Ok, so Andrew used to eat everything we gave him. (Except green beans and the baby food meats, but who can blame him?) Recently though, he won't really eat anything except yogurt, cheese, cereal, and crackers - any variety. Do any of you with older kids have any advice as to how to get him to eat more balanced?
For everything else, we seem to be doing alright. Jason's Melaleuca job is constantly a reminder of how much nicer things will be. Not perfect, but better and less stressful. Though he's gone more, he will be bringing in more money and will do a lot of his studying for school at work. He's doing well in most of his classes, and is studying hard for the class he's struggling with - Anatomy and Physiology. Ouch. I'm glad I've graduated!
Andrew is walking consistently. He can stand up without assistance now, and only crawls when there are too many interesting toys on the floor. It's exciting. I'm looking forward to not seeing the knees of his pants so dirty! Haha. Oh, the simply joys of motherhood, eh? He also started saying "Hi" the other day. It more comes out "aaa-yyy", but I can tell what he means. It's so cute to hear. For the longest time I worried that Andrew was behind in his speech for some reason, but I know he's doing just fine.
As for me, I'm doing pretty well. For a while there I was feeling really down about, well, everything. I would wake up in the morning and not be excited to start another day. Often times I'd lay down on the couch and just watch Andrew play all day because I was too lathargic to get up. I don't know what it was, but something was making me feel really depressed with life. Fortunately, Jason expressed concern for me, and I really think that's what it took to turn me around. I don't think I realized how bad it had become. Looking around me, things were a mess and nothing had been done for days. So I got dressed. I picked up the apartment. I did the dishes. I took care of not only Andrew, but myself. There are still some days that things are not all that great, but those days are much fewer now.
I think part of it started from comparing myself with other people, especially other moms. They seemed to take everything in stride, to still be happy despite the difficult and even boring things they had to do every day. I didn't understand how that could be, when I was struggling so badly. All I know is that I have no idea what I'm doing! But I'm taking it one day at a time here, knowing that I don't have to be perfect, and thank heaven for that.
I just can't wait for summer. More sunshine always makes me happy.
Hi Melody! Yikes, I have absolutely no advice for you in the food department for Andrew. Sorry! I wish I did have something to say, but you'll probably be the one giving me advice here in a few months! I guess my one piece of advice could be: don't worry, he'll survive. :) My sister's little boy ate hot dogs and ONLY hot dogs for a while, and she was so worried about him but he eventually grew right out of it. So even though it's almost impossible not to worry, just try to think that Andrew is very healthy and he'll be fine and one day you'll look back at this post and not even remember it. :)
ReplyDeleteI also wanted to say thank you for being so open about your feelings. I am right in the same boat as you. Some days, I just want to lay on the couch and watch Hunter roll around the floor with his toys. I understand exactly what you feel! And you know what, I think it's perfectly fine to want to lay around and not get ready or leave the house sometimes. That's just how life goes every once in a while. It's so difficult not to compare ourselves with other moms who seem constantly busy and cheerful and yadda yadda yadda. Don't compare! You are so wonderful too, and you're not afraid to admit that you feel crummy sometimes and that takes a lot of courage. If I was brave enough, I would have written almost that exact same thing on my blog too. :)
Just today, I found the recipe you copied for me (the peanut butter cookies), and I thought, "I am really excited to have Melody as a neighbor again!" So you see, you are just great the way you are.
Sorry this was such a long comment! I should've emailed you instead but it is now one in the morning so I will leave it on here. :)
As far as Andrew's diet goes... Those are the exact things that Ethan eats on a daily basis and he's growing and learning just fine. Try not to worry, although I know it's difficult. If there is one thing I've learned it is that you can't force a child to eat. As long as you are offering him a varied amount of foods then he will come around and start to eat them, Ethan was the exact way at that age and now he eats everything. Make sure Andrew's getting a multi-vitamin (sam's has the chewable!) and just know you're doing a fabulous job as a parent. They say a kid needs to eat something at least 20 times to decide whether or not they like it. Make him his meal everyday and if he doesn't eat it don't get frustrated, just keep offering. Andrew looks big and healthy (not a bad thing! look at my boys) so I'm sure he's doing just perfect!
ReplyDeleteI compare myself to other mothers ALL the time! Somebody I knew kinda bragged about making homemade baby food and it really hurt my feelings because she made it seem like my kids weren't getting the best since I just bought their foods. Well, I decided I was going to try to make some foods just to prove a point and it was awful! It took forever to do, and truthfully it wasn't that much healthier for him anyway. I said to heck with that. While she's busy making her baby food, I'll be playing with my boys... which is better? ya know, it's things like that, that we as mothers get down on ourselves for and we shouldn't. You are a wonderful mother and the 1st is always an experiment anyways! :) Keep up the great work!
ps-
Just because people don't say how hard motherhood is, or how they are having the same kind of troubles you are having doesn't mean they aren't going through it. :)
I had that same problem with Milo! I was so worried because he wouldn't touch any fruits or vegetables! His doctor said to make sure there are fruits or vegetables at every single meal so he gets used them being there and eventually he will try them. What it finally took was me calling them by their color or shape instead of by their real name. At the time, he was just learning shapes and colors and thought it was awesome that there were foods like that! I can't remember how old Andrew is so i don't know if he's even interested in that yet, but yo ucould use it in the future. Milo still asks for greens and oranges (peas and carrots) every day!
ReplyDeleteOh I forgot another thing his doctor said. She said give hiim what he wants (mac and cheese, yogurt, whatever..) but don't give him enough to fill him all the way up. And when it runs out don't get him more, just offer whatever is left on the plate, so the fruit/veg you had for that meal.
ReplyDeleteI feel ya- being a mom can be hard sometimes. But you are doing a fabulous job. Just wait for the spring to get here and it'll be great to get out on stroller walks and enjoy the park.
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