My little chubby monkey I'm so proud of him, he's done so well to gain so much weight and is midway between the 50th and 75th weight centile.
The health visitor , as I suspected, wasn't overly helpful regarding the weaning, and actually suggested I shouldn't really be trying to wean him yet as his adjusted age is only 4 months. (they call it adjusted when you calculate backwards based on how premature he was) However as Chelsea and Westminster hospital told me to wean him at 5-6 months non adjusted and they are the premature baby unit I think I will listen to them! Coupled of course with the fact that Edward is showing all the classic 'ready to wean' signs such as grabbing food, stuffing things in his mouth and not always being satisfied by his milk.
Weaning aside however she was actually very helpful and gave me lots of information about local resources, both for entertainment/education purposes and also help for when I'm ill type purposes. She is going to refer me to the local children's services team and assign me a proper health visitor who will come and see us and assess what kind of help we need. I always feel a bit of a fraud asking for help when I'm relatively well, however I know that just a few weeks from now I could be practically housebound and on oxygen, at which point even the tiniest caring duties become a monumental strain and it is my responsibility to make sure that Edward has someone to fall back on other than Luke when I'm not up to it.
Edward had all his bottles today, and managed to eat about a tablespoon of sweet potato though I got the distinct impression he wasn't that fussed about eating it, so I didn't force the issue.
Someone wrote in a thread about BLW that 'food before one is just for fun' it's a nice motto to go by I think as it curbs the impulse to get frantic, it means you can take a nice relaxed approach to the whole thing, which I think in the long term will develop a much more healthy relationship with food.
It occurred to me that neither Luke nor I have particularly great relationships with food. Luke is very fussy and doesn't eat a wide variety of foods, up until recently he has refused to eat any other veg than carrots and peas, however as he feels he needs to set a good example he has gradually been trying and succeeding in his attempts eat more different types of veg, I'm very proud of him.
My relationship with food is long, complicated and painful. I suffered from anorexia for a LONG time, not that anyone ever bothered to diagnose it as such, but it was. Pretty much all of my childhood memories of meal times are bad, and full of arguments and forcing myself to down pints of fortified milk supplement, not to mention the constant search for new ways to dispose of my food without eating it. I then had my tube fitted and ate very little for years and relied almost entirely on feed. Since I was about 14 and left home things began to improve, initially just because my boyfriend at the time used to cook for me and I felt rude refusing to eat, but eventually I got to the stage where I eventually came to like food and really enjoyed cooking. I also got a lot braver about trying different things, which is always a bonus! However even now whenever I'm unwell or stressed my appetite is always the first thing to go!
I think a very large portion of people have an unhealthy attitude to food, eating too much or too little or taking no care or interest and just shoving in the easiest thing. I understand how it happens, however I don't think it is right, and I feel it my duty as a parent to try and foster a healthy attitude to food in Edward, you are what you eat after all! That is why I have him in the kitchen cooking with me so often as I feel it is important that from a young age he is exposed to 'proper cooking' not just oven heating and microwaving. I don't want him to be like one of those kids off of 'Jamie's School Dinners' who could identifiy every fast-food chain under the sun and yet couldn't identify something as basic as an onion!!
Anyway enough evangelical food ranting....
In other news Edward and I registered at the library, Edward choose his first ever book, and I have to say I approve of his choice .....
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