I was totally committed to making Sam's baby food, steaming...boiling...roasting...pureeing. Cody and I did it almost every Sunday. I did not want the child who ate only the big 5: hot dog, macaroni, chicken nugget, fries and fish crackers. I even bought a baby food book with recipes. The intro to the book described how this would be a integral part of creating a "good eater" with a huge repertoire of healthy foods that they would eat. I was on a roll. Sam would eat anything, even broccoli! Then, the stomach bug hit last fall. Sam refused food for about 10 days and at relatively the same time realized he could spit food out of his mouth. Yeah.
And, while he is still really a "good eater" by most standard of picky toddlers, vegetable have not been easy at all. Sweet potatoes, once a favorite-rejected. Peas, forget it! No greens beans. NO SQUASH. NO CARROTS! NOTHING!
Very frustrating, my dreams of a toddler with healthy eating habits were slowly making there way out the door ~until his obsession with "help cooking". Now, Sam sits on the counter with us while we cook breakfast, lunch and dinner. When he is cooking, he wants to know what everything is and asks to "twyyy it!" So far the big hits have been: raw carrots, cucumbers, and green peppers!!! Now, I can put them on his plate for meals and he eats them with gusto. He even tried mushrooms a few times. He chews them up, but always spits them out right before he goes to swallow. Not sure what this is all about, but whatever.
Cruising over that veggie hurdle makes my heart soar with pride (and relief). Food drama with kids is no fun. I watched many parents at work fret and fuss over their toddlers poor eating habits and I really, really didn't want to be one of them. I love food. Cody loves food. Both our families love food. I can't imagine not passing on a healthy love for all the tasty varieties of pure goodness out there. With luck, maybe my Cuisinart paid off.
4 comments:
Good for you! His love for veggies now will no doubt make him a healthier eater throughout life.
Congrats! It is great to have a child that eats veggies. Liam also looks to eat raw veggies while I cut them for dinner. I hear of so many kids that only eat chicken and fries. I love that Liam has eaten fries less than 10 times in his whole life.
Keira will probably be my picky eater. :)
I don't know what it is, but I still think Sam looks like you. He is so cute!!
I meant to type "likes" not "looks". I'm tired.
Good job!
Jake was a great eater as a baby, but then he got picky. Then he loved everything, then he got picky. I think a lot of it is "control". If he knows I want him to do/eat something, he doesn't want to do/eat it. Such a pain!!
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