On Food

Food issues are very common with kids from "hard places" like orphanages.   Some of the advice from experts includes that only mom and dad give food to the new child for a long period of time, perhaps even six months.  Another is to try to give food whenever they ask for it.  This can sometimes be problematic, such as if a child makes himself sick from overeating.  As for us, our food issues have been fairly mild, but it is obvious that they are there.

Gyunay is doing very well.  At first, he would eat anything and everything in front of him, and he asked to eat at least once an hour, every hour, all day, and often even if he had just ate.  We had a few instances of overeating, but we seem to be doing much better with that now.  He still eats often, but not as often, and I just serve small portions.  One good point, though, is that he is starting to show preferences.  Now, most parents would not be thrilled that their son handed back his bowl of broccoli, but we were because it means that he feels comfortable enough to know that if he doesn't want that food, more food really is available for him.  He seems to trust that we will feed him, which although it seems obvious to us, it wasn't obvious to him at first.

 

So, what does he eat?  So far, he seems to like:

eggs: fried, hardboiled, or scrambled

fruit: strawberries, bananas, oranges, apples

any flavor applesauce

yogurt: plain, vanilla, mixed with blueberries or applesauce

cooked, pureed pumpkin (not even sweetened!)

cheesy grits

pasta

soup: vegetable, split pea and barley, chili

noodle medley

pancakes

crackers, bread, rolls (with butter), cornbread

guacamole

olives

pork

meatballs

green beans

muffins: pumpkin and orange coconut

cheese: cheddar, Bulgarian, Colby jack, mozzarella

cooked carrots and onions

 

What he doesn't like: broccoli, chocolate pudding, peas (although he will eat one or two peas, so maybe he'll acquire the taste)