Operation: Fat Baby

So baby weight percentiles aren't something we should live by. In fact, I think they're similar to BMI for adults. They both provide good measures, but is 5th percentile for Kaylani really bad? And is a BMI of 28 really bad? I don't really know the answer, but I do know that when my BMI was 25, I lost 18 lbs in a month (and 30 lbs overall) so I could have a BMI of 24 because my doctor told me to. And since I listened to the doctor for my own health, you bet I'm going to listen to the doctor for Kaylani's.

Even though Kaylani is completely being in the 5th percentile, we've embarked on Operation Fat Baby. Today, Mommy hit the grocery store for a 6 pack of YoBaby yogurt and cottage cheese. Mommy was also motivated enough to start making Kaylani's food again, which meant we got to dust off the Baby Beaba for the first time in 3 months. So for dinner, Kaylani had plain boiled white rice and chicken, blended to some gross looking gooey substance, and then mixed with 2 oz of Gerber carrots. End result? Kaylani LOVED it. She wolfed down approximately 4 oz of the mixture with no problems.

Now the other thing Kaylani's doctor told us was to keep feeding her until she gave us clear signs that she was full. To make sure, we put an empty spoon near Kaylani to see if she would open up, and sure enough, she ate a spoonful of air. That meant it was YoBaby time. Apple YoBaby to be exact. For once, we were both thrilled to try her food since we've done so with everything else she ate. We were surprised when it tasted delicious, like apple pie! It also made us wonder when was the last time we had regular yogurt instead of some fat free or 99% fat free diet yogurt thing.

Anyways, Kaylani loved her apple yogurt. She loved it so much that she wanted more. Mommy was a little afraid to be stuffing her this much, but when Kaylani opened up for her 2nd spoonful of air, Daddy cracked open the 2nd 4 oz container of Apple YoBaby Yogurt. This time, Kaylani ate about 3 oz of it before she finally pushed me away. 11 oz of food tonight is what Kaylani ate. In addition, she also had a little bit of water, a Earths Best teething cracker, and a taste of my beer (which she grabbed forcefully from my hand before I had a chance to stop her...kinda).

Tomorrow, we'll try it again. We're not exactly sure if she'll eat regular baby food any more since she turned down breakfast and lunch after tasting yogurt for the first time yesterday, but we'll see. If not, I guess we'll have to stock up on more fatty foods and start to cook her real people food from now on. Operation: Fat Baby may just turn into Operation: Empty Wallet, but at least it will be for a good cause.

Food Emporium

Months ago, we bought a Beaba Baby Cook so we could start making Kaylani's food out of fresh fruits and vegetables instead of buying endless jars of baby food that took up space in our cabinet. In addition to saving over $150 in jarred food costs, we also thought that Kaylani wasn't eating any of her fruits because she didn't like all of the added preservatives, etc that they put in canned/packaged baby food. In fact, we swore off of fruits all together after she started puking them up shortly after. So to date, we've made 64oz of food for Kaylani, of which she's only eaten 32oz of, none of which have been fruits.

We still plan on using the Baby Cook eventually, but we've decided to push ahead with different foods, despite the warnings from Kaylani's nurse. So far, I'd say she's starting to get the hang of it. She's now mastered apples, bananas, peaches, pears, apricot, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, mangos, and prunes in addition to all of her vegetables like sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, peas, and green beans. She's also eating brown rice, lentils, potatoes, and oatmeal mixed in with each of those. Oh, and of course none of this is homemade. Instead she's been feasting on a variety of Earth's Best, Gerber, and Gerber Organics. As Dora says, "Mmmmm mmmmm delicioso!"

Now, the problem with Kaylani liking all these types of food is that Mommy and Daddy are of the "club store" principle when it comes to food purchases. Instead of buying a few days or a weeks worth of anything at a time, we tend to stock up wherever we are just in case. One week, Target will have a great selection of food and we'll buy 10 different packs to last us a week. And if Babies R' Us also happens to have a great selection when we're there, we'll buy 10 more, even if it's on the same day. And then to top things off, if Stop & Shop or Wegman's has different ones or some more of her staple foods, we'll buy them there too.

Right now, we have over a month's worth of food for Kaylani if she continues to eat 4oz (1 package) of food for lunch and another for dinner. We recently moved it from a small shelf in our pantry to a giant basket because we were it was out of control. At this point, I'm not even convinced Kaylani can eat all of this food. She hasn't even tried it all yet. In fact, I think we might have more food than any of the stores we normally shop at now. It's ridiculous.

We're just going to keep plugging away over here. I hate to see what happens once Kaylani gets into the Stage 3 foods, like meats and pastas. I'm guessing our pediatrician will give us the green light at her 9 month appointment, but until then, it's fruits, vegetables, repeat. Turns out the only way any machine could save us over $150 is if it was a credit card shredder. That way we wouldn't be able to buy ridiculously priced mixed drink blenders baby food processors. Oh well, maybe we'll make her homemade food again some day. You know, like when she's 80 and needs her food blended into a fine mush in order to eat it. Or maybe Kaylani will use it for us. That sounds much more reasonable.

Anyways, check out pictures from the last couple of days. You can see Kaylani and Aidan in the pool, and Kaylani in her brand new Gymboree tunnel! Good times!