Upswing with Maple Syrup!

Sometimes when I am out in a store, I have a moment where I'm very glad I live in an area big enough that there's a good chance I'll not be seeing anybody that I know.  Reason being... I must look like a deranged animal on the hunt.   If there's something in particular I'm trying to find, I've been known to whirl around town tasmanian-devil-style hopping from store to store until I've secured the goods.  My most recent target was a waffle stick maker.  I had seen it, and considered it-looked like so much fun, then put it down.  We didn't have enough safe ingredients yet (or so I thought).  BUT as I was googling around the web I found an egg-free waffle recipe that I could tweak and we could trial buckwheat flour!  Buckwheat, just as a side note, isn't actually wheat at all.  Its not even a grain.  Its technically in the fruit family... related to rhubarb from what I've read.  I don't know, I'm no food expert (give me a few more months with FPIES and I might reconsider my expertise) but not actually a grain is good enough for me.  So anyway, after seeing the recipe I ran out of the house like a crazy person toting my whining children  happily strolled out of the house with my perfect children and went to buy the waffle maker I just had to have.  I had visions of a chunky little fingers holding a yummy waffle dripping in maple syrup!

I'll spare myself the embarrassment of how many stores I went to, but I'll just let you know that in the end I got my maker!  Its possible that I frightened small children in the process with the wild look in my eye as I stalked the isles searching...  but I suppose they will recover from the fear ;)  

After whipping up the first batch, L decided that she needed some waffles.  Her diet has been pretty 'normal' so I wasn't sure how these particular waffles would go over with her.  Much to my surprise, she actually liked them.  Huh.  I cautiously picked up a stick and swirled it in some maple syrup and they were actually pretty darn tasty!  Score 1 for the FPIES mommy!  The true test, though, was seeing if Liv would actually eat any.  The first attempt went so-so.  She wasn't throwing it on the floor at the first taste, but not exactly scarfing them down either.  This wasn't a shocker.  Liv's eating has been more like recreation for her.  After eating several things that have made her sick, I believe she has had a bit of a distrust with food.  Because of this, she hasn't really been able to associate eating with feeling satisfied.  If Liv has been hungry, she has wanted nothing to do with solid food and only would scream until she had a bottle.

The next day we tried the waffle sticks again.  Livvy actually ate several whole bites!  This was very encouraging.  Over the next two weeks she would nibble more and more at each sitting.  She had them warmed with syrup and also enjoyed chomping on a frozen one since she's teething.  Then a few days ago, an amazing thing happened.  She ate.  She actually ate almost an entire stick!   And that afternoon, she ate almost an entire potato!  The day after that... entire waffle stick, most of a potato and half a pear!   This is just so exciting.  She's really eating!  Happily!  Seemingly trusting food enough to eat more age-appropriate portions.  I'm officially calling buckwheat a pass, and we are moving along to something else.

There is a pit in my stomach about trialing a food that could possibly give her a reaction and have her revert back to not wanting to eat.  I have to try more foods, though, so onward we march.  Wish us luck!