Uping the ante

It seems like every couple weeks or so I catch myself posting about how Alli is eating more than she used to. Well, this post is going to continue that theme. I'm not sure if it's another growth spurt or just the fact that 4 month olds eat a lot - but Alli has dramatically increased her intake lately.

It seemed like just a couple weeks ago we were sending her off to daycare with 4 bottles each with 4oz of breastmilk - now she's killing 5oz in each bottle like it's nothing. True Followers may recall that we recently started adding rice cereal in a couple of her bottles each day to help out as well. Well, she's been tearing through it like it's not even there. I guess it's a good problem to have - the only problem is that we're out of stocked breastmilk.

So yesterday we began supplementing her feedings with baby formula - and it went very well. I don't know if she could really tell a difference, because she sure didn't act like it. I was initially thinking we would mix some formula in with the breastmilk to ease her into it - but Mommy B had other plans while she was home with Ru. She just mixed it up and gave it to her straight - no breastmilk, no rice, no muss, no fuss. And guess what? Alli drained the whole bottle. I guess she is a lot like her father already... surprise, surprise.

Mommy B has been pumping enough to supply Alli with enough breastmilk to last her through daycare, so we decided that I would feed her formula in the morning and at night - just to make it easy on everyone. However, this morning was a little different...

Alli woke up at 6am this morning (a little earlier than usual) so I fed her a formula bottle to get things started off. Keep in mind the last time she ate was 7:30pm the night before. She only had about 3oz of the 4oz bottle, which is not too unusual for first thing in the morning. I just assumed it was because it was a little early and she would finish the rest of it off before we left for daycare.

So I got dressed and ready to go, and right as we were getting ready to leave Alli started crying like she was hungry. I warmed up the remaining ounce of formula and gave it to her... but apparently that wasn't enough. As soon as she realized that the bottle was empty, she started screaming at me like I was shoving bamboo between her fingernails. The only thing I could think was wrong was that she was still hungry. So I reached into the fridge and pulled out a 3oz bottle of breastmilk that Mommy B had left us for the day. I dumped in some rice and warmed it up as fast as I could.

Less than 5 minutes later, that was gone too. Unreal. Just over 7 oz (some formula, and with rice cereal) in less than an hour! Are you kidding me?? Forget this liquid food, I'm just going to grind up some Cheerios and feed it to her. Or maybe a Fullbar. Anything to keep her belly full. Because once again, if she's anything like her father (which I think we're concluding she is) - she will not be a happy camper if her tummy isn't full.

So we'll see what tonight brings... I could be going through some major formula until Mommy B gets home from work. Who knows? She could be eating prime rib by that time. It wouldn't surprise me all that much these days. I'll be sure to cook it medium-well so she doesn't catch any foodborn illnesses. Personally I think Alli's just tired of everyone calling her "little" - so she's trying to pack on some lbs. Good for her... don't take their crap, eat what you want. That's what Dad-E's been doing for years!