I always kept hearing about the many different brands of bottles that people would go through to find one that their child liked. But we didn’t have that problem. I chose Avent and Amelia took to it well. In fact, she got so used to the fat nipples, that she didn’t like the skinny ones that most bottle brands come with. Fine by me.

Now that we’ve moved on to sippy cups, it’s a whole other story. I just got back from purchasing the 5th style of cup I think she might like. Crossing my fingers that she takes to it. She has her favorite but it’s not my favorite. She is very stubborn and wants to only drink from the Nuby Sippy Cup. I think she prefers it because it’s very squishy just like her old bottle nipples. But now that she’s growing up and “chewing” on stuff, she chews them to bits. Within a week or two I’m having to buy a new one because she has chewed through the spout and it’s leaking everywhere.

My MIL bought her some really cheap $1 cups that have the old traditional style spout. Well, she refused them for the longest time and then finally began to accept it. Problem was we changed them up about the same time we took her off of formula. Bad move. Now she refuses to drink from the cup. I guess in her mind if she has her old Nuby cup, she’s getting her formula and not regular milk. So, bad mommy that I am, I reverted back to her Nuby cup and she gulps down her milk with no problems. But before I did that, I went and bought a few new cups (to replace those darn Nubys) but she doesn’t like them either. The spout is too long and she doesn’t even take a sip before throwing it away.

So today, I bought yet another kind of cup. It has a soft spout instead of a hard one, but it’s not a nipple spout. I just hope she likes it.

It’s all about trial and error these days when it comes to pleasing my little girl.

I’m a little behind, I know. We celebrated Amelia’s birthday on the actual day with another cake and mini-party. It was a success, but even though she had a cake with regular icing, she still didn’t like it. I think she just doesn’t like to get very messy. Pictures are up at my Flickr account: 1st Birthday Party #2.

Since she turned one, we’ve been trying to switch her over to whole milk and it’s not really going too well. We started out with a 1/2 & 1/2 mix of formula and milk. Then after about 3 days went 100% whole milk. She’s refusing her milk now so she doesn’t really drink much at all. I think it’s partly due to the new cups we got for her as well. I don’t think she likes them, so a new drink in a new cup is just not to her satisfaction.

And now that she’s on whole milk, I’m trying to get her to eat more table foods so she still gets the nutrients she needs that she no longer gets from formula. Another ordeal. She’s constantly crabby and is almost refusing everything we try to feed her. She’ll eat mac n cheese, cheerios and some of her toddler snacks. She really loves the lil crunchies. Other than that, she might eat a nibble or two here and there of something. I guess she just has to be in the mood. The other day she ate a whole slice of french toast. This morning she wouldn’t touch it.

I know that all this is normal, but I get so frustrated. I feel frantic when I get in the kitchen and try to find something for her to eat while she’s sitting there crying or fussing because I’m not giving her the right stuff. I want to offer her new stuff so she’ll try it and occasionally it will work. But I guess it’s not going to hurt her to have mac n cheese 4 nights in a row if that’s what she likes, as long as something new is offered as well for her to try.

Ah, the joys of feeding a toddler.