A Year Has Gone By, Seriously?

My son is turning one next week. It was just a year ago when I started saying the word "son" and it sounded funny. It's kind of like when you first get married and you say "my husband". It sounds so awkward. It feels like you are playing grown-up. The fact that I have "a son" baffles me.  The fact that

he is turning one, woah la! that just downright scares me.

The way I look at food has changed.

 My dear friend Rachel gave me this bagel book and wrapped it in bacon wrapping paper. This is me,

the night before I gave birth. Bagel in Bacon, not an oxymoron at all, that is how Rachel sees things. Here is her blog Jewshi (a Jew in Japan).


I will begin by saying (actually screaming) and happy dancing at the same time " I can't believe I nursed for a whole year". This is one of my biggest accomplishments this year. For some, nursing comes naturally and for many, well, it's like pulling teeth.

Nursing is the deep dark secret of motherhood. It's hard. The reasons are endless. Some babies don't latch on. Their mouths are too small. Some babies get nipple confusion (sounds sick huh?).
I won't go into detail with what happened with us. It's just not that interesting.

I will just say that I found it exhausting and decided that I would take it one day at time. So I did. Here I am. I crossed the finished line. One year was my goal, now I need to decide if I am ready to move on.
Here is a little more about my experience with nursing,


My way of cooking has changed this year. I used to be such a snob. I would never ever buy anything I could make. From the croutons to the bread. I could do it all.  Now I understand one thing. You do what you have to do to avoid having crackers for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And now even more, my little one eats everything that I do. And every calorie counts.

We are trying to make the right decisions. We know kids who are deprived of sweets are the first to raid the cupboards at friend's houses. We know that white bread has no nutrional value. We know that if a baby doesn't know what sugar tastes like, he won't know to ask for it. We know that rewarding a child with food is self-destructive. Now what? Choices. Choices.

Here are some of the things that we did for the first year. I don't know if they are rules but more like things we believe in

1. No juice
2. No TV, not even Baby Einstein Videos ( Did you know that Disney wil refund your money if you bought them?)
3. No cookies, cakes or other sugary snacks. (I can count on one hand , the times that we broke this rule)
4. Baby eats on his own when possible, no matter how messy the floor looks. He feeds himself.
5. We never bought baby cereal. It was just a waste of money. We crushed our regular cereal and he ate it that way.

I am sorry to dissapoint all my foodie friends but as much as I let my baby taste most of what I eat, I tried to keep it super healthy. Why ruin the one perfectly white tooth he has (yes, just one)?

Now I need to re-evelauate. His first birthday is coming. He will eat cake. It will probably be colorful and full of frosting. I want him to experience all the foods that we eat. I don't want to deprive him of the joy of food. I also don't want him to fill his tummy with junk.


I am curious to know. What are your rules? Do you offer dessert? How much is too much?