Meals for a non-eater - help!

Two blueberries, three Rice Krispies and a half teaspoon of yogourt. 

No, it's not some crazy fad diet - that's what my 10 month old daughter ate for breakfast, refusing all else.

Lunch? I am not sure but I think she may have swallowed a minute amount of egg salad, possibly a teeny bite of bread and definitely the juice from a clementine segment (but not the solid part of the fruit).

And this is why she's still up at least 3 times a night to nurse and nursing so frequently during the day.  It's not that she's a picky eater per se - she loves pizza, pasta, and will try anything we give her - tonight she tried sushi and tempura (vegetarian of course), and she doesn't balk even at spicy food. She just doesn't eat much. And yes, I've tried the blander foods too - rice cereal, applesauce, banana, whatever... She'll eat a little but not much before she starts refusing it.

I know that "food is fun" for the first year, and I'm not concerned about her weight (at all.. she's still in the 90's, percentile-wise and moving on up to 18 month size clothing at just 10 months!), but I would be happy if she would sleep longer at night and stop nursing quite so much at night. Nursing at night means she also needs diaper changes twice during the night. I love our cuddle times at night, but... I'd love some sleep too.

She loves playing with food, tearing it apart, and completely understands how to get it into her mouth and eat it, though sometimes she spits it out and sometimes she just plays or tosses it to the floor and doesn't put more than a bite or two into her mouth. She will sometimes take a spoonful or two of softer stuff (yogourt, applesauce, cereal, soup, etc) but it's rare for her to eat more than, say, a tablespoon of anything. She will happily take small bites of things we hold out to her (banana, sandwiches, pizza, etc).

I don't want to force it on her and usually stop when she starts turning her head and pressing her mouth closed. I will try again a few minutes later, and again, and again - with different foods sometimes - but never make her eat or shove things in her mouth. My husband is more likely to pop things in there when she's not quite expecting it.

She is teething, but I am not convinced it's a teething issue as she's never eaten very much, especially compared to the other babies I know.

So, faithful readers... hit me up with some advice on getting Mia to eat some more.

Christmas!

It's coming so fast! Where is the time going?! I have so many gifts yet to get, stockings to stuff, and haven't done cards at all this year... I am not sure I'll get to it.

We went out to the tree farm this weekend and picked out our Christmas tree - a lovely Balsam Fir. My husband cut it down and we enjoyed a hay wagon ride and a cup of hot chocolate. Then we stayed up late, even Mia, to decorate the tree. The whole house smells lovely from the aromatic tree! Mia keeps pointing at it. Maybe "tree" will be her second word. (Her first is "dog!")

< Here we are, all bundled up for a cold winter walk at the tree farm!

And, having found our perfect tree... >
A little snow on the ground. Mia's in her Deuter carrier, the dog's there hiding behind the tree, and my husband is getting ready to cut that tree down!

Staying up late, decorating the tree - sleepy Mia in the Boba carrier.

The result! We have an eclectic ornament collection which we add to every year. This year's additions include a Pinocchio that we picked up in Italy, and a ceramic schooner ornament my husband got on his recent trip to St. John's. More presents are appearing underneath daily. I love Christmas and it will be fun to watch Mia's reaction on Christmas morning when she realizes some of those pretty packages have toys inside for her!

There's just one more day to enter to win a Sozo Nap Sak for your little one... they are so super cozy, I kind of wish they were available in my size! Go over and enter! (hit "read more" if you don't see the entry form!)