a near-choking experience!

Lunch today was awful. I was so excited to finally serve up some small chunks of very soft steamed carrots for Ellie, who is starting to LOVE finger foods. Seriously. I will put Cheerios or banana slices or nectarine chunks or Rice Krispies on her high chair tray, and she'll carefully pick up every last piece and shove each one into her awaiting mouth - which STILL only sports two teeth, by the way. The slow and labored feasting will go on for 30 minutes - even more if I let it.

Well, I figured she would enjoy some really soft carrots and put about five chunks on her tray. Fast forward a few minutes into her happy eating experience, when she starts making these sort of gagging sounds. She often will cough a little if something reaches the back of her throat, so I wasn't overly worried, but I positioned myself to get her out of her chair just in case. Next thing I know, she gets this look of horror on her face and vomit starts pouring out of her mouth. It was so scary! I didn't know if she was choking or what, but the puke kept coming and she was definitely gasping to catch her breath.

The next few minutes are a sort of blur. I swiped her out of her chair, turned her face down on my knee and angled her toward the floor, then started slapping her back. To my great relief (and her's too, I'm sure), out flew the carrot chunks. It took her a few minutes to start breathing normally again, but during the whole harrowing episode, she never was completely unable to breath, thank God. She also rebounded very quickly, though it took me a while for my adrenaline to stop pumping like mad. This was probably the scariest moment in my life thus far!

When all was said and done, vomit and carrot chunks covered her high chair, the kitchen floor, Elliott, and myself. She immediately got a midday bath, something rare since Daddy is usually the bath responsiare (yes, that is a word - a French-ish word, mind you - in our household.)

On a much more pleasant note, it has been snowing all day and looks so beautiful outside. Elliott has definitely noticed that something is up with all the white out there, and is enjoying looking out the windows. I took her outside for a minute (brrrrrr!) and picked up some snow for her to play with. She grabbed it out of my hand and immediately stuffed it into her mouth with great delight. Snow. A much safer food for babies than steamed carrots.