New Year, New Habits

We had some great meals this past week and we've made quite a bit of progress in getting Charlie to try new foods. In the past, I've flopped back and forth between making a separate meal (if you can call popping chicken nuggets in the microwave a "meal") for the boys and making them eat what Chris and I are eating. Lately, I've gotten really tired of doing this. It's so frustrating to make a meal that I am so excited to eat only to have my kids refuse it.

Well, it's a new year and we're all working on some new habits. Each night this week, instead of popping nuggets, PB&J or a bowl of cereal in front of the boys, they have gotten a plate (or bowl) full of whatever meal was on the menu. Dinner time has not been the most pleasant time of day (not that I could say it ever really was), but I think the end result of this change will be well worth all of the tears along the way.

And there have been many tears this week! There have also been many threats of bedtime (even some trips to the bedroom to put jammies on), trips back and forth to the timer in the kitchen, and much pleading and bribing. On Monday night, when a plate of tilapia, couscous and green beans was placed in front of Isaac, he actually threw it on the floor! Chris put him in bed, I prepared another plate for him and we put him right back at the table with his dinner. Surprise, surprise! He actually ate some of the fish and couscous! He also devoured his Coconut Crusted Chicken Strips (which were absolutely amazing and will definitely be on our menu again). Charlie didn't do too well with the fish but we made progress with Cran-Apple Turkey Skillet and Crockpot Beef & Barley Soup - he liked both and actually cleared his plate when we had the turkey skillet.

Our struggle with Charlie has been more of a battle of wills than a struggle with him not liking foods. Even when he likes something, it is SO HARD for him to admit it. He would rather cry and pretend to gag (we've gotten pretty good at being able to tell the difference between a real gag and a fake one) than admit that something he's tried isn't all that bad. And when he does admit it, he says it with such surprise in his voice!

The hardest part of this dinner time change has been having the patience to deal with the tears and tantrums. Some nights are better than others, but we're going to keep pushing through.

A few things have helped make this change a bit easier. Some of the meals on the menu were pretty out there in terms of foods that are typically considered "kid" foods - pea soup, fish, couscous - but in between those "out there" meals were more "kid-friendly" meals - homemade chicken nuggets and French toast. Charlie put up a stink because the nuggets didn't look like his normal nuggets, but the French toast was eaten without complaint.

Chris and I have developed a pretty decent tag-team system. Chris tends to be the "bad cop" whereas I get to be the "good cop" (for once!) but every once in a while, it works in our favor to switch those roles. The boys can tell that we're supporting each other and they won't be able to play one of us against the other.

Charlie is a fan of rewards so I've also created a sort of "star chart" for him. Every time he's tried a new food, we draw the food on the chart we created, write its name and include the date he tried it. Next to the name of the food, we put either a red x or a green check mark to indicate whether or not he liked the food. He loves to add things to his chart (although, so far this hasn't reduced his tears about trying foods) and loves showing it off even more.

Some nights, bribing has helped, too. Charlie loves games and got a few for Christmas. He knows that if he tries his dinners and eats them in a timely manner (we've had to set a timer a few times because he d.r.a.g.s. e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. o.u.t.), we will play a game or two of Uno Moo or Sequence for Kids or Memory before bed. This is a really special thing for him and having that reward to look forward to really helps.

I'm feeling pretty excited about the progress we've made in just one week. We went from having to feed Charlie bites of the food to him actually picking up his fork tonight and putting a piece of beef into his mouth with me only having to ask him once. He liked the beef (but did comment that the broth looked like slime on some of the pieces!) and ate a good amount of his dinner. I was so happy, I got teary-eyed! I'm actually looking forward to dinner time this coming week! I'll post a meal plan tomorrow night. ;)

Muffin Tin Meals

I think I'm becoming a muffin tin meal convert.

I started following Muffin Tin Mom a few weeks ago, thinking that the meals were very cute, but nothing I would ever have time (or be creative enough!) to do.

However...

As I mentioned the other night, Charlie is a very picky eater. He might be happy eating chicken nuggets, PB&J or mac & cheese all the time, but I get bored feeding it to him! I've been trying to come up with other creative lunches (any suggestions are welcome!) and I was also looking for something that might entice him to take a nap (an ongoing battle for about 2 months now). One afternoon, in hopes of getting him to stay in bed, I promised that I would have a special lunch ready for him when he woke up. When he did wake up that afternoon (woohoo!), I had a muffin tin meal ready to go and he was so excited!

I've been making Charlie a muffin tin meal once a week or so now. (It does take some time and creativity to put together and those are two things that I don't often have.) I've put together a few breakfasts and a few lunches and if Charlie has any leftovers, they end up as snacks later that day. I don't have any special tins, nor do I use special liners or toothpicks. I've been using a regular 6-muffin tin and Charlie loves it. He lights up when he sees his meal and he requests them often. He's even dug in my cupboard for the tin while I was still in bed and carried it into me with his breakfast request. My first tin was nothing special - just different items in the different holes. In putting together my past few tins, I've forced myself to get creative and it's been fun.

Last week, our theme of the week for school was stars so Charlie had a MTM with a large star PB&J, several small PB&J stars, cheese stars, apple stars, some yogurt with sprinkles and some of Isaac's puffs that were shaped liked stars.

This week, our shape of the week is stars (our theme is the sun), so I dug out my large star cookie cutter, my mini star cutter and a mini crescent moon cutter (to spice things up a bit). Today's MTM consisted of a large star turkey, cheese and hummus sandwich (he ate the WHOLE THING!), star and moon cucumbers (he tried them), star and moon cantaloupe pieces (ate almost all of them), blueberry yogurt (too full at lunch, so it became this afternoon's snack), one moon and one star brownie, and some goldfish (didn't want to give up any more of Isaac's puffs - they're expensive!).

It's been fun to come up with different foods to cut up and it's been nice using my cookie cutters for something other than sugar cookies! I can't wait to do a Halloween tin! I've been forcing myself to get creative and I'm enjoying it. Unfortunately, I was in a such a hurry to get lunch on the table for Chris and myself that I didn't get a chance to take any pictures today before Charlie started digging in (and it's too bad 'cause it was pretty cute!). I plan to with the next meal. :)

The Second Time Around

Honestly, I blame Charlie's pickiness when it comes to food on myself. He is giving me what I gave my parents. I was a horribly picky eater growing up. I lived off Spaghetti O's for years and didn't touch a salad until I went off to college. In a similar fashion, Master Charles' diet consists of chicken nuggets, PB&J and macaroni and cheese with an occasional grilled cheese thrown in for variety. I've attempted to introduce new foods, but he will Not Even Try Them. I can't even get him to keep the new foods on his plate, let alone into his mouth!

I'm learning to pick my battles with Charlie. I want meal-time to be an enjoyable time, not a fight to get food into his mouth. Charlie is small, but healthy. He eats fruit, an occasional slice of bell pepper and he gets his protein in the form of cheese, peanut butter and those damn chicken nuggets. He gets a daily multivitamin, as well, in an attempt to cover all of the bases. I occasionally try to trick him into trying a new food and was able to do so successfully today. Chris and I had turkey and cheese sandwiches for lunch; Charlie asked for a cheese sandwich with hummus (an odd food for such a picky eater to like, but hey, it's protein). While making Charlie's sandwich, I ripped up some turkey, hid it among the cheese slices and gave him his lunch. He devoured it and was shocked when I told him! Woohoo! I tried to pass some fish off as chicken nuggets at dinner tonight, but he didn't fall for that one.

When Charlie was a baby, he ate everything we fed him. But, we only fed him baby food. And, because he didn't have teeth until he was around 8 months old, I didn't start him on the chunkier baby foods, thinking that he couldn't eat it without teeth. I think the lack of chunky foods (and a HORRID gag reflex) factors in to his pickiness as well. He tends to not like different textures.

This time around, as with Charlie, I had planned to breastfeed. Because of Isaac's battle with RSV and pneumonia at 12 days old, I decided to breastfeed exclusively for 6 months to give him the full benefits of my milk and to hopefully give him a bit more of my immunity. I am so excited that I was (and still am) able to do so because I was devastated when my milk started to dry up when Charlie was around 4 months old. I cried when I had to give Charlie formula!**

I was nervous that delaying the introduction of solids would lead us down the same road as Charlie, but our doctor agreed with me and so far, so good. When I took Isaac in for his 6-month check-up, I was given the go-ahead to start solids. Our doctor told us only honey was off-limits and we could/should give him table food instead of baby food. She literally said to me, "Things are different the second time around."

And they have been different! Isaac is like a vulture every time we put food on his tray. It doesn't matter what the food is as long as he can get it into his hands and mouth as fast as he can. He's had peanut butter and jelly, toast, bagels, English muffins, eggs, fish, hamburger, buffalo!, chicken, turkey and cheese, frozen peas, bananas, melons.... anything we're eating, I give to him. And it's so much fun! It's amazing to watch how quickly his hand-to-mouth coordination is improving and to watch him learn to deal with the different textures of foods. That boy loves his food and is eating more than Charlie! Pretty soon, Isaac's going to be Charlie's "younger" brother, not his "little" brother!

**On a side note, I have nothing wrong with formula; it's just not what I wanted to do for my babies. When my milk dried up, I felt like I had failed my child. I wanted to breastfeed exclusively. Growing up, I watched my mother breastfeed my younger siblings and my best friend's mom was a lactation consultant, so I had breastfeeding pounded into my brain. I think breastfeeding is a wonderful and beautiful thing! Formula is expensive and what else can I use these things for?! :) Breastfeeding versus formula-feeding is a very hot topic. Everyone tends to think their own way is the only way, but really, whatever works for you and your family is the best way. I do feel that everyone should give breastfeeding a chance, but if it doesn't work for you, then find something else that does. What's important is that you find what makes you and your baby healthy and happy!