Food

This is the theme for the Weekly Adoption Shoutout this week - and one dear to my heart.

I am quite a bit less stressed about feeding Baby Spouse than I was, but it's still not entirely a stress free zone. However, now it's more to do with the mess created than worrying about getting it down him!

Because he was early, and very sleepy, he struggled to feed as a newborn. We would sometimes take half an hour to get an ounce of formula in him. He did pick up quickly but the anxiety was there. The other thing about early babies is that they may not have as many stored nutrients as full term babies (and we are pretty sure a balanced diet was not on Nella's agenda), so although he put on weight well, we were anxious to get him on solids at six months.

Unfortunately like formula, he wasn't convinced at first. He tried a cubic millimetre of banana and thought we were poisoning him. But again he was soon tucking in. He has a good track record of trying new foods but (as I've blogged before) a lot of it is too much like play - how far can I throw this toast and will Mummy laugh. The answer is, I'm afraid, all the way into the hall, and no.

My current advice to new parents is, ditch the dining room carpet.

He's also a middle class baby. He wolfs down his nursery lunch and we only choose fruit for pudding (they do seem to offer an unnecessarily wide array of sugary desserts). Tea is toast and hummus or couscous and he grabs my olives and blue cheese at lunch.

One thing I'd love to know though, an adoption loss if you will, is what Nella did like to eat during pregnancy - especially as there are quite a few different types of food where she lives - I don't know if his tastes have been influenced by hers but it would be nice to know. I know some people say "ask what birth mum's cravings were during pregnancy" but that just felt too personal to me.

(Blogging from my phone and I seem to be unable to insert links. I'll try and edit some in another time).