Chewey

Adi is happy to announce that...


...She is eating almost all table foods already! Until recently, Adel was able to eat small pieces of finger foods- as long as they dissolved easily. I gave her Bamba, but had to break each piece in thirds, Same thing with the whole grain baby puffs I gave her. She didn't chew- kinda just mashed the food around her mouth.
One day I bought a new food- peanut butter filled pretzel sticks. I handed one to each boy, and naturally Adi wanted one, too. I thought about breaking a piece off, but decided to see how she would do with a whole stick. Since they were peanut butter filled, they weren't solid... they had thin walls and were easy to bite and break up. And since they were long, she couldn't stuff a whole piece in her mouth.


Well, she handled them just great! Bit off pieces and chewed them like a pro! This was on chol hamoed Sukkos, right before she turned two. Zusha was so happy for her and said, "Adi is almost two, and two year olds already know how to chew. So see, she is almost two, so she is starting to chew!" And then, with big-brotherly pride, he added, "But Adi is not even two yet, and look! She is already chewing!"

Well, since then, Adel moved onto regular pretzel sticks, and then to crackers, and whole Bamba pieces. I can't tell you what a relief it is to be able to HAND SOMETHING OVER to Adel instead of breaking off bite-sized pieces and putting them in her mouth. And Adel loves her food freedom as well!
She loves Bamba the best. It's almost comical.Except when it's not. Like every morning.
She comes to the kitchen and points up to the cabinet and says, "Aah awi dea awy a Bamba am." I can only translate the last two words: Bamba eat. And she will demand and demand her Bamba and eat nothing else if she doesn't get her Bamba. We can't leave a grocery without Adel carrying her Bamba bag triumphantly.

Another favorite food is a baby food sandwich. I invented/discovered it one day when we were outside and I wanted something healthier than pretzels or Bamba for Adel to snack on in the park. I bought a loaf of sliced bread and a jar of baby food... and made a quick and simple sandwich! Now it's a daily thing. A couple of spoonfuls of peas, pears, carrots, banana, or blueberries and apples on a lightly toasted (if Adel has patience to wait for it to toast) multi-whole-grain bread and Adel has a healthy mini meal.

Aaand, I might as well finish with the rest of the pictures from the set above. These are the last photos of one-year-old Adel!


I kept trying to get her to walk here, but no luck.


Unlike now! Now I can be cautiously optimistic and say that walking is here to stay as a major part of Adel's life! Finally!