eh hem.
anyhoo. yah. so i have much eating and gallivanting around southern california to look forward to. i suspect much of the eating will involve korean food because i hear they don't have much of it in iraq. he did say that the cooks there tried to do "asian" day one day and he ended up eating salad and cereal i think. but here we will enjoy korean bbq all you can eat, soon dubu (spicy tofu stew), jja jjang myun (noodles), my mom's kalbi and keh jang and my kochijang spicy pork ribs. to start. i think mexican is the next priority on his list and i think he'll be happy to find that i've found some good hole in the wall places.
the joy of eating. isn't it wonderful?
unfortunately, for natty it's not that joyful right now. we went in for her 18 month check up (although i forgot and she's actually 19 months right now) and she's the same weight she was at her 12 month check up and at her 16 month check up. she's still in 9 month clothing. i swore i thought she felt heavier. and the thing is, it's not that she isn't eating. sure she has her picky days. but she also has days when she eats more than her brother at a meal, or constantly eats all day. after her 16 month check up her doctor did say that if her weight didn't significantly improve by the next appointment, i'd have to get some tests done on her and come in often for weight checks. so actually, i've been giving her one pediasure a day and huge chocolate chip cookies for snacks. and to me, it looked like it was working. she got a bit taller and a lot heavier (i thought.) i guess i was wrong.
yesterday they took her blood. to check of anemia, lead and other stuff. i came home with instructions to feed her high calorie things. i went to the grocery store and filled my cart with cookies, sara lee pound cake, avocados, salmon, butter, white cream bread, cream cheese carnation instant breakfast mix, ice cream, chocolate, pudding, bacon and olive oil. mission fatten up the baby is ON.
one suggestion was to leave out a nibble tray. a tray with small portions of foods with high calories for her to graze on throughout the day. another was to mix butter or olive oil into all of her food somehow. so today i've prepared the tray with little finger food slices of pound cake, a chocolate cookie, and some potato chips. she's getting fried rice with bacon, onions, potatoes, zucchini and like half a stick of butter in it for lunch with pediasure in a sippy cup.
i have to admit though that as i'm fixing her food, my mind just keeps screaming "this is so wrong!" it just feels so wrong to feed her so much fat and junk, which is why she has such a hard time eating it right now. she prefers the food i worked hard at getting her and noah to like. fish soups, fish (all kinds), seaweed, veggies, whole wheat bread (noah used to refuse a sandwich on white bread because he thought something was wrong with the bread), korean dried anchovies (she'll eat these on it's own straight on of a fridge, much like other kids eat chips), curry and mandoo. yesterday i offered her some potato chips. she good naturedly took one, took a bite, set it down and walked to the fridge to ask for an anchovy. sigh.
which means i'm trying to figure out how to add fats to foods that she's already eating. hence, the modified friend rice. it tastes pretty good so i think she'll eat it. tonight i'm thinking of making her some oxtail soup but leaving it fat in it instead of skimming it off. but really. that just feels soooooooo wrong.
hopefully she'll have gained a couple of pounds instead of a mere couple of ounces by next month. they are having me bring her in once a month to check her growth. if things don't improve the next step will be to see an endocrinologist. i'm sure she's ok. it's just that noah was always so healthy and big and strong. looking at her teeny tinyness sometimes worries me. what if there is something wrong? what if that's why she was teeny tiny in my tummy making them take four ultrasounds to make sure she was growing? what if that's why she came early?
those are just vague brief thoughts as i go about my day though. i'm sure she's ok. i guess it's time to introduce her to some mcdonald french fries. maybe that'll open those flood gates.
14 comments:
She seems to really like Korean tastes: that Korean curry (in the cubes) is pretty high in calories, as is ddukboki and hobak jun (i guess b/c it's fried?). Anything beef is also high in calories, so galbi jim or bulgogi would probably meet the criteria, too. Good luck!
So happy to hear that you will get to see captain j soon.
I hope you figure out what's going on with Natty, and that it's nothing serious.
peanut butter?
Hi Julia, great blog! Kim from KoreanClass101.com sent you an email. Please let me know when you get a chance to read! Thanks!
Try feeding her lots of protein, this probably will help. Mix Trader Joes Vanilla Soy protein mix in her yogurt and anything else you can sneak it into. Good luck!
Wait, that's the diet I'm on now! But not by doctor's orders :( Oh, and by the way, fruit juice is another great source of empty calories. At least it doesn't sound quite as bad as coating everything in lard and deep frying it. As tempting as the thought of Natalie staying small forever, I do hope she won't have to have any treatments beyond cookies.
thanks everyone for the suggestions!
julia: yes, natalie likes curry and she is getting lots of meat based soups.
christina: peanut butter was rejected, but i found out that she really like roasted peanuts. going to try other nuts too. thank goodness she doesn't have an allergy to anything.
laura: will definitely look into the soy protein mix.
so far she's rejected chips, cheese, cream cheese, twinkies (!!) and french fries. but found out she loves peanuts, chocolate milk, spaghetti and chicken nuggets. so making some progress.....i hope.
How about eggs? I hope she gains weight soon.
I'm sure you'll have a grat time with your hubby home! =)
What about ice cream?
Hi! Well, first: I have no kid.
Second: I am from Europe.
Third: My hand aches, so my words are kinda limited ;) (but I love to talk)
And now:
Please don't feed her too much junk. High calories can be achieved by other things than junk, but junk food is just bad. Besides, it will be difficult to reduce the junk food again, I guess.
Nuts are great- and also seasonal right now, also with lots of important oils. Try pistachio, walnut, coconut etc. :) Also sunflower seeds. Maybe cover every meal with some of the seeds. sesame, pumpkin...
Does she like musli? Make your own with raisins, and all kind of good stuff you want to feed your child.
Does she like waffles, puff pastry or Pajeon?
I love mashed potatoes with butter :)
Try also Noodles, banana, put more oil(good oils only) to salat.
Let her drink more juice and drink joghurt...
Wish you best of luck!
So glad you'll be seeing the Captain soon. I love soon dubu and jja jjang myun. Yum.
It would definitely be hard to intentionally have to fatten someone up. Sounds like you're being creative and flexible as you figure it out.
Sadie has always had a difficult time gaining weight and they have never suggested any of those things! Or checked for anemia, etc. I'm glad they are being careful with Natty, but maybe she is just going to be a little person. I hope its nothing, I'll be thinking of you guys. And I'm going to make the doc take Sadie's lack of weight gain more seriously!
Hi i came through Kimchi Mamas. So happy to hear that your husband will be home soon. I just wanted to let you know that my daughter also did not gain weight between 12 months and 18 months. She went from being off the charts for weight and height to 50% for weight and 75% for height. The doctor stressed me out and made me (not purposefully) feel bad for not feeding her enough. But i learned that MANY asian babies level out and do not gain that much weight for a little while after their first month. I know you have an older child, so i'm not sure how it was with him but my daughter was very similar to your daughter. Please do not stress out too much! (i had so much mom guilt) My daughter is still on the tall side for a Korean girl (she's 6 now) eats REALLY well and is neither fat nor too slim. Is she transitioning from breast to cow milk? That seemed to have an effect on her as well... sorry the comment is so long! Hope it's of some help.
What about instead of milk give her those powder milks with additives (vitamins, etc). That's what they usually prescribe to infants here when they are premature so that they gain weight quickly.
Dried fruit (raisins, apricots, etc). Maybe for dessert some home-made puddings (cornstarch + whole milk + sugar - all high-calorie) to which you can try adding rasins, nuts, etc. Maybe try sweetening things with honey, which has a little less calories than table sugar but is more 'healthy'. Desserts/sauces made with coconut oil; I think there are some ice-creams that can be made with cocount oil or milk.
Also, lentils are high in protein and calories. You can add them to salads, puree them, use them as pie filling with other vegetables. Maybe sandwiches with salami (rather strong flavor for a child that young ,but since she likes the anchovies it's worth the try).
And all else which has been suggested, just be careful with the junk food in case she likes it too much.
Hope everything goes fine, and that all is ok with Natty.
Btw, glad you had such a great time with Captain J.
Happybell
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