Aside from their gender, the only thing Kara and Sophie have in common is they are both tall. Everything else, and I do mean EVERYTHING else is completely different.
Hair (color, thickness, straight v. curly-ish); teeth (onset, spacing, order); temperament (both as infants and now); the way they smile and laugh; the way they cry and the reasons for crying; left handed v. right; Sophie is going through a cling-to-things stage but Kara never did; onset of sleeping through the night (although they are both super sleepers now); heck, even everything about their poop was totally different!
They are best friends and that is what matters, and I love how opposite they are as it means I can love them equally for different and unique reasons ...
BUT ...
... there is one thing they are totally opposite in that I am REALLY struggling with --> food.
Other friend's had difficulties getting food into their children but I'll be honest and say that I didn't pay all that much attention to their plight since Kara was garbage-guts central and I was more worried about keeping food away from her.
Sophie eats hardly anything (or it seems like next to nothing compared to Kara). I've tried all sorts of food, starting with the healthy stuff like vegetables but I've been resorting to processed foods which I was always trying to avoid wherever possible. But Sophie is simply not interested in any of it.
She does eat dairy and fruit regularly - she'll eat yogurt and cheese most of the time, and she will completely devour grapes, strawberries, canteloupe and blueberries. She will eat chicken, egg, oatmeal and pasta but only if she hasn't had them for several days ... but that is about it. Virtually no bread and definitely no vegies unless they are in soup (and completely mushed). I've tried crackers, cheerios, cakes, biscuits, cookies, chicken burgers, veggie burgers (all the things I never gave Kara for 2+ years) but Sophie will mostly spit them straight out. My gosh - I'm even contemplating trying her with hotdogs!
Oddly enough, I thought she was eating quite well until she had her 12 month shots (when she was about 14 months). Lance remembers it differently, but I swear when she had all 5 injections in one hit, she ate nothing for about 3 days then has hardly eaten ever since. So this has been going on for about 4 months.
I have realized on numerous occassions that Sophie's lack of eating completely stresses me out and I am often consumed by it. I find myself constantly stressing the night before, wondering if I have 20 possible food items for the next day ... just in case she may eat 1 of them. I KNOW I really have to let this go. Come on! Have you seen the photos of Sophie? She is sooooo healthy looking with great chubby cheeks and legs. She certainly does not look like she is lacking in food in any way. Plus, she is 200% happy all of the time and NEVER stops moving. I'm thinking she just doesn't need much food!
I will, however, get her new pediatrician to check for food allergies next time we are in ... just in case.
3 comments:
Whew, these food ups and downs with the kids are tough to take. I know when Zoe went through a very brief similar stage, the pediatrician said to just try to give her fortified cereal (like Cheerios) and soak them in some olive oil so her weight didn't drop. But, Soph sounds like she has good variety and is gaining well.
it is hard to worry about their health and yes it consumes us.
Maybe she's lucky--with a great metabolism--plus maybe food isn't that important to her; she'll eat when she's hungry, and won't when she's not.
We all should be so lucky!
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