Toddler Eating Habits

To say I've been particular about Megan's eating habits would be an understatement. Many, including Nathan, would say I've been anal. Meg only ate all organic, whole grain foods with nothing artificial until she was 1. Then I loosened my hold and occasionally let her eat some processed food. Shocking I know. Between Nathan's family history of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, & diabetes, and the rising number of girls being treated for eating disorders as young as 8 who can blame me for trying to establish good eating habits early?

Then Megan hit 18 months and figured out she could have opinions about what she ate. My former great eater, the girl who ate clam chowder, broccoli, fish & black beans with glee, decided she would only eat bread, cheese, fruit, & yogurt. That's it. You can imagine how excited I was about this phase. So we had to put our theories about food into play - which has led to many fun filled nights at the dinner table. Shortly after Meg made this switch I got knocked up and was suddenly unable to eat most of what was considered normal cuisine in our home. The only things I could keep down where foods we rarely ate. Lots of simple starches and fast food. Add in some fun cravings and Meg has now developed a taste for junk. Fortunately, we've been able to keep the worst of it away from her. Although I do have to admit that after about 4 days of eating ice cream every night Megan has developed a love for it. Now every time we pass the local shop Meg tells me that she wants some ice cream. Oops!

Fortunately, Meg's stage of eating only a few foods didn't last long. She was still picky about what she'd eat, but we could always count on her eating a few basics. Well, recently Meg has decided that's too predictable. Lately there's hasn't been any pattern to what she'll eat. One day she'll devour a grilled cheese then refuse to eat it again for week. This week she has taken this unpredictability to another level. She has eaten 1.5 lbs of salmon (Yes, you read that right. She ate her portion Nathan's portion, then demanded more.), corn on the cob, broccoli, steak, & white potatoes. All foods she normally needs to be convinced to try let alone eat.

If anyone can make sense of a toddler's eating habits you need to write a book because you'll make millions. MILLIONS I tell you.

30!

Thursday was my 30th birthday. Yikes! 30 just sounds so old and just plain adult. Weird I know since I'm married with 1 and 3/4 kids, have a nice house in the suburbs with a big dog, a bachelors and a masters degree & a good career. But despite all that I didn't feel like a full fledged adult. But 30, wow there's just no escaping the adultness of 30. Why is it that some ages just sound old?

My mom surprised me and came down to babysit so Nathan and I could go out. On Thursday we went to the Melting Pot, a yummy fondue place. We had cheese and chocolate - skipping the meat course because the thought of raw meat sitting in front of me just grossed me out. It was sooo good. I'm drooling just thinking about the chocolate again. Have I mentioned it was good? Yum! Then we wandered to the Apple store and I got the new IPod Touch for my birthday present. I'm already loving it, although I think Nathan loves it even more than I do since I've had to remind him that it's mine and I get to play with the new toy first!

Friday my mom accompanied us to Megan's gymnastics class. About halfway through the class Megan looked out the window, saw Grammy and went running out the door. She refused to go back in unless Grammy came with her. Good thing the teachers have no problem with multiple adults accompanying each kid into class! While Meg took her nap mom painted the nursery a pretty green. She painted Megan's nursery in GA and wanted to do the same for newbie. Today, Nate and mom switched out furniture between the guest room and the nursery. Once we get another crib and the decorations up I'll post pictures of the nursery. I already love how it's turning out. Very pretty - green walls with white nursery furniture and yellow accents. Love it.

Then on Sat., mom watched Megan again so Nate and I could go out to see a comedy show at the Shadowbox Cabaret. It's an improv place with a rock n' roll band. Hilarious! The music was really great too. We loved it and if anyone needs ideas about a Christmas gift a Shadowbox Cabaret gift certificate and an offer to babysit would be heavenly. ;) Hint, hint

Madison County Fair

I took Megan to the Madison County Fair yesterday. I decided to take her to that one because several of my students from last year are in 4-H and we showing their animals there. Can I just say how funny it is when kids see their teachers outside school? They get this deer in headlights look. Like, "Oh My God! I can't believe they let a teacher outside school!" It just cracks me up. Anyway, I digress. Meg loved seeing all of the animals of course. We saw sheep, cows, pigs, bunnies, geese & ducks. After Meg got over the shock of hearing real animals moo, or baa she started doing back at them. So funny to see this girl in her stroller mooing back at the cows.

4th of July

We had a busy 4th of July. First we went to Hilliard's parade. All members of our family attended the parade including Cameron. Megan really liked the marching bands, and the fire trucks. She took great joy in pointing those things out. Cameron liked that there were other dogs around, although was frustrated that we wouldn't let him run free to play with them. The parade infringed on her nap time and boy did we pay for it. MELTDOWN CITY. Oh, the joys.

The good news was that once we put her down she slept for 3 1/2 hours. Oh yes, you read that right 3 1/2 hours. We had friends who were in town and stopped by to visit and Megan almost slept through their visit. When she woke up we, including our friends, were treated to.....Poop Fest 2009. Apparently, sometime during her nap my little stripper decided to take everything off - including her poopy diaper. And, well once it was off why not smear it a little? So when she finally woke up Nathan and I got to tag team. He stripped the bedding, & cleaned her crib while I hosed off the child and threw everything in the laundry. The truly funny thing was that we were just telling our childless friends how much fun parenthood was. I'm so happy Megan could provide them with such an accurate illustration of the JOYS OF PARENTHOOD!!!

After our friends left, we went to our church for their annual pig roast. We ended up having a pretty good time despite the rain. There was a mini petting zoo. Megan couldn't decide which animal she wanted to look at. She kept running back and forth between each cage talking to the animals. She loved them so much in fact, the next day after church she kept pointing to the spot in the parking lot where the petting zoo was and telling me she wanted to see the animals. "Mama, I want see sheep." I finally had to tell her the animals had to go home to take a nap (one of my little tricks when coercing her to do something) because she was getting so upset when she thought I wasn't letting her see the animals.

Megan & Daddy showing off Megan's entry into the coloring contest.

Meg & I after she got a sun painted on her face. It was pretty good considering she kept moving her head.

Here's Megan gazing lovingly at the camel.

We were hoping to take her to the fireworks, but it just didn't happen. 1. It was raining and we weren't sure they were even going to have the fireworks, 2. Despite her long nap Meg was getting really crabby and keeping her up for 3 more hours just didn't seem all that appealing and 3. IF they did have fireworks we were afraid they'd keep pushing back the time and given 1 & 2, well let's just say we decided it's wasn't worth the effort. Instead we stopped for ice cream on the way home. Here's the proof I'm not depriving my child of one of the joys of summer.

Newbie

Here's newbie. And to answer the questions I'm getting just about every time I'm out - I still have 2 months left. Yes, I am big and No, it's not twins.


Well, with all of the posting about Megan I've been neglecting updating about newbie. Being the excellent mom that I am I must try to stop the sibling rivalry before it starts. So here's newbie's news.





I'm now going every 2 weeks to the doctor which means the end is quickly coming. At my apt. on Thurs. newbie has turned himself/herself breech. At the last doctor's apt. newbie was laying face up with his/her head by my left hip bone and the butt my my right hip bone. In 2 short weeks newbie decided to sit up and turn around. So now his/her head is up by my ribs on my right side looking at my left side and the butt is still on my right hip bone. Have I mentioned how much newbie likes to move? Defiantly more than Megan did. The doctor assured me there is still time more newbie to get in the correct position and judging by the amount of movement I've been feeling just in the past few days he/she is defiantly changing positions yet again.

Swim Lessons & Gymnastics

I signed Megan up for swim lessons and a gymnastics class in an effort to battle boredom for both of us this summer. As expected Megan LOVES both classes. Because Meg is only 2, I have to accompany her into both classes. I must admit it's kind of funny seeing me chase after Megan with my ginormous tummy.

The swim lessons consisted of only 4 sessions and was more about getting used to the idea of swimming; blowing bubbles, kicking, jumping into the pool, etc.. In the very first class, all of the other kids were either screaming or holding tight to their mommies and Megan was, well, being Megan. She was yelling, "I do it myself!" and "Mama, put me down!" That's right, my daughter, Miss Independent, decided that despite the water being 4 feet deep and over her head she would rather drown than suffer the indignity of being held by me. Thankfully, they had platforms that they put in the pool so she COULD do it herself. The instructor was laughing at how independent Megan insisted on being. Overall, she did a great job. Blowing bubbles proved to be a little difficult. More often than not she would end up trying to drinking the water. Squirting me with the squirt toys proved to be her favorite part.

Gymnastics class is still going strong. It's a great, very age appropriate class that has structured time and free play. They class is truly built with toddlers in mind. The instructors don't mind when the kids run off or refuse to try a new skill. Which is wonderful because Megan is usually the one who is running away telling me, "I do it myself." Hmmm....I'm sensing a theme here. The first 15 mins. or so we sing and and practice large motor skills like jumping, running or skipping. The next 25 mins. the kids have free play. Basically the parents follow their child and prevent them from killing themselves. Honestly, some days this is harder than others with my little dare devil. During this time, the instructor introduces the skills of the day which are things like rolls, swinging from the bars or walking on the balance beam and the kids are free to try them at their leisure. It should come as no surprise that Megan is pretty coordinated. She can do forward rolls by herself, which she does so over and over and over again. to the point of making herself dizzy. It's actually pretty funny to see her stumble around for a few seconds. She can walk on the balance beam with very little help, and loves to swing from the bars. I literally had to pry her off today so someone else could have a turn. Then the last 10 mins. involve balls and bubbles. We sing a final song and leave with a stamp or 4. Today, Megan was able to con the teacher into giving her a stamp on each and and on each foot. Have I mentioned she is a little con artist?