Mateo loves to eat

I cannot keep up with his love for food. I want to give Mateo a varied diet, but when he eats (light) breakfast, snack, lunch, sometimes another snack, and dinner, how many meals should I realistically prepare to satisfy his appetite? A good problem, perhaps, and I very openly accept it. I love to feed him.

He would eat almost anything

He still gets his nourishment from milk. While he loves to eat, he does not really eat complete meals. Besides, he still drinks five to six bottles of milk in a day. No wonder he's big. 

When I got ourselves into that "baby-led weaning" approach, I thought it would be simple and easy for me. With BLW, I do not need to mash or puree every food he eats. Just cut up an apple and he is good. I did not realize that I had to introduce more complex meals as he gets older, that he'll be consuming more, and that he would turn out to be allergic to egg.

He started with mashed foods, though (mashed squash in particular). I was not confident to give him a real solid food right away, and Reymond was quite hesitant about it. Also, I an article about some medical professional's take on BLW influenced me to not strictly adhere to BLW practies. So I took it slow.

When I finally decided to give him food that weren't mashed, it turned to an even greater adventure. Orange, banana, apple, pear, any food I gave him - he devoured them. I quickly realized he prefers food he can hold and put in his mouth by himself.

He loves to eat on his own. That is one benefit of BLW. Problem with that, however, it will get really messy. Even with mashed foods, he prefers to hold the spoon on his own. Even messier. Sometimes I just feed him sans spoon even for mushy food.

Eating is also a sensory play for babies so I (used to) let him play with his food. Now that he's a bit older, playing with his food is usually sign that he's already full. Or bored. Or lazy. Or really just playful - he sometimes still eats when I put food close to his mouth. (One principle of BLW - or simply good feeding practices, perhaps - is to not force food to babies. Let them explore the food and eat at their own pace.)

A lot of times I am not aware that I am into BLW and that it is not a common practice in my family. This occurred to me when my stepmom said she's not at ease when Mat stuffs food into his mouth. My sister-in-law later concurred. I bet, though, that they enjoy feeding him and seeing him take pleasure in his food.

It is a joy to feed Mateo. Feeding him is a great experience for us. Even when he sometimes gags from eating too much at once. (Gagging is different from choking. A parent should know the danger signs of choking and administer first aid right away.) Even when it gets messy. And even if I do not have the energy to prepare and cook all the food I want to give him. More food adventures to come!

25 years since I turned 7

Yesterday, I saw BPI's tweet about Pampanga's holiday to commemorate Mt. Pinatubo eruption's 25th anniversary. So, I realized, it has been 25 years since I turned seven.

It brought back my memories to that unforgettable day. I have had numerous memorable and happy birthday celebrations (as well as non-celebrations), but my seventh birthday should undeniably be a stand out. Seventh birthdays are usually celebrated with a blast (especially nowadays, they're grandiose for kids!), and my seventh birthday was definitely a "blast."

We were in total darkness, with light only coming from candles, flashlights, and lightnings. I do not know if they were simply lightnings or flashes of light from the volcano's eruption. There was a lot going on but an eerie darkness blanketed us that seemed to stop life. There was ash fall, there was rain, and roofs were crushing down from the weight of ash and rain.

If I remember it right, the men in our family tried to partially remove ashes from our roof. Yet, aside from roofs falling due to wet ash fall, there were earthquakes. There were the usual earthquakes, and then there were earthquakes that moved VERTICALLY. I was young then, but I knew that the earth moving up and down was totally scary and wrong. So, hoping to survive whatever comes our way, we stayed under a table for the whole day and/or night (the day felt like night).

It was like an apocalyptic scene, except this was real life. And, it was my birthday.

I was an only child and the only apo back then, so of course we were to celebrate my seventh birthday. I had a table of food to feed my guests (although I cannot remember the food). My invited guests did not arrive, though. My guests were strangers temporarily seeking shelter in our home as they moved away from the north.

I was too young to mingle with them, to know their stories, and to ask where they were going or what were their plans. Now, twenty-five years later, I wonder about them. How are they now? What happened to their homes? How has life been after Mt. Pinatubo unleashed its wrath?

I hope and pray that they feel blessed now. Despite that unfortunate disaster, I really do hope that they are happy just as I feel happy. This post is really about you who has a Mt. Pinatubo (and other disaster) story. For all the people affected by Mt. Pinatubo, especially the people who have passed through our home, and for my 25th birthday after turning seven, CHEERS! :)