Coffee, Please

Peeper likes coffee.

It's no surprise, since she swam in it for nine eight seven and a bit months in utero, and has probably been getting coffee-flavored breastmilk ever since.

It's also no surprise that she likes the kind that I usually order, because it's all fru-frued up with (sugar-free) syrups.

I always drink decaff, so I generally go ahead and let her have "just a little bit" after reminding her that "coffee is for grown ups, but since this is decaff . . . ."

That last part is usually said nice and loudly, for the benefit of any nosey nellies who might be passing by and clucking at the sight of my child holding a big ol' venti iced coffee.

I've done a bit of research on it, and it seems that decaf does have a bit of caffeine in it, but way less than chocolate and Lord knows she has plenty of that.

The whole "stunts your growth" this is an old wives tale, and thank goodness, because she sure can't afford that!

The only real concerns I found were that if a kid is really into coffee, they might drink it instead of more nutritions drinks but a> at this point, she gets enough nutritious breastmilk to make up for about anything, b> her other usual beverage is water (although she chooses milk sometimes, including for breakfast this morning) and c> any coffee she's getting from us is going to be a latte / cafe au lait / cafe con leche / so diluted with milk as to be almost unrecognizable. So, I'm not too worried about it.

This morning we went out to breakfast, and Shrike and I were drinking plain old decaf coffee, with lots of creamer and and sugar (Shrike) / sweetener (me) , and Peeper was loving it. No syrups, no fancy, not even cold (just cooled to a reasonable temperature - for us, not for her! - with the creamer and a few ice cubes) and she loved it.

At first, she was slurping it up by the spoonful, but that was kind of making a mess.

Shrike tried scooping out small servings for her, using a creamer cup, but that wasn't much better.

That's okay, though, because Peeper came up with her own solution.