Having a baby who eats solids has its benefits. Maddi has ceased her recently-developed habit of waking five times a night, and she now sits patiently in her high chair even without toys because she knows something good is coming.
Unfortunately, there is one pitfall I did not foresee. Since we are introducing one food a week, and this is Maddi’s first week as an eater of solid food, it is necessary to have that food on hand.
Maddi’s first food was apples, and boy does she love ’em. She greets each spoonful with flailing arms and grasping hands. So what’s a mom to do when, hungry baby in the high chair, she discovers that there are no Red Delicious anywhere in the house?
Well, a nice mom would have made sure there were enough Red Delicious for a week of baby food. A nice dad would have raced to the store and bought a sweet apple for his daughter while the neglectful mommy entertained the wee one in the high chair. Unfortunately, the nice daddy is in California this weekend and was unavailable for emergency baby errands.
Thus, circumstances forced me to either poke around the refrigerator for a suitable substitute or make an unscheduled rice-cereal introduction.
Fortunately for Maddi, we were not entirely out of apples. Unfortunately for Maddi, the apples remaining in the crisper were Granny Smiths.
I felt rather guilty as I prepared a nice big bowl of horrifically sour applesauce for our sweet, unsuspecting baby’s sixth meal ever, but at the same time, I didn’t think either of us could take another night of waking up every hour followed by a day of no napping. Maddi would have a full stomach even if it turned her off apples forever.
As the spoonful of freshly-made applesauce approached her mouth, Maddi flapped and gaped in drooling anticipation. She savored the food, rolling it around on her tongue. Our wee one’s eyes winked shut, her lips pursed and her tongue shot out of her grimacing face.
Then she opened her mouth for more.
Amazingly, while she had eaten just 90 minutes before and clearly thought the new applesauce tasted pretty funny, Maddi downed a good couple of ounces before turning her head aside. Either she’s a bit of a masochist, or she’s an incredible optimist. Perhaps she just really loves eating solids. After all, babies eat houseplants, drain cleaner and blood-pressure medication if given the opportunity, so why not sour apples?
As I write this, Maddi is sleeping peacefully with a tummy full of food. Better Granny Smith than nothing at all, and certainly better than introducing a new food before a week is up. My only regret is that Chris wasn’t here, since I know how difficult it was for him to accept that she is too young for lemons!
And here are some shots of our 26-week-old daughter enjoying (or not!) her Granny Smith applesauce: