Weaning woes

So we are now in weaning territory, well we have been for about a month now and I'm a little surprised at how slow this process is. Here was I thinking my kids would be eating lasagne, fish pie and roast beef within weeks, yet the reality is their palates and their swallowing reflex's are a little on the tender side and we're still on the puree's.

But even with this they are a little fussy and have continue to rebuff my best efforts to wow them with my blending skills, preferring only to eat (although I have to say rather tempting) the mushed up stuff from a brand called Ella's Kitchen. Whilst I don't feel guilty in giving them this range as they are completely pure. I can't help feeling a bit crap that they didn't want my food.Ok at first I gave them food thicker than gruel, but then I really did try and get it to the right consistency, yet alas still no success. It's all about perseverance I guess and maybe one day we'll have a break through.

Unfortunately for my twins, I'm terribly impatient and therefore I keep trying to move the goal posts by trying to introduce more textured food, but Olivia makes it very clear that she is not ready to move forward by gagging and then throwing up everywhere with gusto - which is followed by a little giggle as if to say "you try feeding me something I'm not ready for then I'll do something you hate and that's puking."

Beau likes to let me know with a range of facial expressions ranging from surprise to utter disgust, followed by a slow release of undigested food from his mouth. If he likes something he cries when I move the spoon away from him. Olivia however, likes to bang her legs up and down on the chair and will make a little funny sound.

My dad is dying to take them to MacDonald's and I joke with him that his visits will be significantly reduced once they get old enough to eat a chip, but in all seriousness I have to make sure that I don't let my issues with food rub off on my kids.  

My mum and dad thought that food was a way of expressing their love for us, they also loved their food so it was a big part of my family life. With no boundaries we ate a lot and it was mostly unhealthy. But whilst my brothers were always skinny, I grew chubby and as you know from previous blog posts I ended up with anorexia. Now I'm not saying it was the main reason, but it was very much an underlying factor.

I don't want to deny my children of anything, yet I don't want to use food as a weapon or a comforter. In that sense I will have to have a little control over what they eat and make choices for them. I think it's about getting a good balance, I want them to enjoy food and not fear it.