Monday, March 30, 2009

Future Protester

She may not take issue yet with meat eaters, nuclear energy or people's inability to recycle plastic bags, but my little Kennedy is practicing to be the fiercest protester at the rally. If this is a glimpse of what's to come, I think I should just throw in the towel and call it a day! Her cause du jour happens to be the adamant refusal to take a bottle. Period. And the pediatrician's advice? Don't feed her meals, and if she gets hungry enough she'll eat. Seriously? I may be tough, but I can not willingly starve my baby. She's my baby for crying out loud and seeing as how she's not even nine months old the thought of withholding food seems a bit harsh.

It all started with our desire to introduce formula. I've been nursing steadily but could see that "supplies" were running low. So, being the proactive parents that we are, we figured it best to start supplementing with a little formula before we're bone dry. Good idea in theory, but Kennedy would have NOTHING of it. You'd think I was trying to introduce brussel sprouts, haggis or some other frighteningly awful food, but formula? Babies drink it every day. Carter took to it after 11 1/2 months of nursing without incident. I was totally unprepared for the fight. She'd scream, flail and bat away the bottle all in protest to formula. So, I gave up and decided to limit her formula intake to her rice cereal mixture and try again later. The problem now is that she is so opposed to the formula that she thinks all bottles are laced with the evil powdered stuff. She won't take one at all. Talk about strong willed...wowzers. We've taken a break and put away the bottles for a week in hopes that she'll again take her food from a plastic source. If not, I'm sure there will be a worthwhile cause someday that is thankful for her mad protesting skills.

We should have known - Here's our precious Kennedy at about a month old, screaming in protest to some unforgivable strike against humanity, or perhaps she didn't want to be sitting up, one of the two I'm sure. Watch out world, here she comes!

3 comments:

  1. What a funny account of her personality. I love it. I hope that you are able to win out in the end. Change is never easy for those July babies :)

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  2. Oh, Katie! Can't say I blame the girl for turning her head at formula when she's been getting the good stuff all this time. ;) We also went through the late-infancy formula protests with Tommy...have you tried a few different brands? Seems like we went through every kind on the shelf before we found one that he liked. Or perhaps skipping the bottle and putting it in a sippy cup? I sure hope she gives up the protest soon...I know how frustrating it can be when your sweet baby won't do what you know she needs to do. Hang in there!

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  3. Oy Katie. I just have NO idea where she got her 'particular-ness'. This is a word we made up for Alex as we felt being 'particular' came across better than a lot of other words we felt like calling her in her early days. Hang in there...Love the pic too!

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