At her nine month checkup, Claire’s iron levels were low and the doctor prescribed a liquid iron supplement.  We postponed starting the iron due to Claire’s multiple ear infections and her subsequent tube surgery – one medicine at a time is enough with a baby.  We finally started the supplement about two weeks ago (when Claire was 11 months old).  The directions are crazy; she cannot take it within two hours after MILK or one hour before MILK and she cannot lay down 30 minutes after finishing the iron (which is combined with juice in her sippy cup).

For those of you without children, my emphasis on MILK might seem strange, but SHE IS A BABY.  Babies drink milk; they NEED milk.  Combined with the difficulties of dividing her feeding schedule between daycare and home, these new rules have increased our frustrations.

Tonight, in order to convince her to drink her iron laden juice, I pumped her full of Earth’s Best Organic Crunchin’ Crackers (the plain flavored variety because I typically devour the cheesy type once the box is opened).  Since Claire had already finished her dinner at the highchair earlier in the night, I thought she could have her snack while sitting next to me on the couch.  What a nice family moment . . .

The pride I felt in my daughter climaxed when she turned to our dog, held out a cracker, allowed him to take a bite, then put the rest of the same cracker back in her mouth.  Ah, parenthood.