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Category Archives: Food & Feeding

Happy 2nd Birthday, Owen!

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Happy birthday, Owen! Smile for your first picture of the day!

First photo of the day

I was amazingly proud of him at our play group today. He actually sat in the song circle for the first time EVER…for THREE songs even! And was pretty happy and smiley about it! At the end of song three, he announced loudly “DONE!” 🙂 and then, surprise #2…he went to the playdough table! What? Huh? Awesome! AND THEN…he actually participated in the art project!! He put glue on the paper (and maybe in his mouth) and stuck some stickers on! And he kinda liked his birthday crown! And grandma AND dad were there to see it!

Art project!
Crown 1
Crown 2

So when we got home, we tried for the “official” birthday photo…and lucked out with this one:

2nd birthday photo

Then he had his nap, and we got to experience this when we got up:

Then since it was pretty warm out (32!) we decided to take Owen outside. I know he doesn’t like to play in the snow, so I didn’t even put his snowpants on him. We gave him a few sled rides and you could see he didn’t really care too much. Grandma Jean coerced him up onto the porch…

…where after a few minutes, he suddenly laid down, crawled toward the bushes, and started playing in the snow between the bushes! He was digging and digging and flinging snow around—his mittens were packed with snow. Then when you thought he might be done, he’d do a low-crawl to the next section of the porch and dig some more. Surprisingly, he didn’t seem to mind the cold at all!

After dinner, it was time for CAKE—and he certainly knows cake when he sees it! 🙂

Waiting for cake!
Eating cake!

And then for the day’s big finale…a BAF!

Birfday baf!

Toddler Differences 101

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I was really looking forward to seeing Owen with our friend’s son, Bodi, who is about six weeks younger. I was pretty sure Owen would tower over him and outweigh him (he did, by about 5” an 5#), but beyond that I wasn’t sure what the differences might be. And boy, were they interesting.

While Owen knows his letters, Bodi doesn’t have the first clue. On the other hand, Bodi completely understands commands like “Go put your cup on the shelf” while Owen’s comprehension isn’t quite that advanced. Bodi knows a variety of sounds (animal noises, car noises) but Owen knows some numbers.

Bodi NEVER sits still, has to touch everything (and hand you everything you’ve set down), and has to be strapped in his high chair. Pretty much as long as Owen has toys around, he doesn’t touch things he’s not supposed to and you don’t need to worry about him diving out of his high chair (my friend was amazed when I left Owen just sitting in the booster seat to grab his food from the kitchen, or that I left my expensive camera on the desk within toddler reach)—and he often just sits quietly and sucks his thumb. Owen doesn’t make much noise but Bodi is a big jibber jabberer and shrieker/shouter (something else Owen didn’t like). Bodi’s sleep schedule is about 7p-7a with an hour nap, while Owen’s is about 8p-6:30a with a 2+ hour nap (though they did manage to sleep together in the same room pretty well).

You can tell Bodi has been around other kids (day care) because he doesn’t mind other kids in his space—while Owen kind of freaked out…a lot…whether Bodi was touching him, taking a toy, handing him his sippy cup that he previously set down, or just walking by him. They did have some cute moments together, but for the most part, Owen tried to keep his distance. He was perfectly content to play by himself, while Bodi wanted whatever Owen was playing with. Needless to say there was a LOT of whining (mostly on Owen’s part) and we are seriously considering putting him in daycare for a few hours a week just so he gets more social interaction (since we no longer meet with my mom’s group) so he’s not as much of a crybaby. That said, I still think he did pretty well, considering this weekend was the first real one-on-one time he’s spent with another toddler. (He’s spent time with his six-month older cousin, but only for maybe a half day.)

We also learned that Owen isn’t quite the beastly eater we thought he was—Bodi blew him out of the water, so-to-speak. We know Owen doesn’t eat a great variety of foods, but he can make up for it in quantity. But Bodi, besides eating most anything (from what little we saw, he ate green beans, stuffing, black refried beans, oatmeal with apples, bananas, apples, nacho chips and salsa, and pizza)…eats a TON of everything. For dinner, we had pizza—something Owen loves so I thought he’d eat a lot. Well, he ate a piece plus some crackers. Bodi? Three pieces…plus a handful of carrots and dip and Owen’s leftover crackers and pizza. EEK! It’s impressive to watch.

Parenting tip for the newbies

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Keep all future clothes/baby supplies/etc. in ONE area, so when you wonder “Do I need to buy ____?” you only have to look in one place.

Yeah, I just found a 2T winter coat that was stashed in some random drawer. Since I found some online on sale and thought I needed one and didn’t see one in the closet…I bought it. Now I have two. Granted, I think one goes to lower temps than the other (both Lands End) but still, I think one was plenty. They were both on sale, so still not too bad…but I could have gotten 3T (of 4T!) had I known I already had a 2T.

I also forget about stashed food, since I keep it in the basement pantry as well as the upstairs island and cupboards. I just realized I have a box of oatmeal and yogurt…which Owen doesn’t eat any more. It’s only $5 worth, but it’s the idea that I forgot about them.

The Spoon vs. The Dunk

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I was really happy with how well Owen was using his spoon…until he started wanting to dunk EVERYTHING in his yogurt. Now he rarely uses the spoon. 🙁 You can give him the yogurt first, without anything else, and he will use it for a minute…but then he wants his ‘dunkers’ (whatever else I’ll be giving him for his meal).

Last night it was dill pickles, ham, apples, and banana chips dunked in banana
yogurt. In the mornings, it’s always pancakes, graham crackers, and apples in the yogurt.

I am getting SO tired of cleaning up half the yogurt off his hands/arms/face/high chair. The spoon was SOOOO much better.

/sigh

I just keep repeating “It’s a phase—he’ll grow out of it. It’s a phase—he’ll grow out of it.”

Dinner

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So we were having hot dogs for dinner. Linda asked if Owen would eat any, and I said probably not, though we will certainly try. So imagine my surprise…when he scarfed down the few pieces I cut for him…then proceeded to eat AN ENTIRE HOT DOG! 88|

Of course, who’s to say whether he’ll eat another one anytime soon…

A few new foods!

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Owen liked the bulgogi we made for dinner last night. The kid won’t eat hot dogs but he’ll eat marinated barbecued beef. :??: I guess I should be happy, because bulgogi is closer to sushi than hot dogs are…but hot dogs are just a bit more common and easier to make for his lunches.

And tonight we had baked chicken for dinner—which he wouldn’t touch, of course—but he ate the hearts that I quick pan fried. Really? What toddler will eat chicken hearts but not the actual chicken?

What a strange bird.

Owen and New Foods

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Talk about frustrating.

In addition to the like-something-one-day/week-but-not-the next, he sometimes (okay, most times) just FLAT OUT refuses to even try something. I put it on his tray, he takes it in his fingers, and holds it out to me—which is his obvious way of saying he doesn’t want it. It makes me nuts because it didn’t even get near his nose or touch his lips! How can he tell from just looking at it that he doesn’t want it? (Yeah, sometimes us adults can tell. But we’re adults.) So at this stage he apparently enjoys licking the ground or chewing on my shoes—but refuses to try fried zucchini, rice, or tilapia? :##

That said, while it’s frustrating as hell when he does it, it’s also kinda cute. I mean, he’s at least being good and handing it to me instead of dropping it on the floor (although he WILL drop it on the floor if I don’t take it).

Tasting!

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Owen is in a tasting phase. Not chewing like before, but licking and tasting. EVERYTHING. From the chair and wall in the doctor’s office to my leg and shoes and the cement patio at home. It’s cute because he does it so gently—gets really close, then just sticks his tongue out and licks it.

Using a spoon…

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So just yesterday I decided I had to give up control and let Owen start trying to feed himself with a spoon—except that he really didn’t show ANY interest at dinner. It really surprised me because the last time we had a spoon out, he did pretty well with it. So I was a bit frustrated.

Fast forward to tonight, when we tried a different yogurt and a different spoon…and apparently he had a new attitude! He also had (as you will hear) two completely enthusiastic parents!

Things they are a’ changin.

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So Owen’s tastes have been changing again. He used to love fried eggs—we’d have at least one a day. Now he won’t touch them. He used to love granola bars—we’d sometimes have maybe two a day and he could easily eat one per meal. Lately he won’t eat more than one bite. But one day this week, for his pre-breakfast snack, I gave him one as a test and he ate the whole thing! Apparently for his less favorite foods I have to make sure he’s hungry. Sometimes he’ll eat strawberries but not too often. But this morning? He ate two! TWO! Wheeee! It’s an ever-changing game that is very frustrating. At least he still loves yogurt.

I also am really NOT liking this changing-of-the-nap-times thing. Just when I had it all figured out and things were running super smoothly…it changes. I really don’t like the trial and error of figuring out just what his new nap time should be. One day I tried at 10am (his old time) and that didn’t fly so he didn’t end up napping until 11. The next day he was practically falling asleep at 8:30 but it was way too early for a nap—so we waited, and he seemed a little tired again at 10:45 but he certainly wasn’t laying down to nap…and he let me hear his displeasure. The next day I had an errand to run at 9 which I thought would surely work with his schedule…except he fell asleep in the car at 9:15! |-| So now every day is a new game.

Owen and the Pizza Crust

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We know he likes pizza, and we often give him bites of crust or crust and cheese. We’ve tried giving him larger pieces of things (like half a granola bar) and he doesn’t want it and just smashes it instead.

But today, after eating a handful of pieces, he was looking longingly at my crust…so instead of giving it to Maggie, I gave it to him. Watch as it quickly disappears!

P.S. He did end up eating the piece he spit out. 😀

The toilet, a spoon, and yogurt!

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Tom and I were getting dinner ready when we heard…SPLASHING! We forget that he likes the toilet now, so I rushed in there. He was having so much fun just splashing away and his shirt was soaked up to his elbows! Of course, I ran to get the camera. 😀

Since I had to completely undress him to get the wet clothes off, I figured it was the perfect time to let him try his hand with a spoon (it had been awhile, and he hadn’t been interested at all the last time). It was a riot! And he didn’t do too badly… but then had the most fun (I think) without the spoon!

New foods! Not so much.

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We went out to dinner tonight, so were able to offer Owen a whole bunch of new foods. How do you think it went?

Plain noodles No.
Cooked carrots? No.
Cooked celery? No.
Chicken? No.
Oyster cracker? Yes.
Broccoli? No.
Pesto? No.
Breadstick? No.

Sigh.

I know this is somewhat typical…but really, when does it get better? I’m ready any day now!

Meatballs!

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I made veggie-infused turkey and beef meatballs for Owen today (with some organic frozen baby food— corn and carrots—that he didn’t ever like) and quinoa for some extra protein…and at first he didn’t eat them and threw them on the floor…and to say I was frustrated was an UNDERSTATEMENT. I took the tray away and let him sit there for about 15 minutes (my mom and I were both busy with things) then gave him the tray again and he ate. And ate. And ate. Three meatballs (mini, but still), 1/4 of a pear, cheese puffs, dried strawberries, two baby mum mum crackers, fresh strawberries, and half a piece of banana bread. HOLY WAH. I was thrilled. THRILLED I SAY!

It’s amazing how much him eating a good meal (easily) puts a wonderful spin on my mood for the day!