A Few Insights about the Girls

First of all, Annie is lots more independent that I thought, . . . at least with eating, anyway. Now that she has mastered eating with her fingers, most of the time she won't accept food from a spoon. Sometimes I can sneak a bite in when she isn't watching, but most of the time she pushes it away, quite violently I might add. Her independent eating is wonderful except for the fact that there are still certain things she can't eat, like most meats and the harder fruits, and certain things she won't eat, like anything that feels slimy to her. Tonight my plan was to give her a bit of a meatball and then just give her a separate dinner and fruit from jars. She wouldn't accept the latter, . . . and she ate two full meatballs. Two full meatballs! That's what I ate! Heck, her sister only ate a quarter of a meatball. Now for the challenge: to keep Annie in good nutritional balance while still encouraging her independence.

As for Leia Rose, the last few days as I've looked at her, I just think she's too thin. The thing is, she has such great eating habits. She doesn't like sweets and she prefers fresh (and raw) vegetables over everything else. (Sometimes Brian and I wonder who she came from.) : ) Recently, we have switched her back to whole milk and bought full-fat sour cream to try and bulk her up. (Leia will eat sour cream by the scoopful.) And avocado! I need to remember to buy some avocado! Perhaps I need to consider letting her eat pats of butter? Secondly, and I hate to admit this, but I've been letting Leia watch way too much TV. And she's always saying she feels a little bit "showish." It has been a continual downward spiral over the summer. It's the end of the summer now, and I have slacked on my own rules (TV until breakfast) out of my own laziness. And Leia's behavior always deteriorates as a result. I'm going to make a real effort to shape up, even if it means a few days of parental hardship.