Bread

He's eating sliced bread again. It's been months since he's tolerated a simple slice of bread. His typical reaction involves face contortion and spitting sounds similar to those he makes when done brushing his teeth. But a couple days ago he stole bread off the counter while I was making French toast and he ate it. It makes me happy. Although it's not a new food, it's a good food. 

Lunch derailed

Today Clark's buddy was over for a play date. We fed them taquitos, cheese, and chips for lunch. Clark only ate chips. When his were gone he asked for more. The next thing I know he's got the whole container of chips in his hands and is stuffing his face. He continued to hold the chips container deerly for the next 45 minutes of play. He ate no taquitos and no cheese. It's so frustrating. 

It's 11:49 pm and he's throwing a tantrum in his room. It's rare that he wakes up in the night, but he's been doing it more lately. He's teething. Getting those big mollers. I can't help but wonder if he is starving and that's why he woke up and why everything we've done to try to help hasn't helped. He's totally irrational and we are so tired. 

The good and the bad

A few weeks ago we went to Costco only to find out that they stopped carrying our beloved chicken taquitos. To date, they are the only prepared food (aside from cereal and milk) that clark eats that has combined foods (tortilla and chicken in one bite). I knew this day would come sometime. We walked out of the store less one of only a few reliable foods. 

This week we found them (the right brand) in our neighborhood grocery store. In some ways I feel relieved. In others I am unsure if we should go back to that crutch or just continue to move on. 

 

Wish us luck. 

He ate home cooked French fries!!!

This is HUGE! I made homemade French fries for lunch and he ATE them!!! French fries are one of his all time favorite foods. They're one of the only foods I know he will eat no matter where we are. Except for at home. I've made several attempts at offering roasted potatoes with relatively little luck. This is huge!

Here's how I made them:

 

Clean and poke 2 potatoes. Nuke them in the microwave for 2 minutes. Use a knife to cut off the bad parts (if any) and peel the skins. The cut the potatoes in half and slice the halves into skinny French fries. Heat about 2tbs of sunflower oil in a pan. Once oil is heated, put in the fries. Stir frequently until they are golden brown. 

Rejoice that they don't have any additives and preservatives. (I don't recommend looking at the ingredient list for FF on Wendy's website.) 

And we will try these again tomorrow. And the next day. And the next. To make sure they stick. I still don't believe he'll eat them again. I'll believe it when I see it. 

My Kid is a Picky Eater

I'm not a writer. I'm a mom. I've had other titles before, but now I'm a full-time mom. I love it, but it has some serious challenges and I just can't gloss over them as many moms do. I have a two year old boy and a 9 month girl. They are my world. In the two years I've spent with them, I've learned more about life, love, and myself than I did during my previous 30 years. So this blog is dedicated to those lessons I've learned and the challenges I have experienced as a mom.

Quite frankly, I'm trying to not talk about the issues and challenges I face with my kids when they are around.  I just don't think it's good for them to hear me say things like, "C sucks at sharing," or "this kid has been a little sh*t for the past two days!" This means that I pretty much have about an hour a day to say what's on my mind about these things. I think I need another place to vent, so here we are.

My biggest challenge is that my two year old is a picky picky eater. Like SO picky. You'll see what I mean. I don't have many answers (or any for that matter), but I want to explore this aspect of my parenting. My pediatrician keeps telling me to have a long term perspective and to be assured that he will eat well someday. From my experience, the patience she is suggesting is the kind achieved by a turtle. I understand that someday he'll mature and will understand that food isn't scary, and it's enjoyable, and that I'm not trying to dominate him by expecting him to eat. I just know we have a problem right now. And usually people do things about problems. And often problems left unchecked turn into huge problems that are harder to fix. It's hard to just sit back and to continue serving "dino nuggets" day after day without feeling like I am reinforcing the problem and am just as much a part of it as my kid is. I want to change.

That said, I think there are probably a few more things that I can do to teach my child to eat. And so, I'm looking for new strategies, resources, and ideas. And I'm venting a little bit along the way.