The Gille's: Food

Ok...let's start off with the breakfast of Champions - coffee, chocolate chip cookie, and grape nuts. Hmmmm... realistically the ideal breakfast would add another cookie and omit the grape nuts but I was trying to be good :) I recently started following a blog called My Baking Addiction - aka MBA (http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/) that features all kinds of delicious baked goods and fabulous photos. I chose a few cookie recipes and asked Ross which he would like me to make (since I haven't made any desserts since Christmas). He wanted to challenge me to try the Big Chocolate Chip Cookies because I have been unable to make CCC since we married (they always turned out super flat and crispy). Trust me; I do not know what I have been doing wrong because I have tried all different things with the same result. It wasn't due to the gas oven or later the electric oven, the stand mixer or hand mixer or my muscles, the butter or margarine or crisco, the processed or unprocessed flour, etc, etc. Anyway, I tried the recipe from MBA and the results were perfect :) So perfect that when I was making my cup of morning coffee I couldn't resist and ate one without thinking (Oh my gosh this is the first thing I am eating today?!?!!?). So, I punished myself accordingly with grape nuts. ha! Note to self - Lucas was completely enamored with the smiley face coffee cup from Janean in Germany so I must not put hot liquids in it when he might reach for it in the future... Check out my super cute breakfast company...

I decided this weekend I was going to try and put Lucas on an eating schedule of sorts because he suddenly became very crabby about eating and it was leaking into other parts of life. Ross's cousin mentioned that they had to put their son on a schedule around 4 months of age for this very reason and it worked like a charm. I started by tracking his eating patterns last week and then devised a plan and tried it this weekend. I didn't want it to be too rigid of a schedule or too maleable that it wasn't a schedule (and always up for revision if he decides to sleep through the night :) before the 6 month mark). The goal was to feed him avery 3.5 hours, give or take 30 minutes and to add a "dream feed" around 10pm. This made for a very confusing weekend for all of us (I should have realized he wouldn't magically adapt to the schedule). I guess I am a little over sensitive to his eating because of his weight gain/hospitalization scare. I just don't want to deprive him or force feed him which would both set him up for potential food failures (not knowing when he is hungry or failure to thrive) in the future. He did sleep frm 8pm until 4:40 am with a dream feed around 10 pm last night. We will see how the week goes and I will keep you updated.

Another addition to the confusion this weekend is Ross's decision that it is time Lucas learned to put himself to sleep in his crib. According to the books you have to be careful that your baby learns how to self-soothe and if you wait too long they might become dependent on having your arms or a rocking motion to fall asleep. Lucas seems to be able to do this better at night when he is already beginning to drift off to la-la land. However, during the day I have been inclined to let him nap where he likes (he will often sleep for 1-2 hours in the boppy on the couch, in his rock and play sleeper in our room, in his boppy in his crib vs 20 min in his crib). I know part of my issue is my continuing fear that he will slip into failure to thrive mode. This is why having Ross and I both will hopefully help Lucas learn what he needs to learn when he needs to learn it.

For all those mothers and fathers out there...what is your philosophy on schedules for eating and sleeping? Is there an appropriate age when a schedule for one or the other is necessary? How about napping - is there a certain age when nap location trumps nap length? There are so many different approaches it is hard to wrap your head around it all. On the one hand, I do not want him to be crabby and out of sorts because he needs a schedule. While on the other hand, I don't want him to be so married to a schedule that he is unable to cope with sudden changes.