Baby foods
 

Well, if you want to be really fanatic about the food-allergy-avoidance thing (really only an issue if one of the parents has food allergies), you should avoid: eggs, peanuts, wheat, milk, citrus, strawberries, chocolate, and probably some other things I'm forgetting. If you're really that paranoid, it can make finding acceptable foods harder--even Cheerios have wheat starch in them.

That said, I wouldn't worry about giving the vietbabe biscuits--sure, they have lots of fat, but fat is good for babies (and it sounds like overweight is not a problem here). They don't have that much salt, especially compared with prepared snack foods like potato chips or that perennial favorite Goldfish crackers.

I would recommend: shredded cheese, whole milk yogurt, saltine crackers (you can get unsalted tops), teddy grahams, Cheerios and Kix, frozen peas (slightly thawed, but Magnus has always liked them straight from the freezer), cubes of cooked (cooled) sweet potato and, when they're in season, ripe pear. You can also check in the health food section of your supermarket or some place like Whole Foods for other low-allergen baby snacks.

If she really just wants what you're having, you can adapt some of the stuff from your plate, or invest in one of those baby food grinders. Mashed potatoes were the first thing Magnus learned to eat with a spoon--they're easy to scoop and don't fall off the spoon.

I wouldn't worry too much about trying to get her to eat meat. Seriously! Magnus (at 2 3/4) has only recently started eating any kind of meat other than white meat chicken, and it hasn't stunted his growth any. It's also really hard to get any kind of meat into a consistency that an 8 1/2 month old can handle, and it's not the easiest thing for them to digest.

tm

Solids without teeth
 

They may not be fully broken down by her dinosaur spit, but they will be broken down in her stomach, and I can't imagine she could choke on ground meat. The issue is how big it is going down the gullet, and whether it could block her airways: it always gets turned into the proper byproducts once inside (as we all know too well).

Feed 'em what they'll eat, within reason. LP is right- I had totally forgetten about eggs. "cheesy eggs" were the main protein source for turtle no. 2 for about a year and a half- scrambled with that god-awful individually wrapped american cheese melted in (don't know why- they were never quite the same with cheddar).

Solids without teeth
 

I don't mean to be a Timmy, but legally American cheese is not entitled to be called such because of the manufacturing procedure. It's always called "Processed Cheese Food" on the labels as a result, which is gross because it makes for an odd parallelism with baby food, dog food, and Chinese food.

Solids without teeth
 

I thought this was because it's made from soybeans, not milk.

Solids without teeth
 

Huh. I thought it was because they added an emulsifier to give it that Velveeta texture and low melting point. I'd bet it contains some milk, because I've never seen a vegan or lactose intolerant person volunteer to eat any, and they'll eat any shit made with soy.

Solids without teeth
 

The baltspawn are a little ahead of vietbaby in age and we're going through what appears to be the tail end of the worst of this. They refused to eat anything they couldn't feed themselves for a couple of weeks, but now seem pretty content to go back to spoonfuls of semi-soft stuff followed by feeding themselves for a while. I think they figured out they weren't very efficient at feeding themselves yet, and got hungry.

At any rate, even without functional teeth (i.e. nothing opposing), they haven't had any problem with breads like bagels (which they are content to just chew on for a while), love cheerios, will eat cooked peas, carrots and green beans (cut up), love cut up fruit, especially partially frozen, and have taken to poached chicken breast cut up into little bits. They also really like cheese.

If you think vietbaby can't handle it, try this: poach a chicken breast in a little water and chop it into small cubes (1/4"). Let it cool and try mashing a cube between your fingers. It will turn to a grainy pulp in short order. vietbaby's gums are at least as efficient as your finger tips.

Oh, and American cheese is really cheese, but the wrapped up stuff must be labled cheese food product because it is not 100% cheese (it does indeed contain emulsifiers). Real american cheese is essentially a cheddar-type cheese that has been heat tempered to make it more smooth, but is 100% cheese. That Kraft, um, stuff, however, is not. I think it has to be 60 or 70 % cheese to be labled cheese food product. Babies shouldn't be given cheese made from unpasterized milk (hard to find anyway- but if you can find it, buy it and don't share it with your kids) or cheese that is very aged.

Ummmm. Cheese.

Solids without teeth
 

I think I was thinking of Velveeta, not American cheese. Sorry.

I think I was thinking of Velveeta, not American cheese. Sorry.


__________________

I never did go so far as to give my kids velveeta. My nutritional relativism does have its limits (its just got to be food- is that so much to ask?)

Speaking of which, I have found a quite acceptable compromise on the cereals that are mostly marshmellows and oh-so-appealing (and conveniently placed at eye level for a six-year-old on the shelves): we can buy them, but they have to eat it for dessert; breakfast requires something more, well, food-like. Call it caving, but it has more nutritional value than an ice-cream cone or a cookie, and we no longer have to have big battles at the supermarket.

Thanks and A Funny
 

Thanks to all for the eating advice. GREAT IDEAS. I'll get my house in order better over the weekend but today Viet_Babe had bits of pork from my sandwich, kiwi fruit which she shoved in her face, bits from an applecake, cheerios and, of course, formula. Hmmmn. Whatever!

Thought you'd enjoy this ditty.

Definition of a Barbecque

It's the only type of cooking a "real" man will do.

When a man volunteers to do the 'BBQ' the following chain of events are put into motion:

1. The woman goes to the store.

2. The woman fixes the salad, vegetables, and dessert.

3. The woman prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a tray
along withthe necessary cooking utensils, and takes it to the man, who is lounging beside the grill, beer in hand.

4. The man places the meat on the grill.

5. The woman goes inside to set the table and check the vegetables.

6. The woman comes out to tell the man that the meat is burning.

7. The man takes the meat off the grill and hands it to the woman.

8. The woman prepares the plates and brings them to the table.

9. After eating, the woman clea rs the table and does the dishes.

10. Everyone praises man and thanks him for his cooking efforts.

11. The man asks the woman how she enjoyed "her night off." And, upon seeing her annoyed reaction, concludes that there's just no pleasing some women.

Thanks and A Funny
 

This is toooo funny. When we have friends over, we often barbeque, and this is exactly what happens. He has no idea how much work it is.

Mark Walker
 

Mark Walker
 

Dude, is that for real, or CGI? How did that kid make 18 in a row? Jeez, he shot better at 21 months than I do now.

Uncanny.

balancing family and work
 

New story in The American Lawyer about law firms' efforts to make more women partners.

From the article:

edited to add:

My posting of this link is in no way an endorsement of Heather Smith's lousy reporting -- or the American Lawyer's lousy editing, whichever it may be -- in the piece about this board in the same issue.

Bad Mommies
 

The link below is a website about being "Bad Mommies". The "confessions" from "Bad Mommies" include the following. Doesn't look like you can add to the site but I'd love to hear your own confessions!

"I consider popsicles food... I think that raisins and string cheese are a perfectly acceptable supper... Cereal is a dinner food, and peanut butter & crackers can be used for breakfast...One day I gave my daughter Cool Whip on her carrots to get her to eat them."

"I recently waited so damn long to iron that my daughter OUTGREW one of her favorite dresses, which was in the to-be-ironed stack."

"I rarely ever washed the pacifier....I blow off the pacifier instead of boiling it....I've also done the picking up the pacifier and putting it in my mouth to wipe it off thing...."

"I have been reprimanded by daycare staff for bringing her to the daycare with a Starbuck's kids hot chocolate in one hand and a plain bagel in the other. ( I told them that criticizing me for the Starbucks breakfast showed a lack of cultural sensitivity because I, like many Peruvian children, was raised on coffee with steamed milk and bread for breakfast. I was merely carrying on a family tradition.)"

"I forgot to feed my daughter supper the other night ...between the time we got home and the time she went to bed, she had 4 popsicles."

"Because I work fulltime, I miss out on most of the really bad poopie diapers, and am secretly happy about that."

"I took him to work with me for the first year or so and let him spend as much time sleeping in the swing as I could get away with. And when he started moving around, I would spend up to an hour with no idea where he was or whether my co-workers, bosses, or customers were stopping him from chewing on the electrical cords or banging on the glass. "

"I've pulled her beloved Pooh underwear out of the dirty laundry rather than fight to get her into a different pair."

"I have sent her to day care in her pajamas "

"I posted "naked butt" pictures of him on my homepage"

"My daughter has slept many a night in clothing "Not Intended for Use as Sleepware."

"I laugh when my daughter uses the word "ass" appropriately."

"I tell her that our TV doesn't get Barney"

"I relish when the baby takes a 3-hour nap. Do NOT use this time to catch up on the photo albums, but rather take a long nap myself. Follow up by complaining about never having any private time."

"I tell my daughter "I'm working" when I'm really posting on the bulletin boards."

http://www.worknwoman.com/worknmom/badmommyclub.html

balancing family and work
 

could you post that article, please?