no, you may not be excused

i force fed my skinny baby tonight. after reviewing what he'd (not) eaten today, there was no way i was going to let him refuse dinner, too. pace really does normally eat well, i think this teething thing is throwing him for a loop. we had a REALLY hard night--i think i slept a total of 4 or 5 hours, but not consecutively. pace, of course, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready for the day at 6am on the dot. energizer bionic baby...

he eats a really good breakfast at 730am: a 2-egg-yolk roll up, probably a 1/4 cup of oatmeal with peaches/pears/blueberries, and water to drink.

i knew after his dr's appt today we'd be out running errands, so i pump to bring breastmilk with us. i only got about 3oz. he has 2oz at 10am, and refuses to drink the remaining 1oz. usually by this time, babies should be drinking 7-9oz per bottle/nursing feeding. not pace...he'd rather eat like a bird, thank you very much.

12pm we sit down for lunch as he was acting hungry. usually if he fusses when i try and feed him, i'll give him finger foods to eat along while i feed him, and he's more agreeable. lunch was a no-go. he looks at me, purses his lips, and turns his head away. he wouldn't even take a sip of water. so around 1, i nurse him for about 5-7 minutes, and he falls asleep for a nap.

330/4pm i try to feed him a solid lunch again. no-go take two.

630 dinner. he takes 2 spoonfuls ok, and then stops dead. won't even open his mouth for the choo-choo train or the zoom-zoom car i do for him. he finally cracks a tiny smile. i swoop in with a spoonful of lentils, chicken, and cannellini bean dip. his smile turns to a full-on wail and he spits out the spoonful of food. i look at him with my sternest face, say, "no, pace, you are going to eat," and put the spit-out food back in his mouth. his wail lasts for a good 60-90 seconds, during which time he spits out the food again, angrily wipes his hand through his mouth, rubs it all over his face, pulls his hair, smears food everywhere. i again shovel it back into his mouth and calmly watch him wear his food instead of eat it. this happens probably 5-6 times, and each time i tell him to chew his food and swallow it. each time i am really thinking--am i making mealtime a negative experience? am i scarring my child's relationship with food? if he wakes up screaming tonight, is he going to be remembering this meal? am i creating a child who will later have an eating disorder? am i doing the wrong thing?--is he really not hungry?!

he finally swallows a spoonful of food and looks at me. i try another spoonful. again, the spitting, wailing, re-shoveling into the mouth, spitting, shoveling, etc. i forcefeed him three spoonfuls. three. that's it. here's the thanks i get:

after we've calmed down a bit:

he nursed again before bed, just to top off his high-calorie diet...

i'm hoping for a better day tomorrow.