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Here I am again, posting from our Hawaiian vacation! I could get used to this Happily Eva After On The Road stuff…hold please while I convince my husband to relocate to tropical paradise. (I already see him shaking his head silently at me across the room) The one thing that hasn’t been such paradise on vacation? Feeding my child.
I’m actually surprised by this hiccup, since what I’m used to is a baby who eats amazingly well when we’re at home. Marlowe has four bottles of milk a day: five ounces of formula in the morning, seven ounces before bed, and four ounces after each nap (which I’m phasing out). Additionally, she eats a big breakfast, big lunch, a sizable snack at 4pm, and then dinner at 5:30pm. At each of these meals, she gets either fruit and protein, or vegetable and protein. When we packed to come to Hawaii, I brought a bunch of those organic fruit and vegetable pouches so that we could feed her on the fly and always have something available should there be no option for her where we were eating. It’s a little tricky because she got her teeth late (she currently has two on the bottom) and so she had been eating mainly purées at home, with a few piece of “practice” Table Foods to snack on.
Well, after two days in Hawaii of Marlowe waking up at 4am so starving from just eating fruit and veggie pouches all day, I realized that we needed to either get a blender for our hotel room so I could make protein purées, or I needed to officially start Table Food. Cold Turkey (pun intended). I don’t even know where to get a blender here to be honest, so Table Food it is. And boy has it been an adventure! I had been so used to being able to sneak spoonfuls of food in to my daughter’s mouth while she was reading or playing in her high chair. Now the process is much longer, with a lot more negotiation. Plus, if she finds a particular meal delicious, she will attempt to put the entirety of said meal in to her mouth, all at once. Isn’t it fun to fish blockages of buttered Penne out of our kids’ throats?! Yes, it is! It’s keeping us young! So now I am also aware of spacing her bites, and monitoring her like a hawk while she’s eating. The side effect of this monitoring is that Mommy eats about twelve percent of her meal and also wakes up at 4am starving.
Anyway, we’ve been here for about five days, and I’m a do-er more than a complainer, so I’ve figured out some tricks. Here they are, have at them!
- GEAR: I cannot stress this high chair enough. It’s a lifesaver. I always get nervous about the big gaps in restaurant-provided high chairs, especially since my kid is such a squirmer/climber. Plus, this puts the baby at table height which I find is easier and more fun for them, aka better behavior.
- Rice: Thank you, rice! Thank you for being easy to eat, and sticky, and a complex carbohydrate that will fill my baby without choking her! I love you!
- Meatballs: Meatballs are almost always on a kids menu and they’re a perfect training food for babies with few teeth. I give Marlowe 1/4 inch pieces and she loves it.
- Chicken Noodle Soup: This is an excellent emergency-hotel-menu order for a baby. The chicken is soft and bite sized, the noodles are mushy, and so are the veggies! I spoon her some broth as well and everyone is happy. Just make sure it is luke-warm and never hot!
- Fruit Salad: I order this and give her some of mine. Melon, papaya, and berries are all excellent and soft options for baby.
- Grilled fish: Marlowe LOVES grilled fish. Surprise! It’s also so easy for her to handle. I just feel to make sure there aren’t any bones and let her pick pieces off and eat them.
- Sunny side up egg on toast: Since Marlowe can currently only eat egg yolk (she gets a rash when I give her egg whites) I order this for her and break the yolk on top of the toast. All the yummy soaks in to the bread, and then I cut it up for her for a protein packed breakfast.
- A To-Go cup of water with a straw: I have no idea why, but Marlowe is obsessed with drinking from a straw out of a cup that is NOT her sippy cup. Maybe she just wants some strange, but she acts like the water is brüt Rosé. Fine by me. Restaurants love giving them these cups because what they hate more than anything is SPILLING. If I want her to go totally HAM on her water, I ask for it with ice. It’s like Christmas!
- Entertainment: Keep a little bag that you only bring to restaurants. I put a couple of books in there (Yes, they will be covered in food. Breath and relax) and about five small toys that she will only see when sitting in her high chair. I recommend little animals or figurines. Then we play a game where we take her napkin and wrap up each of these animals “like a baby” and she rocks them and holds them to her chest for about thirty five minutes. If anybody is looking for a babysitter, may I recommend Marlowe Mae Martino? I also ask the waiter to put in her order right away so she can eat first and then Kyle and I can take turns entertaining her while the other eats.
xoxo
EAM
Sick of us.
The tip about having the baby served first is brilliant. I was wondering if Marlow was drinking formula or breast milk? This post answered my question. I remember you posting about breastfeeding when she was first born. How long did you do it? When did you stop? Just had a baby and not a lot of moms will discuss the transition because of guilt and/or fear of being judged. I just need advice, not judging anyone.
Hi Michy!
I stopped breastfeeding when Marlowe was four months old. I felt very guilty in the beginning since I stopped because it was making my work life unmanageable and stressful, and not because I wasn’t producing milk. Basically I had a relationship with my breast pump and not with my baby, and it was miserable. The good news was that I had saved up so much breast milk in my freezer that I was able to give her a bottle a day for another month and a half, which helped the guilt at the time. Now I realize that whether I had breastfed two months or two years, my relationship with my daughter would have turned out just as strong as it is now. She is healthy and secure, and I feel better as her Mom, and that’s what matters!
Do what feels right for your family and what makes you happy, and your baby will be happy too!
xoxo
EAM
My daughter is 3 months old so I love that I can read your blog and plan ahead. I’m curious about the highchair. Do you use it at home too or is it designed for taking to restaurants? It’s not too bulky to carry around? Thanks Eva!
Hi Kendra,
The high chair is designed for taking on the road and folds up in to a very manageable package. That said, it is a great space-saving option for a home high chair if needed!
xox
EAM
Dear Eva. I am a 16 years old Hungarian girl.I have tought a long time, that I write to you. But today I make a decision to do this. I know that you get lots of messages like this, I am scared because maybe you won’t read mine. This letter means a lot for me. It would be a great pleasure if you read this. Well, the point is that you became my idol during a month. I appreciate you and your blog that I simply love and I follow all of your things on instagram every day. I can’t speak English very well, in that case some of my friends helped me to make you understand what I want to say. When I’m fed up with learning I always think of you because I see what a great success you reached in your life. This is a good example for me and it’s always before my eyes.
🙂