Our Little Piglet

Benjamin is a little fellow. Every time we go to the doctor, they weigh and measure him and determine in which percentile his measurements fall. Benjamin consistently hovers around the 5th percentile (meaning that 95 percent of babies his age are bigger than him) for weight. At his 4 month appointment, he dropped off the charts, so we added formula. At a hefty 13 pounds, 1 ounce, Benjamin returned to the chart as a 6-month-old in the - you guessed it - 5th percentile. But he is happy and active and there is nothing to worry about, especially considering the fact that we are starting solid foods. And WOW - what a little eater Benjamin has become!

As many of you know, we have decided to make all of Benjamin's baby food from scratch. For the past few Tuesdays, we head out to Whole Foods to select a few great items to try. In the evening after Ben has gone to bed, Kevin and I spend several hours chopping, pureeing, straining and freezing his food. All is not lost for a fun Tuesday night - we share a bottle of wine and good conversation while utilizing every single dish in the kitchen. The food is frozen in ice cube trays and then the following day, transferred to plastic bags. It is quite a process, but it feels so good to know that we're feeding him all natural foods. Hopefully, it is a habit that he will maintain, even when he visits Auntie Joyce, who will likely feed him cookies and juice on command. So far, Ben enjoys eating avocado, peaches, mango, pears, sweet potato, banana, and oatmeal. I also recently made a whole grain millet cereal that he is dealing with nicely these days. The video that I hopefully downloaded is Ben's first (and only) taste of asparagus. You can see for yourself what he thinks of asparagus. Benjamin gobbles up everything in front of him, sucking on his fingers between each bite. And he's still a pee wee. We'll keep pureeing. We'll keep feeding him the very best food that we can afford. But I have a feeling that he'll always be in the 5th percentile. I think Levitt genetics and the high metabolism Kevin has blessed Benjamin with will win this battle. Til then - LET'S EAT!!