our little foody

I don't think Lilah has ever turned down any food we've offered her. However, when we first met her in China she wasn't eating well because she was still drinking thickened milk formula, even though she was 18 months old. Obviously because of that she hadn't mastered the chewing and swallowing technique and the slightest lump made her gag. We've also had a few teething episodes since she came home and they were also times that she was totally thrown off her food. However, thankfully those days are long gone.

From the second she landed in Canada and for another ten long months Lilah had the same thing every morning for breakfast, Weetabix. Then early one morning about a month ago we decided to bring on a change. That change was porridge. I'm so glad she gets this healthy start to her day. I personally can't stomach porridge, but I'm truly thrilled that she loves it.

For lunch, she gets a variety of whatever is left over, however she ADORES noodles. She could eat them 'til the cows come home. Really loves them. Being the health nut that I am (not), I don't mind her eating noodles. I just add peas, sweetcorn and red pepper to make it colourful and the veggies also give it a healthy look! She also loves shepherds pie and pasta with sauce. I make a variety of sauces including curry, chili, garlic, etc. I generally add a little extra milk or cream to Lilah's, just to tone it down a notch.

Every day after lunch Lilah gets her special glass of 'nana juice'. I've been making a banana juice for her almost every day since the month of August. 'Nana Juice' consists of a glass of milk and a banana whizzed up in the blender. She REALLY loves it. In fact, just this past Monday she kept asking for more and more and more. I should have seen this coming, two glasses later she said to me, 'Belly hurts, tiss it'. So I being the ever loving Mama kissed her belly and then I saw it coming, we ran to the sink and she lost one of those glasses of banana juice, along with a few peas. Seriously, does anyone throw up without some kind of vegetable in there? Anyway, that was a first, she's never thrown up before. And literally within the minute after throwing up, she said "Feel better Mama". Phew! Now she warns me before I pour her banana juice, "Not too much Mama". Lesson learned - times two!

Just this week I bought pomegranate (from Costco) for the first time this season. I love this tarty sour fruit, however I never imagined Lilah would. Well I should have known better since this same girl loves loves loves bitter grapefruit. Lilah loves fruit: apples, bananas, mango, grapes, plums, oranges, pomegranate, grapefruit, pears and peaches. They all get her two thumbs up. Strawberries and blueberries on the other hand, she will tolerate them, but still doesn't show as much love for either.

She definitely loves to eat, just like us! We're all about the food! One evening last week at supper time we were eating turnip and I was saying how much Baba loves turnip, in fact I said, it's starting to be one of Mama's favourite vegetables too. Lilah was sitting in her little booster seat, chewing away, taking it all in. A few minutes later her little voice piped up "Lilah's favit too". Oh the cuteness!

Lilah currently weighs 24lbs. Hard to believe for a girl that can eat so much. I think she has maybe put on one or two pounds since we became a family 11 months ago. I get the odd 'gasp' when I'm asked her weight! She has always been in a very low percentile regarding her weight, but honestly, when you look at her, the first thing that comes to mind is definitely not how thin she is! Those cheeks are as healthy as I've ever seen! On the other hand, she is definitely growing upwards. I measured her height last week and she is now 36 inches, that's 3 feet tall!

Oh, did I forget to mention that she loves ice-cream and candy and chocolate and ice-cream and chocolate and candy and ice-cream?? Oh my, we have a sweet tooth in our house. Or maybe even three, including Mama and Baba!

We love our little sweet tooth foodie and we bond while brushing our teeth...lots!