Hey, hey, it's time to puree!

I love this kid.

Really, I do. So so much it makes my heart hurt. He makes our lives so much richer.

But he is not easy. And feeding him is a pain in the you know what and it takes hours upon hours of extra time in the kitchen.

Hours at Whole Foods reading every label; hours at home cooking, followed by pureeing, followed by labeling, followed by freezing or refrigerating, followed by measuring each ounce at each meal, followed by distracting, followed by spoon feeding every bite, followed by cleaning up vomit when a certain texture disagrees with his esophagus, followed by excessive cheering when each meal ends.

Did I mention that it takes hours? And I know I'm supposed to say that I wouldn't trade one minute of it because he's doing so well right now. But I'm not gonna lie, I would trade it. I really really wish he could do well without all that work on my part. Selfish, right?  He probably wishes I would quit griping and I'm pretty sure he wishes that he could eat without hurting, so you know, I totally realize I'm the lesser and more insensitive person here. (Just making sure you know that I know that I'm being a you know what.)

Anyway, the "point" of my long and griping rant?

The other night after finally getting the kids tucked into bed I was in the kitchen for three more hours working on Owen's menu.

The result? 

(And yes, I'm totally bragging. So now you can add pride to the before mentioned insensitive selfishness.....plus a whole long laundry list of my many other flaws.)

 

*chicken pureed with almond milk and rice

*ground turkey browned, mashed, and pureed with almond milk (lack of texture is very tricky with this one.)

*almond bread, sunbutter, and banana sandwich puree

*Cooked carrots with special butter, cinnamon, and applesauce puree

*cereal bars pureed with milk and banana

*broccoli and cauliflower pureed with applesauce

*pumpkin pureed with applesauce

*butternut squash puree (which we now think he's allergic to)

*frozen fruit smoothie pureed with almond milk

(These plus some more that he's eaten the past few days.)

And when I was finished, I was bone tired.

And I wanted a frickin' gold star for all my hard work.

I didn't get a gold star, but my friend (who I may or may not have complained to through text messaging during the process that has to be repeated about every 10 days.....) brought me this apron today that she made for me.

And it totally made me laugh.

And one day when Owen's a 250 pound quarter back, I hope I'll still look at this apron and laugh.

And I hope that I can get a better perspective about this whole extra work in the kitchen thing because we still have a long way to go before Owen is where he needs to be. And he's totally 100% worth it.  And let's be honest, one day when I'm old and have lost all my teeth, I'll need him to puree my food. 

 

Maybe Erika can get another apron in blue when that day comes.