Eating Again

For several months now, I've been worried about Lucas not eating enough food--hence, missing some nutrients.  He seems healthy because he hardly gets sick. But he is skinny and I wanted him to at least have a little bit of fat.  I like chunky babies.

What worried me more is that he not only eats very little but he also doesn't drink enough milk. He used to chug milk when I was still breastfeeding him, but when I couldn't breastfeed him anymore, I couldn't get him to like any formula. I've been supplementing his dairy intake with yogurt, which he likes.

But when I started him with solids, I thought my problem was over.  He was eating like a pig!  He would eat pretty much anything I gave him, and he wouldn't stop eating until I stopped feeding him.  But then he started getting picky...then pickier until it became quite a challenge to feed him.  He was eating very little and drinking very little milk.  I had to just stop worrying and accept that maybe that was all he could take and that maybe he is meant to be small.

Lately though, to my big surprise, he started eating a lot again.  And drinking milk!  He eats adult food now--rice, chicken, pork, fish, shrimp and some vegetables. He likes seafood more than chicken and red meat. He likes soup. He often has fruit for dessert and in addition to that eats a whole cup of yogurt after every meal.

And did I say he drinks milk now? We give him formula in the morning and whole milk the rest of the day. He drinks milk four times a day, a total of at least 20 ounces each day.  He used to only drink 10-12 ounces. He also drinks a lot of water and some juice during his meals. As a result, he gained about 2 pounds in a week. That just made me a happy camper!

I don't know what changed or what motivated him to eat more. I don't know if it started when we left him at my sister's and he saw how much his cousin eats and how much Nathan chugs milk. Or maybe I'm cooking better food? Or maybe the vitamins he's taking has finally taken into effect and improved his appetite?  I wish I knew. 

Whatever it is, I hope it keeps Lucas eating this way.  I am certainly enjoying this because I don't know how long this will last.  I do hope this will last and that he continues to eat this way as long as he needs to.