After Henry woke up at 8AM (instead of his usual 6:30AM), I decided to forgo his usual oatmeal for breakfast and try giving him yogurt for probably the 10th time. When Henry first had yogurt at about 8 months old, he did okay. Back then I started him with Trader Joe's Plain Greek Yogurt, hoping that he wouldn't get used to having sweetened yogurt. After a couple of months, Greek yogurt was a firm "no!". Knowing that it can take 15 times for a child to like a new food, I kept at it. Instead of the Trader Joe's yogurt, which was full-fat, and therefore preferable for children under age 2, I decided to go with the Chobani 2% Greek Yogurt with pineapple. Yes, I'd given up my hope of him eating the plain yogurt (for now!), but I was not quite willing to give up the Greek yogurt since it has more protein and less sugar than regular yogurt.
The yogurt experience started out the same. A firm headshake, a mumbled "no", and an arm swatting my spoon away. But then I decided to let Henry take the spoon himself. The next thing I knew, he was eating the yogurt! I ended up with a pretty messy boy, but a boy who had just consumed 13 grams of protein and 150 milligrams of calcium - my morning was a success!
After breakfast, we headed to playgroup. I'd love to forget that there he had a small piece of Entenmann's Chocolate Chip Crumb Loaf Cake, but it was there, he wanted it, and I let him have it (plus he was already grabbing it from his friend). Since Henry decided to fall asleep in the car on the way home, and then continue to sleep for 3.5 hours in his crib, he did not eat lunch until 3:20PM. Henry typically likes a whole wheat tortilla with salsa and melted cheese, so I decided I would sneak some extra veggies in there for added nutrition. In with the muenster cheese and salsa went a couple of chopped up black olives, a chopped mushroom, a small handful of canned corn, and a small handful of pinto beans. I threw it in the microwave for 30 seconds, and voila!
I'm not sure if it's just that Henry was starving, but he ate almost the entire tortilla - another successful meal.
I was on a roll. Dinner was going to be some beef stew that my mom had given us the day before. I had tasted the veggies from it (I'm a vegetarian, but eat things cooked with meat), and it was delicious! I put Henry in is highchair and giddily put the pieces of beef, potato, and carrot in front of him. I watched him eat a piece of beef - he was doing great. I turned around to microwave a few pieces of frozen cauliflower to add to his meal, and suddenly even more beef was gone. He was loving it! I was a bit sad when he no'd my cauliflower (he loved it last week!), but I was pleased with the stew. And then I saw it...my witty little boy was taking the pieces of beef and putting it in the seat of his highchair. Apparently dinner was not such a success. I followed up the stew with a 1/3 of a banana and 2 strawberries which he happily ate. At least he got in some good fruit for the day!
I should also mention that Henry is an avid milk-drinker. So if all else fails, I know that he is usually getting in 16 ounces of whole milk a day.
Happy and (mostly) healthy eating!
Good blog. My Anna is a very fussy eater she basically eats NO fruit and ZERO veggies. Sometimes I trick her by telling her that she is eating chicken when in fact its a veggie roll or soy meat. Lea is a much better eater. Anna needs your help.
ReplyDeletethe chobani for kids is awesome...if its a no berry day, we go for the chocolate/banana.....lol
ReplyDeleteLewon - Is a veggie roll actual veggies? Does she really eat it? I'll try to think of some tricks for Anna.
ReplyDeleteAnd Tamar - I just saw those Chobani for kids! Glad to hear they taste good :)