She works so hard

This kid works so hard. It melts your heart.

To help practice biting and chewing, we’ve started giving her a freshly baked cheese roll or cinnamon roll a few times a day. (God bless pre-frozen pastries and our air fryer that cooks them in minutes. 😍)

These days she’s still refusing most food with her teething pain. (A few nights ago even her toothbrush was filled with blood at bedtime. 😵‍💫) But, because of her pain, we noticed pretty quickly that she’s far more likely to eat something if she’s the one holding the food.

So we’ve watched this cute little munchkin try so hard to get little bites into her mouth and, sometimes, she actually succeeds! I’m in awe at her progress. It looks like there may actually come a day in the next few years that she can feed herself.

I used to think I’d care strongly about the nutritional value of my kid’s food. But, now, all I care about is that she eats and that she gets plenty of calories. If a cinnamon roll helps us achieve those goals, then this kid will be eating cinnamon rolls. 🤷‍♀️

Plus, a large portion of kids like Eloise are on feeding tubes by now — and that may still be in her future. But, right now, not being on one and being able to get nutrition by mouth allows this kid to learn all kinds of skills. And, for that, we count our lucky stars ✨.