Trickery

Why, why, why has it taken me so long to get creative with mealtime?

Ben used to eat everything.

Like cuddle-fish-in-Chinatown-everything. It was awesome. Mainly because he was so entertaining to take out, and waitresses marveled as he sucked down bowls of clam chowder, ate salsa with a spoon, shoveled in hummus, there was literally nothing he wouldn't try.

Then somehow we slipped into the cheese phase. Where for probably two months all he would eat was cheese. Not macaroni and cheese, or grilled cheese, just cheese. Slices, cubes, spreads. As long as it was cheese.

Thankfully we've landed somewhere in between now, but I still long for my adventurous little eater. And of course there are the nutritional concerns too. Docs say view the week, rather than day, so you don't obsess over fruits and veggies constantly. But I struggle in pretty much every category outside of dairy (he's a milkaholic and still loves his cheese).

So why did it take me so long to figure out that I could strategically plan my meals with a little trickery in mind?

Last week, after a total bust on steamed broccoli and cheese, I decided to smash steamed broccoli into his mashed potatoes. He loved them. No questions asked.

Imagine the possibilities here...I can totally mask fruits and vegetables into all kinds of things with a little focus.

How do you get your kids to eat their fruits and veggies?

Goldie Locks

Glimpses of my sweet girl's personality are starting to shine through, and she's proving to be a stubborn, high maintenance little lady.

Ironically she went straight from reluctance to drink a bottle to preferring them over eating from me. It's less work. I'll call it efficiency versus laziness :) But she takes things a step further by requiring the milk to be warmed to the perfect temperature.

And just like Goldie Locks, if it's a bit too cool, she refuses to eat until I've reheated the bottle.

I can't make this stuff up. It's happened two feedings in a row.

She flat out refuses, cries and spits the milk out. Warm up the bottle, and down the hatch the ounces go.

It would be funny if I weren't pumping before every feeding to give her this delicious, fresh milk!

Ok, it's still funny. Look at that face. She is seriously the sweetest thing breathing in this house. But I can't even imagine where we're headed if she's this finicky with her bottles. God help us :)

World Traveler

My little eater...boy does he make mealtime fun.

I've posted in the past about his passion for food in general, and what a treat he is to take to our favorite Mexican place. Not just because he flirts with all the waitresses and adores the attention, but also because he gets his own plate of guac, with rice, beans, meat and cheese to follow. And actually squeals with delight.

This weekend he tackled Chinese and Lebanese with the same enthusiasm. Real Chinese, like in Chinatown. There he tried fried rice, sweet and sour chicken, shrimp rice rolls, my favorite sesame balls, and even cuttle fish...that one presented some problems when we found pieces still in his mouth a half hour later while staring up at the Chinese lanterns in the gift shop across the way. But it didn't bother him a bit.

Some friends in the neighborhood had a baby recently and invited us over for a highly-anticipated Lebanese meal. Her mom is visiting FROM LEBANON, and prepared the most amazing meal for us (I adore Lebanese, and rarely find access to good stuff here -- sis often treats me with goodies from T-town where they have lots of great options). So last night he tried (forgive my butchered spelling please!) kibbi, tabouli, hummus, and a couple other delicious dishes I don't remember the names of.

It's hard to say what is most entertaining - his excitement over the various things that hit his tongue, or watching others watch him. Regardless, I love that he is such an easy eater and hope some of this sticks with him for the long haul...

Ben's Crawling!

Without further ado, Ben's crawling! 

I had some technical difficulties so I didn't capture the first few times when he was moving with (relative) ease and enjoying it, he's pretty pooped out in this video but exciting nevertheless.

AND Ben ate scrambled eggs for breakfast, and loved them. I read later that he really isn't supposed to eat egg whites until he's a little older b/c of potential for allergies. Anyone have a baby react badly to them? He seems fine so I'm not too concerned. 

He also tried a little of hubby's juice today and ate some chicken. I can't contain my excitement. Thankfully this experimentation mainly happens on the weekends, otherwise I'd have him on lobster by Wednesday at this rate. 

The time change continued to confuse all of us throughout the day but the extra hour keeps on giving. 

Finally, a big huge THANK YOU to hubby who took me out last night to party like a rock star, then took monitor duty and woke up with the little camper this morning so I could recover (boy, it's much more fun while it's happening than it is the next day). We had such a great night out on the town!