Judah likes food!

Judah is not a picky eater. He is a picky drinker.
Micah didn't like cold drinks at first, but he transitioned pretty smoothly in the end.
Judah prefers his milk warm. He will drink it cold, and more so if he is thirsty while he is eating food, but he is pretty particular about the warm milk.
Not so with food. I'm not sure if he has tried anything he has not eaten. Again, this is opposite of Micah. If it does not look or sound familiar to Micah, he is unlikely to even try it. If it is edible (or not, actually), Judah with likely eat it.
Since he hasn't been that picky with food, I don't know that it's been as obvious when he really likes something. I mean, he will eat it a little faster, but we were recently given some baby "cookies" and we definitely got the biggest reaction for food that we have gotten from Judah.

 Eager anticipation.

 It's getting closer...

 Pure enjoyment, with eyes that smile...

What?

Green Stuff

I have recently found the best, most efficient way I know how to get green stuff into Micah's diet. I find it easy to get into ruts with what he is eating...sometimes it's just easier to fall back on things that he is familiar with, he is asking for, and that are easy to prepare. A new one of these "fallbacks" for me is a "green smoothie." It doesn't look good, so don't decide whether you want to try it based on looks. I don't really have a specific recipe that I follow, but we got a new blender recently when our old one broke and it works so much better at actually blender. Imagine that! Needless to say, I find it easier to throw a few things in and give Micah a drink for a snack. And he loves them. To be honest, they are actually really good.
I started with this recipe, and then I started making my own alterations based on what I had on hand and what seemed like it might be good...
So, here's what I do...
Take some frozen fruit (either fruit that I froze or out of a bag that I bought) whether it is just one fruit, like strawberries, or a mixture of a bunch of fruit doesn't really matter. Sometimes I add fresh fruit too, but the frozen helps the drink to be more smoothie-like without just adding a bunch of ice and watering it down.
Add some liquid: juice (sometimes frozen concentrate, sometimes juice that was in canned fruit that I didn't need, etc), or water, or milk, or yogurt, whatever floats your boat and maybe whatever goes good with the fruit that was added.
Then add spinach. I've used fresh and frozen and definitely think the fresh works better in the smoothies. I add a bunch. A bunch like a LOT, not like a little "bunch" that fills my hand.
I try to make it so that each "serving" I give Micah has close to a cup of spinach! The spinach doesn't really have much flavor, so it definitely changes the look of the smoothies, but not so much the taste. And the yogurt or milk usually tones down the flavor (and color) even more if that is what you choose to add.
So, I don't have exact measurements, I do it a little different every time, and sometimes we drink them with Micah...but all in all it is a very healthy snack and a great way to get some green veggies in his diet at a time in his life where he is quite picky about the food he eats and what it looks like...

Pure Enjoyment

I think someone was enjoying his time with his chocolate chip cookies. I think he did actually get some in his mouth, although it doesn't really look like it...

Friday's Fave Five: July 30

It's been a good week! It's flown by fast! The weather has cooled off a tiny bit so it is a little bit more bearable around here. And I just really enjoy my boys and my life!! Here are my favorite parts of the week, linked up over on Susanne's blog.

1. Food. I enjoy food, especially good food. Last night my husband made homemade guacamole and it was delicious. And we munched on this while the ribs he was making were doing their thing in the cooking process. So then we enjoyed some great ribs. And to finish off the night we had some amazing strawberry shortcake!! What a great night of food. Our only night without something planned and it was nice to eat good food and have some time to enjoy it!

2. Toddler Bed. It's official. Micah stayed in his toddler bed all night! We will have to try a few more nights, but once it seems like it is fully working out, I am excited to move Judah into the crib. My little men are growing up.

3. Independence. Micah slept all night in his toddler bed and I think this made him feel older or something because then when playing outside this morning he figured out how to get up onto his slide and slide down it all by himself. And he also figured out how to get out of the front gate of our yard! When I came Home from a meeting he opened the gate and said "walk" and started motoring down the sidewalk!

4. Family. My hubby was away for a few days last week and it was so nice to be able to take my boys just a short trip down the road to stay with my parents, giving me a bit of help with entertaining and watching them for those couple days. Nice to have some family close enough to do that!

 (The trip out was a little exhausting)

5. Brotherly Love. Micah loves to love on Judah and Judah is a champ about being squeezed and rolled around and slobbered on and such. The first thing Micah says when he seems him is "DORY!!" and the next is "HUG!" and it is so cute. Can't wait for them to start playing together.

Bonus: Micah found a new way to have fun with stickers this week.

Yeah, it's been a good week!

Letting is slide... no more...

For a while I feel like I got into a food slump.
Feeding the same easy foods to my toddler, knowing he would like and eat them.
Knowing it wouldn't be a battle I would have to deal with as he spits out food, or won't even taste a bite of food that doesn't look familiar, and then be angry and hungry when I don't offer him an alternative.
But I decided this needed to change. He is 15 months, he should be eating more of what we are eating, and I should be trying more new foods, textures, flavors, etc. with him.
So we have been. Dinner has been early (for us), together, and has been (surprisingly) a good experience. He never ceases to amaze me.
We have had quiche and chicken enchiladas (still food that was brought to us after the new baby arrived) and this morning we had eggs for breakfast. He has tried them all, has been eating with us, and has totally surprised me at his willingness to eat new foods. I thought it would be a big battle each night (which isn't fun at the end of a long day), but we are blessed, and our little Micah is quickly becoming a big boy!

Camera Found, Lots of Updates!

So, our camera was lost for a while. Coulda been anywhere...it was behind a couch...good to move furniture once in a while...now lots to update about...
Some things that don't involved the camera:
Micah has a mouthful of teeth right now. I think he has 10 fully through (including 2 molars) and 2 eye teeth partially through, with about 3-4 more swollen and on the verge of emerging...but no complaining!
Micah has begun to try and repeat more of the words we say (except Daddy, since he insists on calling him Matt, which I'm sure is my fault!) and has started trying to sing songs along with us.
He is walking great, getting some good speed at times, almost making it look like he wants to run.
Micah loves throwing away his own diapers in the trash, he listens when we tell him not to go upstairs, he makes lots of silly faces, he has a hilarious fake laugh and an even better belly laugh!
And for the pictures that were missing...
Micah loves, loves, loves bananas. He has eaten them since the beginning. Not too long ago I started cutting them up and letting him feed himself. This works great, unless he is in a playful experimental mood and chooses to find out what all he can do with them. Mainly squeezing...Now he will actually just take the whole banana and walk around with it feeding himself out of the peel just like I would eat one. What a grown-up!

 

Then we started trying out other foods that he could feed himself/occupy himself with. He has enjoyed carrots, especially holding one piece in each hand and walking around with them while gradually gnawing on them. And even better is if we leave some dip out and he can work his way back to the dip whenever he is ready.

 

 

And then with all the snow we have had this year (SO unusual here!) it has allowed Micah time and separate opportunities to gradually get used to it. From not wanting to be out in it, to being skeptical about touching it, to eventually eating it and laying in it!

 

Not really ok with this stuff at all! Get me back inside!

More ok with being outside in the snow this time, but still not so sure about actually touching it.

 

And after the third big snow, he is all about it! Eating it, laying in it, playing in it!

 

SO glad we found the camera! What a cutie! And I can only imagine what a great big brother he is going to be!

A Win

Now that's an adorable kid. With an adorable smile!
But that's not the adorable smile I have gotten to see much this week...
This week has been a battle between my son's new-found defiance and my patience. And most of the week, I have felt like a loser with a capital L!
When my son wakes up happy he talks a lot and hangs out very easily by himself in his crib. This week he mostly just starts crying when he wakes. Not fun.
When my son enjoys life he plays very well both by himself and with others. And can do this for hours at a time before getting bored and/or tired.
When my son is hungry he gets clingy and then eagerly eats his food with a wide open mouth for every bite snd various excited noises after each bite.
When my son naps well he can easily be placed in his crib sitting and awake before he gathers his blankets and sleeps soundly for 2 hours easily. Often more than once a day.
But this hasn't been our past week. He has been refusing new foods, refusing unfamiliar foods, and even refusing foods that he normally greatly enjoys. If it is not his favorite his has been putting up a fight, throwing a tantrum and going hungry.
You see, you may not agree with this, but I firmly believe that if he is hungry enough he will eat. And if he is willing to refuse a food, he is just trying to get his way on his terms. What usually happens at this point is that he starts crying hard, sometimes throwing things, acting angry and defiant. And the next thing that happens is that I take him to his crib so he can deal with it on his own. And he seems to be ok with this, often just falling asleep for an hour or so. Sometimes he would wake happy, but often not. Either way, I would only offer the same food again. And again and again, until he would get hungry enough that he would give in and eat the food. And then life would start to seem normal again.
Long, angry days filled with lots of crying and sadness and little food...
Until today.
Today was great! He slept in late, woke up happy, ate a great breakfast, was great during all of our errands, took a long nap, woke happy, ate another great meal....and so went the best day we've had all week! He had great awake time, he willing tried new foods and ate everything we gave him on the first try. He had two great naps, and I don't think he ever cried today!
There's a part of me that feels like today was a 'win' for us in this battle. I don't want to think that way, and don't want everyday to feel like a battle, but today was good, and hopefully this is the pattern that continues. A fun-loving, gentle, compliant, adorable little boy. I know that's a lot to ask for, so that's why I'm praying for it!

Learning to eat cereal

For about 2 weeks we have been attempting to feed Micah some cereal. Started with some very bad attempts followed by learning to be OK with the spoon, followed by more attempts to eat cereal again. Here are the past two days of learning how to eat cereal with a spoon.