Weekend Kat Blogging: Coffee Poaching

When there is a six month old in the house, it pays to have the camera close at all times.

Like yesterday morning, when Zak and I were having coffee on the couch, passing Kat back and forth between us. He was holding her while I worked on some writing, and I looked up just in time to see her nearly grab the coffee mug out of her father’s hand.

Since there was barely any coffee left in the mug and it wasn’t piping hot, he lowered it to see what she would do. By this time, I had grabbed the camera and started snapping pictures, all the while giggling madly.

Of course, as you can see above, it is obvious she is trying to figure out what the heck it is that Mommy and Daddy are drinking out of these oddly shaped cups. It smells interesting, yet, she still looks mistrustful.

Here. she was literally pulling the mug closer, tugging with all her might on Zak’s hand to try and get her mouth on the rim of the cup so she can taste it.

At this point, thinking to deter her by virtue of the bitterness of the coffee (we both drink our coffee black, as God intended), Zak dipped his forefinger into the coffee and offered a drop of it to her. He figured that she would taste it and be utterly disgusted, as most kids would be. (I say most kids, because, the truth is, I always liked the taste of coffee, even without milk and unsweetened. But then, I was a weird kid who teethed on scallions, too.)

Well, it didn’t exactly deter her. It is pretty obvious that she takes after me, because after she sucked avidly at Zak’s finger , pulling every molecule of coffee essence off of his skin, she redoubled her efforts and lunged back at the mug, clamping her lips and gums on it, trying to tip it with all of her strength.

He wouldn’t let her drink from his mug, after I sternly told him that even a sip of coffee is probably not good for a baby.

He did give her one more drop on his finger, which she gladly accepted, then gave a little pleased sigh and a contented look that made me think she was analyzing the flavor.

Of course, the upshot of all of this is that she has learned from watching us drink from mugs, and she wants to imitate us. From the very first bite, she has been grabbing the spoon as we feed her, guiding it to her own mouth. This week, her efforts at self-feeding by controlling the spoon have taken a leap forward.

We were at a great local restaurant, where she is the pet of all the servers. They are always “stealing her” at Casa and walking her to the kitchen, and the bar and the storeroom to see everyone. She even gets shown off to customers, and loves it.

Well, I had ordered some guacamole to go with my quesadilla, and she was eyeing it. She kept reaching for the quesadilla, but I didn’t want her to eat cheese yet. However, we had already resolved to mash up some avocado that night to give her for dinner, so I just took a tiny bit of guacamole on the tip of my teaspoon and gave it to her.

She lunged for it, and gulped it down with great enthusiasm. She loved it!

The folks at Casa only really use a little bit of tomato, some cilantro, fresh raw onion a bit of garlic and a tiny bit of lime juice in their guac, so I figured she would be okay.

Well, Kat was more than okay. She was thrilled, and ate probably a tablespoon of the guacamole, all told. We were careful to feed her only the thoroughly mashed bits, and avoided the chunks of tomato and onion. She kept grabbing that regular sized teaspoon and shoving it to her mouth, opening wide enough to the guacamole in without messing up her dress. She licked the spoon clean each time. It was amazing to watch, and the servers kept coming by to see her eat more and more of it. If we were slow offering it to her, she would get fussy, but as soon as she saw that spoon coming toward her, she would laugh with delight.

She seems to prefer foods and drinks with strong flavors.

I guess she really does take after me.

Tonight’s new food was cooked and pureed organic blueberries. She really loved these as well–again, I think because they had a lot of flavor. I added a little bit of blueberry juice to her diluted grape juice to see if it made it more attractive to her. (The pediatrician wants her to drink juice to help offset her constipation issues–which are better, by the way. We are all getting sleep again.)

Kat may not like white grape juice, but it is made tolerable by having a bit of blueberry juice added to it.

Oh, and this week, I also discovered that she really likes sweet potatoes better with a tiny pinch of cinnamon added to them.

I guess that Kat not only wants food that is in good taste–she wants food that tastes good.

10 Comments »

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1. Barbara - Kat is adorable. Look at those kissable cheeks and big eyes. She is absolutely thriving.

   Comment by Maureen — April 1, 2007 #

2. I love the first picture. She’s got this great look on her face like ‘WOAH, THERE IS GOOD SMELLING STUFF IN THERE, HOW CAN I GET IT?’. Hee. What a cutie.

   Comment by Stephanie — April 1, 2007 #

3. Well I know I’ve said it before, but she’s just so darn cute!

   Comment by Kalyn — April 1, 2007 #

4. Awwww! She’s utterly adorable.

   I still don’t like coffee, but my earliest food memories as a baby is guacamole (I liked salsa, too, apparently, although my mom says my eyes bugged out).

   Comment by Mel — April 1, 2007 #

5. The ‘YUM’ photo of her and the mug is just priceless!

   The continuing glimpses into her life that you give us make me feel like an Auntie……..

   Comment by wwjudith — April 1, 2007 #

6. It is never too late to start drinking coffee. Good for you Kat! Can’t wait to see you all next week.

   Comment by artcargirl — April 1, 2007 #

7. She is SO utterly adorable. When I read about how you are educating Kat’s taste buds, even at such an early age, I feel even more sorry and more angry at the parents who I hear complaining that their kids will only eat fast food or junk food. Who started them on Chicken Nuggets and sugary soft drinks in the first place.
   Just call me Auntie Nancy of SF!

   Comment by Nancy — April 1, 2007 #

8. it’s Chatty Nancy again. I have a friend who does baby massage which she claims is good for all sorts of things, including colic and other intestinal disorders. You might try if (if you haven’t already). Here’s one link:
   http://www.makewayforbaby.com/massages.htm but I’m sure that there are dozens more. Marina uses a good quality oil (almond????) with just a drop of scent, usually lavender which is calming.

   Comment by Nancy — April 1, 2007 #

9. Barbara, you are completely right about her facial expressions. She already has a very discriminating palate! I’d like to say I did, too, but all reports were that I liked *all* food, not just the best ones.

   Comment by Kim — April 2, 2007 #

10. Thanks to all the “‘Net Aunties” for the kind words about Kat. She is growing every day, in every way. She had more guacamole today at Casa, and loved it, while we ate lunch. For dinner tonight, she had some sweet potatoes with mashed roasted garlic in them, and loved those much better than plain sweet potatoes. She also had blueberries and oatmeal for dessert. Loved that, too.

    Soon, I will start cooking carrots, peaches and apples for her. And broccoli, too, most likely.

    She still wants coffee something fierce, and reaches for mugs with eager hands. Morganna discovered this morning that she has learned to imitate how we hold mugs with two hands: one around the side opposite the handle, the other on the handle. When she has juice in a sippy cup or bottle, she holds it herself.

    And, she fed herself a decent amount of sweet potatoes with a spoon tonight. Zak would load it and hold it toward her mouth, and she would grab the spoon from him and stick it in her mouth herself. And she was pretty clean about it, too.

    Artcargirl–we are SO looking forward to your visit! I can’t wait for you to meet Kat.

    Yeah, Stephanie–it looks like she is trying to clue into how to get that coffee!

    Mel–I am glad to know you liked guac and salsa, too. We haven’t tried Kat on salsa yet, but will soon.

    Nancy–What a lot of parents don’t get is that you have to keep trying with kids and their palates. Keep offering the food. Sometimes it takes twelve times trying it before the kid likes it. That hasn’t been the case with Kat, but with a lot of kids, that is the case. Morganna didn’t like green beans for about the first three times I offered them. On the fourth go, she loved them and kept up that love.

    You have to be persistent, and you have to model good eating behavior, too. Show enjoyment and interest in food, the way it looks, smells and tastes, and kids will be more curious about it. Kids are little sensualists, and that is how you hook them on food for life. Show the fun of it, the pleasure of it. Don’t ruin it by giving them crap or teaching them to “eat this it is good for you.” Making eating only about junk or a duty is the wrong way to do things.

    Oh, and I do abdominal massage on Kat, just like I did with Morganna. I learned it on Morganna, because she was a colicky girl, and it was the only thing, besides me singing until my voice gave out, that helped ease her gas and her mind. Poor kid. But what I learned with her, I have used on cats, dogs, a husband and Kat, with great success!

    Poor guinea pig Morganna!

    Kim–I liked nearly -all- food, but learned pretty early on to only like the good stuff. It just takes a while!

    Comment by Barbara — April 2, 2007 #

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