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Category Archives: Food & Feeding

First blood draw!

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Wow. I’m amazed.

Owen was a total ROCK STAR getting his blood drawn for the very first time this morning. :up: I expected the absolute worst…and though it didn’t start on a positive note (he didn’t want to get on the exam table for ANYTHING), it went well!

There were three techs in there (since I had told them it was his first time) and they asked me to hold him down in case he freaked out so I basically just leaned over the table and held his legs and chest…but I distracted him by telling him about the ice cream treat he would get and they distracted him by talking to him about the fish on the walls and he didn’t even feel the needle.

He didn’t flinch.
He didn’t squirm.
He didn’t cry.

In fact, he even pretended to sleep (snoring) when I suggested it. And afterwards, he picked green tape and loved it! He had to hold his arm out for just about everyone to see!

The treat I promised him for being good at the doctor! Not too many ice cream places are open at 9am, so we went to the commissary!

First Official Ice Cream Cone

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I think anyway. 😮 I was pretty sure it was…but the more I think about it, I just can’t recall. Oh well. It was still cute.

We were at DQ so it was soft serve—and he did pretty good, though he likes to bite the ice cream instead of lick it. We’d show him how to lick it and he’d try but not quite get it. I think I only had to clean it up once. 🙂

DQ cone 1
DQ cone 2

Owen’s 3rd Birthday Party!

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Owen’s birthday cake—he was so excited he wouldn’t stop jumping for me to get a good picture! (It was made by an acquaintance of ours. I decided to splurge this year and have someone else make it so it was his first REAL birthday cake!)

Peeking at his cake

This is what it looked like after I decorated it with his own Cars cars (while he napped):

Decorated!

Family photo!

Family photo

Since he had so many presents, we started opening them before the party. He loved the bowling pins from Grandma Marsha and Uncle Rob! (After we played with them as actual bowling items, they turned into soldiers!)

I have no idea why he plugs his ears, but it happens often:

Drinking out of his new big boy Cars cup!

“Happy birthday to you…”

Trying to blow out his candles…

We didn’t get a group picture, but we celebrated with Papa, Grannie, Dad, Mom—and our good friends Roger and Ursula and their kids Virginia and Caroline!

I found a cracker Owen doesn’t like!

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I found a cracker that Owen doesn’t like—Chicken in a Biscuit. Of course he was really interested in what I was eating, so I handed him two and after getting it near his mouth and licking it, he shoved it back in the box before I could stop him. Then he tried the second one :??: :crazy: 😀 and handed it back saying “No thank you, mama.”

I love cake!

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Owen’s babysitter (and one of our neighbors) Hannah turned 14 today, so while she was babysitting him (while we were at the birthday ball), she took him to her house for birthday cake and ice cream. He LOVED it, and they enjoyed watching him love it…and Hannah’s mom sent us this picture!

P.S. Grandpa Mike, you notice which hand he’s holding the spoon with?

I just love my boy.

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He was eating his sammich for breakfast when he says “Bunny!” And I looked, and damn if his last remaining piece of crust didn’t look like a bunny (I tried to get a good pic but this is the best I could get.) So he hopped it through the yogurt a few times, then ate it. 🙂

You have to love his imagination. He says “Statue!” then points out the eyes, nose, and mouth! (Well, I saw the face, too—but I’m not sure why he called it a statue.)

One of his new games is to fake run into something and fall, saying “Help! Help! Mama help!” If Tom is around, he’ll go over and fawn over him, pick him up, then carry him to me where I zerbert his belly. If it’s just me, he’ll just lay there saying help help help in the cutest voice. I might go over and say “Oh no! Did you fall down? Are you okay?” To which he responds yes, he’s okay. This was one of his falls today where he ended up just laying there chilling out. 🙂

Then, while he was playing in the bath, I hear “Copter!” and look down and see this. I love his imagination.

Sunglasses, pizza, and Skype!

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He saw these sunglasses sitting on the counter and has co-opted them as his own. He was super excited to wear them and wore them around the house for quite some time. He just LOVES them.

Tonight was the first night we gave him mini slices of pizza instead of cut up pieces—and he seemed to do just fine!

The glasses make another appearance during a Skype call with Grandma Marsha and Uncle Rob!

Smart kid!

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Typically in the morning, we give Owen a snack (granola bar) and a juice, then we eat breakfast an hour to an hour and a half after he gets up. Sometimes (rarely) we just skip the snack and eat breakfast a bit earlier. We just used to give him the snack, but lately he’s started asking for it.

So this morning, I decide we will eat breakfast early, and this is what happened:

Owen: Snacks! Snacks!
Me: No, it’s time for breakfast.
Owen: SNACKS! SNACKS!
Me: Okay. [Hand him a granola bar.]
Owen: [Finishes the bar in about two minutes.] Breakfast!

Scammer. 🙂

First cereal with a spoon!

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Since Owen is getting pretty good using his spoon with his yogurt, we thought we’d try cereal in milk. It took a few minutes of telling him NO when he tried to eat with his fingers and showing him how to scoop with the spoon, but he eventually got it. Of course, he still tries to use his fingers some times…but then the next moment he’ll pick up fallen cereal and put it back in the bowl (instead of in his mouth)! But overall he did really well for his first try!

First sandwich!

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Owen usually likes taking a bit of whatever papa has (cookie, cake, sandwich), so he’s had a few bites of PB&J along the way…which was surprising, because every time we’ve tried to give him jelly, he’s refused.

But apparently papa was the key, and Owen ate part of a PB&J sandwich while Tom and I were out. Of course, I require photographic proof or it didn’t happen 😛 so I got this video today!

Fruit by fork!

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Owen hasn’t really taken to using a fork (and we’ve tried a handful of times), so this morning when he didn’t want to finish his fruit (but would eat it off my fork) I decided it was time to try again.

I proceeded to make a big game of STAB! STAB! STABBING! each piece, and he loved it! He ate the rest of his fruit—via fork stabbing!—in about two minutes. YAY!

Hopefully it will continue and not just be a one-time thing. 🙂

Owen vs. The Meatloaf

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Tonight we had meatloaf and Owen REFUSED to try it. I was 95% sure he’d like it (I mean, he likes other beef and has eaten [and enjoyed] meatballs in the past), so we did what we never do and forced a piece in his mouth, with him wiggling and screeching the whole way.

Then watched as, hmmmmmm, he realized it wasn’t disgusting. And that he might actually like it. Then watched as he shoveled in a HUGE piece almost as fast as his little fingers could move.

The little shit.

I really don’t want to force food on him, but maybe we have to? At least things we’re fairly sure he’ll like?

He didn’t touch the asparagus but I didn’t press our luck. 🙂

First bowl of ice cream

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Owen has certainly had ice cream before, but today we went to Oberweis Dairy with Papa and Grannie Smith and ordered him his very own bowl (instead of just feeding him bites of ours or letting him lick our cones).

When he got down to the bottom of the cup he was having a hard time, so Tom took over feeding him.

Then the manager came over to check on us, and gave Owen a balloon and some stickers!

Sushi?!!?!?!

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At our sushi buffet lunch today with Grandma Marsha and Uncle Rob, Owen was intrigued by the stuff on my plate so I let him grab a piece of sushi…which he proceeded to (of course) dip in yogurt and try to take a bite of!!!!!!!111!1!!

He didn’t get much of a bite—and then the roll basically fell apart—but it’s the first time EVER he has reached for something on our plates that was new to him! He then proceeded to eat a few small bites of tempura sweet potato and Korean beef!!

Knock me over with a feather.

Everyone at the table (well, mom and dad especially!) was cheering madly. The other patrons surely thought we were insane. 🙂

Fruit & Veggie Update

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Well, we’ve added a few new things since his appointment, and it seems to be okay so far.

I learned from friends that there are fruit juices that actually have veggie juices in them, so I bought a few varieties of those—and he drinks that mixed with water and likes it. He now also has one smoothie a day (his post-nap lunch/snack) that is made with fresh fruit, the fruit/veggie juice, protein powder, and…spinach! (I tasted it myself and you can’t even taste the spinach!)

We also now add those fruit squeeze packets (applesauce or squash/apple or strawberry—which he used to eat alone but now basically refuses) or jarred sweet potatoes to his pancakes/waffles…and those were eaten no problem.

It doesn’t feel like a lot, but it’s a start.

Owen’s 2-year well-visit

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His current stats:
Height: 39″ (greater than the 97th percentile) — was 37.5″ at 21mo
Weight: 38# (greater than the 97th percentile) — was 35# 7oz at 21mo
Head Circumference: 50cm (between 75th and 90th percentile

Well, there’s nothing like a well-visit with the pediatrician to make you feel like a failure as a parent.

:**:

She’s not really worried about his speech (or lack thereof), but she IS worried about a) his weight and b) his lack of eating fruits and vegetables. He is 39″ and 38#—which is apparently off the chart (100+ percentile). She’s fine with his height, but she would like to see him weigh 33-34#. SERIOUSLY? He’s always been a big kid…but you’re telling me he needs to go on a diet? Of course she didn’t call it a diet but said he needs to be on skim milk (vs. 2%), I should limit the quantity he eats (especially the carbs), and he should get more exercise. Good lord. And she was amazed at what he won’t eat, saying that even though this is the age to be picky, if he’s still this picky in 6 months, she will recommend occupational therapy!! 😮

So I’m supposed to try and get more creative in giving him veggies…which sure sounds nice, but it’s kinda hard when his food options are already so limited. He won’t even let a veggie get near his plate and pushes your hand away (or hands it back to you if you sneak it on his plate)—how can I sneak it in? He loves yogurt and dips everything, but he won’t even eat veggies dunked in yogurt. We’ve tried raw, cooked, microwaved, roasted, etc., and nothing makes the cut. The kid doesn’t even really like french fries! So I’m supposed to give him a V8 or one of the fruit blends to see if he’ll drink that…and I’m supposed to make him yogurt/veggie smoothies and hope he’ll drink those. And I should let him help pick out foods and let him help prepare his food—um, yeah, I think he’s still a little young for that.

And of course, on top of all this, Owen was a screaming hot mess the entire time because he didn’t get his post-nap wake-up period (he took a 3-hour nap and woke up at the last possible minute before I was going to call to reschedule, which meant we had to fly to get out of the house on time). He bawled when we set him on the scale, he screamed when we tried to measure him, he refused to let the nurse or doctor listen to his lungs/heart…in short, it was a nightmare that Word World AND a sucker didn’t help. That’s what I get for forcing the issue and not wanting to reschedule. 😐

I just really hate feeling this way after each well visit, like I’ve failed at major things and now my kid is doomed. I know he’s not, but it sure feels that way after a visit.

🙁