After C was born she had a hard time putting on weight. It took weeks and weeks before she was even back up to birth weight. It seemed like I was nursing around the clock, and we were supplementing with formula, but try as we may she just didn’t grow. At first the pediatrician wasn’t too concerned because she was otherwise very healthy, but after a few months he suggested we start adding cereal to her bottles. He said it would help her to put on weight more quickly. As new parents we did exactly as we were told and started adding the cereal as we had been instructed. And boy did it make her grow. Pretty soon she was the roly-poly baby of my dreams!

As the months went on, the doctor was happy with her weight gain, and he had never mentioned us stopping the cereal, but then again we never asked. So we kept feeding her cereal, and she kept growing. It wasn’t until people started commenting on her chunkiness that I started to think more about the cereal issue. Clearly we had overcome the weight gain hurdle, maybe we should cut back!

By then she was pretty squishy (and absolutely adorable, btw.) We took her off the cereal but it wasn’t until she started walking and running around that she started thinning down. (Which I know is normal for all babies.) It wasn’t until years later, when Tim and I look back at her pictures that we realized how chunky we let her get. We still smile over those massive baby cheeks!