Captain Adorable knows his colors! He learned them in the space of 5-7 days. I guess he was ready. I love it when he says yellow (yeh-yo). He points out the color of everything he sees now. Sooo sweet! A joy for me.
On Wednesday we had our friends over--a boy who is 2 days younger than Capt. Adorable and his mother. They came over at 10, or was it 10:30, for some play time and some lunch. Captain Adorable does not know the boy very well, but we've had a few playdates now, so he is certainly not a stranger. I was quite embarrassed (and lost my temper a bit) because Capt. Adorable just kept hitting the boy! He hit him with his hand, with various toys, and even with the container that we keep the toys in! Fortunately I do not think he hurt the other boy (no crying) but I was shocked and, as I mentioned before, embarrassed. My mom pointed out, when I moaned to her about it, that Captain Adorable is a pretty physical guy--he plays rough and tumble with a 4 year old friend (Ms. Resourceful's son) and a 3 year old friend (Ms. Breadwinner's oldest son). That made me feel a bit better... The boy's mother sent me a sweet thank-you email so I think she is not holding it against us. I hope we have another play date. Maybe with more planned activities...
Captain Adorable does not eat as much as I would like. I make him the same food that I/we eat. I put it on his plate (he gets to pick the plate he uses from a selection of 3 lovely plates that my Mom bought him--a bluebird, a chicken, or a group of rabbits) in an attractive manner, all cut into perfect little bite-sized pieces. More often than I care to think about, it all or mostly ends up on the floor. :( I have seen him go to town and really eat a big meal, but I would like it if he would eat consistently everyday, instead of often almost nothing, often halfway decent, and sometimes very well. I want my little one to have some more meat on his bones!
Today I was super discouraged and sad after the super yummy oatmeal I made him for breakfast was rejected, but when we were in the grocery store there were organic orange pieces and organic apple cider samples and he ate and drank them, so I felt a little better. Then I decided to make him popcorn for lunch (I bought some organic pop corn while we were at the store and he was all excited about it, so I thought, yeah, lunch...). I know, not very nutritious, sigh. I gave him a bowl with about 2 cups of popped corn and put a tablespoon of melted butter on it, then added about a teaspoon of nutritional yeast and a teensy bit of salt. He ate with gusto! He even asked for more!! I put another 2 cups or so of popped corn in his bowl, and melted another tablespoon of butter for him. (My popcorn was plain.) I did not add more nutritional yeast since his bowl was pretty yeasty already. He threw it on the floor, but he put most of it back in his bowl and continued to eat, so I was not complaining. I heated up left0ver cream-of-corn soup (yeah Vita-Mix) and put some of that in his cup (did I blog about that already?) and he had a few sips! Then I got the idea to give him a spoon with sunflower seed butter (from here on I will call it sunbutter). He ate 3 spoonfuls! I was quite a happy mama!
Later on, my friend Steadyhands came by for tea (while Captain Adorable napped) and brought lemon pound cake! Nummers! When Captain Adorable woke up, I offered him some (I know, not very nutritious) and he ate a slice and a half! Yay!
So, I was almost at the desperation stage this morning with the oatmeal and here at the end of the day I feel satisfied with his food intake for the day. Thank goodness. Some of the mamas who post on MotheringDotCommunity suggested that I prepare a food tray for him that I leave out all day so he can decide what and when he eats. This is a great idea and I am going to give it a try. I will update if it goes well.
3 comments:
I know it's hard to judge what your little one is eating. I do the same thing with my daughter now and she's almost five (and she only weighs 38 pounds)! My doctor has told me several times that her eating habits are normal--one day she eats everything you put in front of her and the next day she eats next to nothing. He says young children can, in a single day, intake the calories, fat, nutrients, etc. that they need to last up to two days, thus, the strange on-again, off-again eating habits.
Just wanted to share. I know what it's like to wonder if your child is getting what they need!
Try not to worry. You offer him great foods to choose from. I have read many times that you should judge their diet on what they eat in a week, not in a day.
Also, my kids are a little wierd I guess, but I found the more food I put in front of them, the less they ate. If I put the whole dinner out on the plate for them, I would guess somewhere between 50-90% ends up on the floor, but if I just put a few pieces at a time, a lot more makes it into the tummy. I think they get overwhelmed with choices. Just a thought!
My LO is the exact same! Also, he is not a good drinker, either. It drives me crazy as I think about it constantly!
Your a good momma!
Post a Comment