Forest of the Plains

For those of you who have seen Jacob this may come as a shock, but according to the doctor, Jacob needs to bulk up. As in he doesn’t weigh enough. This news was a surprise to the nice teachers at daycare and to my back muscles.

Jacob’s height and weight have consistently been 5%-10% apart when measured by the percentile charts for his age. Everybody was happy because he was all in proportion. This week there was a sudden change. His height went up to the 80th percentile while his weight plummeted to the 25th percentile. This means that Jacob was busy growing taller and didn’t eat enough calories to keep his height-weight proportions in check.

My guess is that this has to do with Jacob’s recent food issues. One day he went 8 hours without food - just flat out refused everything offered to him. On another day he was eating, but threw a fit whenever I touched the high chair. He also has distinct preferences as to who feeds him.

I know that the one thing small children can do to control their environment is to control their food. So, how do you convince an opinionated and stubborn 9-month-old that he really does want his mid-day bottle without engaging in a power struggle? After two weeks of trying, it seems like we may have found the right solution! Today Jacob got to feed himself some bits of banana, then was offered his bottle. He took it without any trouble! Let’s hope for a repeat performance the next day he’s at daycare.