munchkin meals… on vacation

I had been worrying about travelling with MacKenna for weeks.  Not because I thought she couldn't handle the car ride.  I knew she'd be just fine in the car (although she did wake up screaming about 20 minutes before we made it to our halfway point).  No, I was worried about the whole eating situation.  When you're at home, it's OK to make silly faces and make up songs just to get your baby to smile so you can shove a spoon into her mouth (true story).  But, out in public, that doesn't quite work.

But, sometime in the last 2 weeks, we hit a turning point.  All of a sudden, MacKenna has been a fantastic eater!  (I know, I just jinxed it.)  She will now eat from a spoon without tears (usually) and actually leans forward with mouth open for more!  AH!  I can't even explain how amazing meal times have been now.  So. Much. Easier!

Of course, going on vacation with a baby who eats solid food still takes a little bit of planning.  We knew the foods she likes - avocado, mandarin oranges, cheese, Baby Mum-Mums - so we made sure we were totally stocked up on those.  I also took some baby yogurt with us in hopes that she would suddenly like it.

Breakfasts usually involved banana that she never ate (what child doesn't like bananas?!), baby yogurt, mandarin oranges, and Mum-mums.  If she ate 2 bites, fine.  I wasn't going to continue to force her to eat.  Some days it was just 2 bites, others she would eat multiple spoonfuls of yogurt.

Lunches were usually in our cabin, but I always made sure to bring Mum-Mums, avocado, and squeeze applesauce out with us just in case.  The time we did eat out was at the Mexican restaurant where I ordered her a side of cheese.  She's in what we call this "baby bird" phase where she eats better if she eats it off our fingers.  So I finger fed her cheese, which she loved!

Dinners always involved avocado (she loves it and will eat it, so she gets it every night) and usually some cheddar cheese.  There was one night where she just kept eating and wanting more and more cheese, even after finishing a good portion of avocado (in the mesh feeder).  Again, it was amazing!

Dinners out worked well too.  At Ruby Tuesdays, we just filled an extra plate up at the salad bar with peas and cheese and fed her that (as well as a Mum-mum).  And at Steak ‘n Shake, we gave her standard avocado and called it a night.  By that point, we were just ready to get home!

I'm praying my good little eater stays for awhile because I am certainly enjoying it, even if I do have to give her food off my fingers.  (She still doesn't quite have her pincer grasp down.  I always give her a few pieces to try to pick up, but she can't quite figure out how to get it in her mouth if they're in her fingers or her hand.  She's great with Mum-Mums though!)

Thanks again Brittany for hosting my new favorite link up!  Make sure you go check out the other #munchkinmeals to see what they other babes in the blog world are eating!

What do you feed your baby when you are on the road?