Personal Chef

So, here I am waiting once again for the late feed (again, it's the small person's feed, not mine!). Today, I have been thinking about the small person and her progress, her likes and dislikes and how she has changed things around here...

I have to be thankful, and believe me I am, that my daughter seems to appreciate sleep as much as I do. He will tell you that I do not do well with less than eight hours. I get grumpy. So, it was a bit of a shock to the system, no matter how much I tried to prepare myself, when the small person arrived. She was born at nine o'clock in the morning after an all night labour, something which I immediately forgave her for. I think I went about three days with no real sleep and then about three months before I got anything more than three or four hours in a row...I was warned, but still it was shock. I must have been monumentally grumpy at times! Nowadays though, in fact from about four months on, my lovely baby sleeps right through for about 12 hours. That'll do me!

Something else that seems to be true, is that she likes her food as much as her daddy and me. Another good thing. Her daddy can describe in detail great meals he had yesterday, last month, last year or last decade...his level of  food appreciation is almost annoying at times! Anyway, these days my food focus is on what goes into the small person. Of course, I want her to be healthy and appreciate food. It's one of the bigger to-dos.

I want her to see vegetables and fruits grow and to understand where meat comes from.  Actually, seeing the fruit and veg growing, and helping to make them grow, will be taken care of fairly soon since she will be accompanying us to the allotment once the weather improves. Her first visit to the allotment was at age three weeks but she wasn't very interested and didn't offer to help! In the meantime, I am planning and preparing her meals and continually looking for inspiration. What tastes good that can be mushed up and still taste good? So far quite a few things; butternut squash, potato, sweet potato, peas, carrots, brocolli, parsnip, chicken, white fish, apple, banana, mango....all good stuff. Her favourites are definitely the sweet things (taking after me). She likes banana so much she laughs and kicks her legs in anticipation of the next spoonful! Time spent enabling her exploration of all things edible is always a pleasure, always entertaining and always messy! Monty and Ted have already learned that lying quietly near the high-chair at mealtimes is usually a worthwhile exercise since bits of rice cake, rusk, bread and other finger foods will be making their way to the floor.

So, as I plan more exciting mushy meals, prior to delivering the late night milk top-up, I leave you with some pictures of my progress on this particular to-do. Peas and bananas, and a small person appreciating them.