I like to eat, eat, eat Aeepples and Beeneenies

Well, last night Eli had his first food...well, sorta. Not exactly anything we are putting down in the record books or anything. It kind of happened by accident, actually...but Eli was not complaining.

As we know/were told...Eli is teething. Poor thing has had this little tooth SLOWLY coming in for about a week. We can feel the bump in the gum and see some little white dots, but still no tooth. This paired with the ear infection, Eli has been a little cranky this last week. So, while he was fussy last night, Keith and I were scrambling to find things for Eli to chew on. Because he is so young, he doesn't really hold onto anything and chew for a long time. Also, the whole 'teething biscuits' and 'frozen waffles' don't work. So, we grabbed a few random 'eating things' from our bag of sippy cups, bowls, and spoons that are waiting for Eli when he gets older. So, we found these little mesh bags that you put food in and have handles. I am not real clear on why you use them, but it prevents babies form choking.

It was during this time that I was chewing on fruit snacks. Suddenly we though, 'hey, fruit snacks are a good texture for Eli to gnaw on'. So, we threw them in the mesh bag and put them in his mouth (happened that fast). He proceeded to chew and suck on them like they were going out of style. Then, like a flash (because we didn't think of it prior)...we realized we were giving Eli straight sugar to suck on. Yikes! So, then we deferred to apples and bananas (I know...natural sugars). This was really all about textures that we thought he would enjoy gnawing on to help with his teething, but he might also be motivated to keep in his mouth. During the entire 'experiment' I serenaded Eli with the kids song "I Like to Eat Apples and Bananas'.

Needless to say, Eli had no problem with our menu options. He enjoyed the heck out of our 'little exercise'. It was after a few minutes of this that I realized we weren't exactly doing things in order. When the time comes, we will formally start Eli on rice cereal (with a spoon), then go down the list of recommendations in order.....starting with veggies and ending with fruits. Yes, we may have cursed Eli to only want to eat sweet things from here on out. I mean, I am already fully aware that he has got a killer sweet tooth. I pretty much craved fruits and desserts the entire pregnancy and during breastfeeding. I guess we will see how this all turns out.

So, if you run into Eli when he gets older and he asks to go to McDonalds for lunch.....it will not be for the Happy Meal toy, but the McFlurry.

-Sorry no pictures-