pigout

Asa is known for a lot of things but being a huge eater has never been one of them. That baby had no interest in eating when he was first born and in fact we had to "finger feed" him for at least the first two weeks, and definitely for a bit beyond that. It involved a small syringe, a very thin tube and usually Jeff's index finger in Asa's mouth trying to encourage him to suck it down. That was followed by weeks of special apparatus to get him to breastfeed.

Eventually we got the hang of it and things were going fine until he was around 7 months old at which point he spontaneously decided he was through with bottles. So we switched him to sippy cups which he used for about 36 hours. On to straws, which thankfully he took to. And then about a week later he gave up breast milk unless he was nursing. So we gave him some formula, which he drank for a week or two and then gave that up. Luckily we'd received a free sample of a different formula in the mail and he loved that one. And for two months, he was alright.

Then we gave up formula and breastmilk completely and switched to whole milk, which he loved and still does. So milk has been a challenge at times but on the whole, we know we can always get him to drink something. Eating solid food though, not so much. Some days he just isn't that into it. But it's fine. He's healthy, strong, growing tall and has a nice round belly. And you can always get him to eat a banana or some cheese

Lately, the kid has become an eating machine. An unstoppable eating machine. For dinner the last two nights in a row he has eaten an entire sweet potato, half a chicken breast and about a half a cup of peas. That's each night, not total. He is literally eating my dinner off my plate. Breakfast is the same deal. After devouring a full bowl of cottage cheese and apple sauce, he insists on more cottage cheese, half a pear and a half a banana. At lunch, his daycare ladies tell me the same story. He hears "time to clean up before lunch" and in a flash he's putting toys away left and right and rushing over to his highchair! I mean, he's a machine! I don't know what's going on, growth spurt, tape worm, who knows ... but it's pretty awesome to watch him do this.

Oh and to make it even more remarkable, he's using his spoon and spork to feed himself all this food and in the last two weeks the amount ending up in his lap has diminished to maybe a total of a bite or two. It's incredible. But we may need a Costco membership if this keeps up!