It's Easy to Eat Your Weight In Something When You Don't Weight Anything
I just watched from the upstairs landing as a naked Alden had a conversation with the pizza delivery woman. He gestured to me at the top of the stairs and said, "That's Jillian." And then when she left he yelled a cheery, "Bye man!"
Today we took Elliot for his DTap and Rotovirus vaccines (By the way, the sugar water trick worked shockingly well). He's nearly eight months old. We learned that he's topped 20 pounds now, which puts him within five pounds of his 2.5-year-old brother. Alden was a big baby too. I need to dig out his records and find out when he fell off the cliff.
Alden, as I have mentioned to TravelLight, has broken me when it comes to food. For the first year of his life I had a solid list of standards from which I would not deviate. I was not afraid to send a stubborn kid to bed hungry. And then he stopped gaining weight.
At one point in his life Alden was up in the 90th percentile. I don't put a lot of stock in things like percentiles. Until my kid is in the 50th for height but 10th for weight.
Now I'm all, "Crackers? Those have calories. You bet!" If he wants to eat seven breakfast bars through the day, he can do that. Ovaltine? Sure. Pizza used to be a great go-to food. Then he started picking off the toppings. Now he picks off the cheese too. His idea of a great meal is bread and water. Seriously. Heaven help you if you try to put the thinnest slick of butter or peanut butter or Nutella on that bread. Then it's "dirty." He does like French fries, because he is not a communist.
He'll eat a few bites of ice cream. He likes cheese, but only shredded. No milk (unless spiked with Ovaltine). No yogurt.
He's a big fan of donuts (meaning he will eat between half of one and a whole one) but I'm not broken that badly just yet. He LOVES coffee, but that doesn't help me. He will still eat his weight in pickled okra.
I'm frustrated, but not freaked out.
I was, by a large margin, the smallest kid in my class. Damon was a skinny little kid. In the long run his reedy body type will serve him well. As will his admiration of healthful but low-calorie foods like tofu and beans. Our pediatrician also pointed out that Alden is ACTIVE, and that means he's not holding on to calories like more sedentary children. My kid has the excellent fortune of a super-active Daddy who takes him to the park and the zoo every week. Who wrestles and runs and dances and tumbles with him.
So we have switched back to full-fat milk for that Ovaltine. And we've moved from 90% water and 10% juice to something more like 50/50. We offer snacks continually. And otherwise we're not going to worry about. I'm not going to beg him to eat. I'm not going to make it a power struggle. I tell him it makes me feel good when he eats the food I made for him. And if he doesn't want to eat it I tell him that's fine.
If anyone has any thoughts on delicious, high-calorie, healthy foods I would love to hear them. He won't eat avocado either. Maybe he is a communist.
Today we took Elliot for his DTap and Rotovirus vaccines (By the way, the sugar water trick worked shockingly well). He's nearly eight months old. We learned that he's topped 20 pounds now, which puts him within five pounds of his 2.5-year-old brother. Alden was a big baby too. I need to dig out his records and find out when he fell off the cliff.
Alden, as I have mentioned to TravelLight, has broken me when it comes to food. For the first year of his life I had a solid list of standards from which I would not deviate. I was not afraid to send a stubborn kid to bed hungry. And then he stopped gaining weight.
At one point in his life Alden was up in the 90th percentile. I don't put a lot of stock in things like percentiles. Until my kid is in the 50th for height but 10th for weight.
Now I'm all, "Crackers? Those have calories. You bet!" If he wants to eat seven breakfast bars through the day, he can do that. Ovaltine? Sure. Pizza used to be a great go-to food. Then he started picking off the toppings. Now he picks off the cheese too. His idea of a great meal is bread and water. Seriously. Heaven help you if you try to put the thinnest slick of butter or peanut butter or Nutella on that bread. Then it's "dirty." He does like French fries, because he is not a communist.
He'll eat a few bites of ice cream. He likes cheese, but only shredded. No milk (unless spiked with Ovaltine). No yogurt.
He's a big fan of donuts (meaning he will eat between half of one and a whole one) but I'm not broken that badly just yet. He LOVES coffee, but that doesn't help me. He will still eat his weight in pickled okra.
I'm frustrated, but not freaked out.
I was, by a large margin, the smallest kid in my class. Damon was a skinny little kid. In the long run his reedy body type will serve him well. As will his admiration of healthful but low-calorie foods like tofu and beans. Our pediatrician also pointed out that Alden is ACTIVE, and that means he's not holding on to calories like more sedentary children. My kid has the excellent fortune of a super-active Daddy who takes him to the park and the zoo every week. Who wrestles and runs and dances and tumbles with him.
So we have switched back to full-fat milk for that Ovaltine. And we've moved from 90% water and 10% juice to something more like 50/50. We offer snacks continually. And otherwise we're not going to worry about. I'm not going to beg him to eat. I'm not going to make it a power struggle. I tell him it makes me feel good when he eats the food I made for him. And if he doesn't want to eat it I tell him that's fine.
If anyone has any thoughts on delicious, high-calorie, healthy foods I would love to hear them. He won't eat avocado either. Maybe he is a communist.