Dear M: Eleven Months Old

My Dear Miss M, I cannot believe we are a month away from your first birthday! It really doesn't seem as if that much time has passed since you blessed us by joining our family. But so much has changed in that short amount of time. Especially in the last month!

You are a full fledged walker/toddler. It started with your first steps and now you are walking everywhere! You almost start running when you get excited or are playing with your brother. You are quite balanced on your feet and can stay upright for a long time before you take a tumble or trip. Shoe shopping was quite fun! We got you your first pair of Stride-Rite shoes (pink w/ pink & orange hearts!) in a size 3.5 and as soon as they were on your feet you took off down the mall path.

I am also loving how verbal you are becoming. Not only can you say a few words but your gestures and sounds are hilarious to listen to and watch. You are so expressive and really do let everyone around you know how your feeling. You have started making this little pouting face where you make an o with your mouth and go "whoo, whoo" with a scowl on your face when you're starting to get upset. Then if someone doesn't respond right away you start to cry. It's like the warning before the tantrum. Not that you have tantrums yet!

And the way that you are picking up on more and more signs excites me. You've started signing airplane and butterfly back to me. We started our sign language classes with Joann of Sign4Baby and I'm enjoying the time I spend alone with you. Mommy usually even gets to drink a cup of coffee after class while it's still hot! Hows that for awesome mornings? I can't wait to see what signs you'll start using next!

You are most definitely a Daddy's girl. You love your daddy and get excited as soon as you see him when you wake up and when he comes home from work in the evenings. On the weekends you aren't far away from him and you always make sure to know where he is. That includes being under his feet as he works outside or in the garage. And he's pretty keen on you too!

I'm still having a hard time figuring out your eating habits. You're still breastfeeding about every 3-4 hours however you do have interest in our food. I just give you bits and pieces of what we're eating and you eat until you're done. Never more than 4-5 bites though. And that's ok. You try a variety of things and know what you like and what you don't. And you love snacking on whatever Brother has on his plate! Good thing you don't have any allergies so far.

You are becoming quite the animated, excitable, and loving little girl and I love every minute we get to spend with you. You are even starting to grow on your brother a bit :) Love you, Miss M! You're one amazing girl!

Love,
Mommy

Great Snack Ideas for Kids {Tips and Tricks}

You know the saying, "Variety is the spice of life"? This really holds true when it comes to toddlers and food. I sometimes get in a rut when I go grocery shopping. I buy the same fruits, veggies and snacks over and over again. And I notice that after a few weeks of the same handful of choices my son starts to lose interest in those foods. He even started to turn down berries for breakfast or dessert so I knew things had to change.

This summer I have been buying strawberries, grapes and apples weekly. On a quick trip to Trader Joe's with my son he saw the oranges from across the store and literally ran to them with glee. He practically begged me to buy some for him. So I obliged and threw in a bag of oranges. I asked him if any of the vegetables looked tasty and he grabbed a crown of broccoli. We got home and immediately he asked for an orange. I peeled it and he devoured it in minutes. Then at dinner time he asked to help make the broccoli so I let him break some up to put in the steamer. He ate that as well (along with a few bites of chicken).

It seemed as though having him choose a few items that he was willing to try lead to him eating more than normal. So I started looking for great suggestions to keep him excited about the food we served him so he would be more willing to eat. Now I don't expect him to eat like a champ every day. Toddlers eat like cavemen. They scavenge for a few days and just snack a tiny bit and  then they have what I call eating days where they seem to not get enough. Eating days maybe come every 4-5 days... Below are a few tidbits I've found from various sources that now help me keep things exciting for him when he does decide to eat.

1. Get the Kids Involved in Meal Planning
Starting the week off with a list of meals to make each day not only saves time but ultimately helps save money as well. Adding the kids into the mix will also save tears and aggravation at dinner time when your child doesn't like what's been put in front of them. Let your child help you meal plan so they can choose what they want to eat. Perhaps start by letting one choose one meal a week. Or if you have younger children like me, let them choose the side dish (carbs, starches or veggies). If my son has chosen his veggie than he more than likely eats at least 3 bites of it when served to him at dinner.

2. Take the Kids Grocery Shopping
I know, I know. It's a pain to take the kids in the grocery store. I used to dread shopping with both of mine and would wait till the weekend to do all of my grocery shopping alone and kid-less (plus I got to indulge in a coffee that wasn't cold while I shopped). But then, like I mentioned before, my son got excited about eating the food he chose. And I've been taking him alone without the baby so he feels like he has my complete attention when I shop. It's a great bonding time that I actually look forward to now! Plus as your children help choose the meals and then see what ingredients go into the meals they may just start to get interested in making the meals.

3. Let the Kids Help in the Kitchen
Grab that stool from the garage or closet and push it up to the counter. Find odd jobs while prepping for dinner that are safe for your child to do. I purchased a child-safe knife from Pampered Chef that my son uses along side me to chop up herbs while I chop up veggies. He also helps rip up lettuce for salad, add pre-measured cups of ingredients to the bowl and crack eggs. When he starts cooking with me he gets excited about the food he is working with. He's even taken to eating lettuce and salads without prompting because he prepares the salads for mealtime.

All of these three things will lead to your child not only being proficient in making meals for your family but will also help your child stay on the healthy track. By giving your child the opportunity to make smart choices about food, and then showing them how to prepare the meals to eat, they will know what to do when they get older and have to think about food on their own. My greatest challenge to myself right now is to try and lead a healthier life for my children so that I am the role-model they look to when they choose how they're going to eat and live.

A great tidbit I heard in a panel discussion at BlogHer'11 from one of the speakers was that the old saying "Do as I say, not as I do" holds no value. What you do says a lot and kids are going to follow your lead. So keep a variety of healthy choices available for your children and get them involved!

Baby-Led Weaning {Ditching the Purees}

Miss M has been interested in our food since she was about 4 1/2 months old. I knew she was ready for solids when she started lurching for our spoons and plates and trying to snag what we were eating. So I started her on purees and she seemed to be into it. But she never seemed to be interested after taking about a tablespoon of food. She was much more into gnawing on the spoon. So I started researching and asking around and found the answer I was looking for. Baby-led weaning.

I put away the purees I made and wiped off the food processor. M's first real experience with baby-led weaning  was with a food she was used to... apples. I just sauteed them up so they were soft and diced them up. I don't think I made the pieces big enough so I stopped after a few tastes. Here are a few pictures from her experience :)

She did really well picking up the pieces with her fingers so I gave her a few puffs to practice with. Then I started thinking of what I was going to serve for dinner. And I figured carrots would be good to practice with as well. I made sure to keep them in stick form so she could grab onto them and gnaw little pieces off. They were a hit! She loved it and the mess she left proved that she had a great time as well.

Since that first day we've offered her a little of whatever we're having at each meal. Sometimes she just plays with the food and other times she eats a bit. She's really good at chewing with her gums! Definitely surprised me with how well her gums work to chew.

And she's doing great with her sippy too. She still uses it mostly as a teether but she does get water out of it every once in a while. Friday night we had pizza so I made her a deconstructed pizza plate of sorts. She got to taste olives, a bit of mozzarella, some steamed broccoli and pizza crust. She looked like she thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the family meal. I wasn't too sure about the cheese since she seems a bit young to have it but we've had no problems so far.

I really think this is not going to be easier for us in general but it's less stressful, in my opinion. I never worried about how much E was eating when he was on purees but I did start to worry when he started eating table food since I didn't think he was getting enough. Now I know it's all just practice at this point. Her main nutrition still comes from my breastmilk and she's getting really good at playing with her food :)

The New Food Pyramid

I know everyone's probably already seen the new food pyramid. Or should I say the new food plate. I'm actually really happy about it. I have already decided that I want to do my best to educate my kids about the food they eat as well as nutrition and exercise in general.

Last year we took Ethan to go pick apples and I plan to do so again this year (with Molly too!). I also want to go berry picking next year as well with both kids. And Joseph and I are already planning on building a raised bed for a vegetable garden. I think that getting my kids involved in the preparation of the food we eat might help them not only understand where food comes from but also get interested in eating the right kinds of food.

You don't know how excited I get when I put a chicken nugget, bowl of fruit and a french fry in front of Ethan for dinner and he goes for the fruit first (C'mon! No judging. We went to Chick-Fil-A for dinner the other night). Or when I ask him what he wants for dinner and he says broccoli. Yes, some nights he asks for fruit roll ups or ice cream for dinner but for the most part he is really good about eating a well balanced diet. And I'm happy to say that he's also started eating more than just hot dogs and bacon for protein.

And I believe that starting young will really help us in the future. If you've always had access to fruits and vegetables wouldn't you be more inclined to choose them when planning out your meals at a restaurant or when you want to make a meal for dinner.

Now I'm not knocking sweets or fast food (obviously since I just admitted to serving Chick-Fil-A nuggets and fries to Ethan) but I really think that we need to start working on moderation and variation. I'm on Weight Watchers. My goal every day is to eat at LEAST 5 servings of fruits and veggies a day. That means my breakfasts, snacks, lunches and dinners all contain at least one serving of fruit or veggies. And I've been really working on including a variety of vegetables to our every day routine. Not just salad or broccoli.

So when I see the new food plate I get excited. I hope that when my kids take a nutrition class or learn about healthy eating in school (do they still do that?) that they will just hear what they already see at home. And if you have any ideas or suggestions on how to continue down this path I'm all ears!

Messy Baby Take Two

I don't ever remember E being as messy as Miss M seems to be with her food at this age. I mean, he was quite the messy eater when he got older but he was all about just getting as much food in his mouth as possible when he was this age. Miss M... well, she has better ideas :)

She will literally pull the spoon from out of our hands and try to feed herself. This leads to food being splattered on me, her and any surrounding area. It's pretty darn comical to watch. I'll have to have Joseph record it the next time. We just keep forgetting to grab the video camera. But here are some still shots of the end product...

Love her!!!

M's First Meal

So first a confession. We've given M food two other times. First, two weeks ago she went for my banana. Like lunged for it. She saw E and me eating one so she wanted in too. I proceeded to give her about 1/2 a tablespoon of banana mashed up. Don't worry... I gave it to her the next two days too just in case there was an allergy.

Then on Cinco de Mayo we went to our favorite mexican restaurant, Tio Leo's, and I enjoyed an enchilada, rice and beans. Well, I gave E half of my rice and beans so she saw not only me but E and Daddy eating the same thing. So again she tried to lunge for my fork as I was eating. I stopped her and put her in the high chair they gave us for her (first time in a high chair!). I took a small amount of beans on my finger and gave it to her. She gobbled them up! And kept asking for more by opening her mouth and shoving my finger in her mouth.

So, we knew it was time to really start solids. And last night we did. I started with just a teaspoon of oatmeal cereal and 1/2 to one ounce of breastmilk (hey, it's not being used anyway!). Well... she loved it! Ate the whole thing. Even took the spoon from me at the end since obviously I wasn't giving it to her fast enough :)

Feeding Himself

E fed himself yogurt & avocado this morning for the first time... check out that cutie!

Messy Dinners

We grabbed Rubio's to go last night for dinner and had some yummy beans and rice :) At least E did. Mommy had a salmon burrito and Daddy had fish tacos. E has decided as of the past few days that he's just RAVENOUS! After not eating barely anything for a few weeks (we think teething and being sick was the culprit) he's finally gotten his appetite back.

Last night he ate a whole 4oz cup of beans and a 4oz cup of rice on top of a few bites of quesadilla (Daddy got E his own kids meal!). And the night before I went to go pick up dinner and asked J if he could give E a snack to tide him over until I got back with dinner. Well... when I got back J told me that he obviously wasn't fast enough because E got into the cupboard, grabbed an apple/carrot crusher and brought it to J to open for him. When J opened it E sucked the whole thing down faster than he's ever done before. He was HUNGRY!

Here are a few pictures from his meal last night:

B-a-n-a-n-a-s

Mom, I've decided I'm old enough for my own banana... whole, not mashed.



Yup, I can eat it... all on my own



Just watch me as I show off my gnawing skills



Yes ma'am, I'm that good!



Mmmm....

First Costco Sample

E's first sample at Costco... a cracker sans the Havarti cheese they were sampling. We went to Costco to pick up the essentials on Friday. You know, milk, eggs, pot pies. And they were sampling Havarti cheese on some multi-grain crackers.

E was looking up at me with longing as I ate my cracker so I ran back and asked if I could just grab a cracker. The sample lady looked at me funny until I explained that it wasn't for me, it was for my adorable baby. She caved when she saw him (who wouldn't??).

I gave him the cracker and waited till he nibbled a bit. He LOVED it! Enough to have it all over his mouth and shirt within minutes of starting to munch on it. I'm pretty sure he'll start loving Costco as much as Mommy and Daddy.

Watermelon

I know you aren't supposed to introduce melon until like 8 months but E got ahold of my watermelon last night and liked it soo much I gave him a little wedge. He LOVED it! He was gnawing like there was no tomorrow! And no rash today so I don't think he's allergic.

Sweet Potatoes

Ethan LOVED sweet potatoes! Can't wait to try another veggie... I'm thinking avocados are next :) Method to prepare the potatoes are here.