Sweet Potato, Sweet Pea!

OK Peanut -

Let's talk turkey.  Well, actually...let's just talk food.  You, my little food motivated Nugget, were a wonder to behold at mealtime.  Even when you were only 2 days old, and barely 5 pounds.  Breastfeeding just was NOT working; we had to resort to bottles, pumping and formula.  You drank twice the amount of bottle than most babies your age, to our stunned surprise.  The nurse told us, "Give him as much as he'll take."  Um, OK!  We did.  And you did - a lot more than we expected!

This continued as we moved into rice cereal.  When other kids at school were hardly getting 3 spoonfuls down, you were eating an entire bowl.  Yet, you remained in the 40% in terms of weight.  Peanut - did you have a hollow leg?!

When we finally got to move into real foods and flavors, I prepared myself for the worst.  Difficult meal times.  Food flung across the room.  Crying.  Screaming.  Yeah, right Momma.  We had none of that.  Instead, you found delight in pretty much anything we put in front of you.  Sweet peas.  Apples.  Carrots.  Squash.  Sweet potatoes.  I think part of it was your total trust in Momma and Dadda.  You would briefly regard whatever was on your spoon, raise an eyebrow and look up at us like, "Are you SURE this is cool?"  We would smile, push the spoon towards you and just like that it was down the hatch.

Later, as you reached 1-year, I would steam and give you real, fresh veggies.  Again - bliss!  Apples and grapes.  And homemade chicken nuggets.  Turkey meatballs.  Grilled ham and cheese sandwiches.  Graham crackers.  Goldfish.  Oh...the Goldfish.  You actually shoveled so many of those into your mouth one day at school, you started choking and turned blue until your teacher saved you.  Whew!  But, did that teach you a lesson?  Of course not!  Bring on more Goldfish!

Peanut, your love of food - GOOD, healthy food - never failed to bring a smile to Momma's heart.  Meals were always soooo much fun, thanks to you and your delighted laughs and claps.  Can you maybe have a heart-to-heart with the Growing Bean about food?  I sure would love for the Bean to enjoy meals and tasty treats as much as my Peanut.

So, my wonderful, amazing Peanut.  I love you with all my heart and soul.  To the moooooooon and back!  (Air kiss - MWAHHH!)

- Momma