Tuesday 26 February 2013

It's time to EAT

Now that Ethan is no longer a baby (sniff), I thought I'd update on what he is eating now.  Basically he eats what we eat.  We eat healthy and whole (mostly) and so does he.

As you may or may not know, we started "Baby Led Weaning" when he was about 6-7 months old.  We reserved "pureed" foods for foods that are meant to be pureed (apple sauces, yogurt, mashed potatoes, etc).  And at the Grandma's houses when we weren't there ;)

I did fall into the "baby foods" trap - mum mums, breakfast bars, cookies.  And yes, he still gets some of those, but not very often.  Honestly he mostly just plays with them  or carries them around the house for 20 minutes until the dogs find it.

BREAKFAST

This used to be his smallest meal, but now it has expanded.  For example, this morning he had Chia Bread, toasted with an organic superfruit jam spread, bananas, peaches and manadarin oranges.  And half a yogurt.


SNACK

This is usually a small snack since he gets 8oz of homomilk before his nap.  He has a few animal cookies and apple slices.

LUNCH

Lunch is still "kid food" but nothing canned or boxed.  He has grilled cheese sandwiches, peanut butter sandwiches, leftovers from dinner the night before, etc....
Do you notice how he NEVER looks at the camera anymore when he is eating?  I think he's getting to know to turn away haha.

SNACK

Usually this will be cheese (gouda, cheddar) and some grapes or apples and goldfish crackers (nope we can't get rid of the "ish" because he just loves them....oh well, afterall he is a kid still!)

DINNER

Dinner is always what we eat - we just no longer cook with salt or heavy seasonings that contain salt and hot spice (however he does like a little heat in his meals!).  Last night I made rice pasta linguini with a homemade sundried tomato and garlic sauce (we dehydrate the tomatoes in the summer and freeze them to enjoy during the winter).  He loves this and eats 2 servings usually.... I also made a tomato and cucumber salad to go on the side.
Sorry not the best picture - it was one that I sent to Ryan since he was working :)  You get the idea

BEFORE BED SNACK

He always has yogurt before bed.  He enjoys it and it fills his tummy so he can get a decent sleep.  Especially since we are reducing the milk and adding yogurt to his diet.  Trust me though, he still drinks a lot of milk - about 2 - 2.5 cups a day.


I was also doing the "Fruit Pouches" because they are SO EASY for on the go and for a quick fruit fix, but then I read THIS DISGUSTING POST on jarred baby food - granted they are not in "jars" but the mixture of food is still in them, so I chucked whatever else I had in the house (Since they are expensive I only bought a couple a week).


He still has a bottle of milk before bed (we are reeeeeallly trying to eliminate the "bottle" but he won't drink anything but water out of a sippy cup).  I'm getting him in the habit of brushing his teeth after the bottle (rather than before), it's not his favorite, but I try to make it as "fun" as possible - singing songs, reading books etc..... so far it's been okay....but not great!  


Instead, I bought these cute pouches from SQUISHY SNACK PAK's that are reusable, and my thought was to make fruit/veggie smoothies for him.  I have been on the hunt for these for a little while (about 4 months) but they are always so expensive and shipping is atrocious.  Well after that article, I decided that I didn't care and shelled out the $30 for 6 pouches.  Now I just have to wait for them to arrive at my door step and we will be on our way to making fresh smoothies!

So that's our day regarding food - he eats a lot - and I mean a lot.  It feels as though everything I do revolves around food!  Whatever makes him happy :)


Where has the time gone?

Sorry it's been awhile... A loooong while since I have posted but things have been crazy around here!

Ethan is definitely a handful.... In a good way of course. He is very busy and is always doing something. Luckily when I have to do something, like prepare dinner, he is good with playing independently for a good 20 minutes.

Sleep is getting better too. He still naps once a day for 1.5 hours. He's now mostly sleeping through the night. We learned last night that snacks before bed are important!  He woke at 6am crying for milk, whereas the rest of the week he didn't wake until 8:30 for breakfast. He's almost 15 months old so we are getting there!
**update** that was short lived, we are back to one bottle in the early a.m. (between 5:30 and 6:30).  It's ok - especially since he will go back to sleep until 9am !

I've gone back to work... It's part time and hours are decent so I did not find the transition to be too bad. It gets hard when I work more than 2 days in a row on both Ethan and I. But I only have 5 more months to go because we are expecting our second baby at the beginning of August!

Because of this wonderful surprise we now have to rename the blog yet again.....I just have to think of something creative :) any suggestions???

I'm planning to update more regularly again.... making time to do so.  Things are finally settling back down and I foresee that I will have more time to blog - at least 2-3 times a week (let's hope!)

Here is how Ethan now smiles for the camera - as soon as I pull out the Nikon this is what he does! (iPhone still gets cute faces).


Honestly, he really is a cute toddler!