little dairy present, but scary nonetheless.

so charlotte is still definitely allergic to dairy products.

no food today

charlotte was so excited about being in kingston shopping for summer clothes that she didn't want any solids today.
it's going to be a long night!

pasta and bolognese sauce

so i continued with the pasta and alpro theme today. she ate pasta with sauce for lunch and then just the sauce mixed with soya cheese for tea. i also steamed her some courgette for tea and she sucked all the juice out. i was able to feed her pieces of mince and vegetables on a spoon which was brilliant, but the courgette was firmly grasped in both hands to be sucked whenever i took a while to replenish the spoon.
here is a video of her "blink and you'll miss it" approach to eating pasta:

alpro yoghurt was also reasonably successful. she takes the spoon from me and feeds feeds herself which is very messy but great for teaching her how to use a spoon.

also, we went to visit yiayia (grandma in greek) and her great aunt and uncle. charlotte adored her great uncle and wouldn't stop smiling at him; she also kept everyone amused by clapping for us. unfortunately she hasn't learned to open up her hands to do it so she looks like a thunderbirds puppet. i'll try to get video uploaded.

pasta and alpro yoghurt

well, after realising that charlotte only really eats pasta and alpro yoghurt that's what i'll be feeding her for the moment! she had pasta and chunky tomato/veg/chicken sauce for lunch which she definitely ate a bit of. for dinner she had bolognese sauce with some chopped veg added and cheese on top (no pasta this time). she did manage a few bits of mince but didn't eat much. i then unveiled the alpro yoghurt to a big grin and kicking about. it is the only thing she'll eat off a spoon and she had a good amount of it.

last night she had pizza and only ate the toppings and then a melon and mango lolly for pud. i reckon i could do variations on pasta and sauces, yoghurt and lollies for a while and give her a reasonably balanced diet.... she is still having 8 nursing sessions in 24 hours so she won't go hungry.

less successful again

we are again struggling with food, with charlotte throwing things around a lot and me desperately trying not to show my frustration. i have been very proud of my restraint, but am finding it so difficult to sit and watch as she bats the spoon away or dumps the whole meal on the floor. i know i have to be patient and let her go at her own pace but it is such a painfully slow one that i'm getting really frustrated by it.

ok, rant over, she has been picking the toppings off her pizza which shows excellent finger/thumb co-ordination which i am very proud of. she has also had the tiniest taste of coconut and mango/banana puree which she has had no adverse reaction to so far and hopefully this will continue. my theory is that i can make creamier meals and puds for her by using coconut cream instead of the milk alternatives that are practically water. also, i love coconut cake and thai curry so i have to get her used to it so she can join in family meals!

more pasta

we had pasta with tomato sauce and cheese for lunch today. i made a sauce with tinned tomatoes, garlic, basil and a lo-salt stock cube. pretty simple really, and i had to add salt to mine as it was a bit strange without it. i grated soya cheese to go on top but chickened out and had normal cheese on mine.
charlotte slurped up and swallowed 3 pieces of pasta and sucked the sauce off loads more. i was so impressed with her. she did gag on one bit and spat it out, but still went back for more. hooray!

she wasn't so impressed with the boring old squash and broccoli chunks that i steamed for tea, but did have a good amount of her alpro peach yoghurt. she's still coughing loads and if she's still bad after the weekend she'll be off to see the doctor.

getting better

charlotte is finally breathing like a normal baby again, but still has a nasty cough and runny nose. these i can deal with as she's been like this before, but i'm so glad the wheezing has died down.

she had an avocado sandwich and a taste of mango and melon pudding at lunch time so i'm very pleased to see she's getting her appetite back.

i got the "birth to 5" nhs book out to read about croup and now charlotte has claimed it as her own. she is sitting turning the pages and licking the pictures as i write. she absolutely loves it! it's the epitome of lazy parenting - she can read how to do it all herself!