Picky Picky Experiment

I would like to go on the record and say that I have the pickiest toddler on the planet when it come to eating.  Austin's dinner in our house usually consists of Dinosaur Chicken Nuggets (Tysons), Annie's Macaroni & Cheese, breakfast for dinner, or PB&J.  On the nights we try to give him what we are eating, he refuses and typically eats nothing (I refuse to reinforce that he will get preferred foods after he refuses to try the foods put in front of him.  He gets his stubbornness from me).  Last night is just one of the few examples of parenting fails/frustrations from feeding Austin.  It was an all out battle of wills where Austin was given the ultimatum to try half a piece of cheese tortellini (drenched in butter) or to go to bed.  Needless to say, after an hour, we lost the battle of wills to our two year old son.  He went to bed hungry and we felt like terrible parents.

The sad part is that I know better than to get sucked into this battle.  In all my time working with kids as an occupational therapist (and even providing therapy to kids with feeding difficulties ie sensory, swallowing, behavior) you learn that you should never force kids to eat or turn eating into a negative experience.  If they say no or turn away from the food, you are supposed to let it go and move on.  Its through feeding times and play time that you should allow your child to explore their food (smell, texture, color, taste) but not force them to eat it.  Basically, the opposite of what we did. :-(

The last thing I want is for Austin is to think all meals are negative experiences.  So tonight, I stepped away from my frustration and tried to use my experience as an OT and my love of Pinterest to begin an experiment with Austin.  At 5:30 I made a "nibble tray" for Austin with a variety of bite sized, healthy foods.  On Pinterest, they are usually put in small compartments of muffin tins or ice cube trays.  Since we only have 2 ice cube trays (currently occupied) and 1 mini muffin tin (24 slots), Austin's nibble tray was put on one of his plastic plates.  It was made up of bite sized cheese, grapes, chicken nugget, a small bowl of greek yogurt (1/2 of Chobani Champions, Very Berry), 1 Tortellini cut in half, and a cup of carrot and celery sticks in ranch dressing.  

Before

Most pediatricians/experts recommend putting new foods in front of a child 10-15 times before they will try the food.  Now none of the above foods are technically "new foods".  They have all been presented many times before and Austin being Austin refuses most of them on each occasion.  My hypothesis for this experiment is that Austin would eat the yogurt, grapes, and chicken nuggets.

Results Dinner 1:

Austin ate one bite of chicken, all of the yogurt, and all of the grapes.  He picked up a piece of cheese, held it for a second, then put it back on his plate. When he said he was finished, I let him get down from the table and I placed his plate on his mini table for him to go back to as he felt like it.  10 minutes later, he tried to scoop out any remnants of yogurt in the little cup.

After                                                                                                     

Pediatrician Dr. Sears extraordinaire says that nibble trays are ok to leave out for 1-2 hours.  Then they are to be tossed (ugh, I hate wasted food).  

So my goal for tomorrow is to buy some more ice cube trays so that I can make a real nibble tray for Austin.  We are going to give this 10-15 attempts theory a good testing from my picky eater.  I may add some other foods but I will keep a tally of how many times they have been presented.  I will try to be as consistent as possible on this but if I don't have to cook and we get pizza or go out for dinner, don't expect a nibble tray.  Wish me luck!

Do you have any experience or advice on how to get the pickiest eater alive to eat new foods?  

My Kids have the Coolest Dad!

Austin's lunch today:

Randy made Austin Dinosaur PB&J, with a tree for the Dinos to have a snack.  The tree was made out of a celery stem and half a grape.  Accomanying his Dinos were some red grapes and goldfish crackers.

Nom Nom Nom

You can get the same sandwich cutter and make your kiddos a super fun lunch too with the Dino Sandwich cutter.  I found ours at Walmart in the bread section.  

I should disclaim that Randy is way more creative than me when it comes to doing spontaneous, fun things like this! I would have just cut the sandwich into squares (with crust) or cut it with the Dino cutter and left it at that.  He takes it to another level by using peanut butter as mortar to keep the dinos standing and shaving away at the celery stem so it fits in the hole of a grape.  There is no competing in the lunch creativity category with Randy.  He wins every time!

How do you or your significant other make lunch fun for your kiddos?  

New Year's Resolutions

Happy New Year!  I feel as though the holiday season went by in a whirlwind with lots of travel and family time.  Now that it is January 2nd, it is time to get back to the daily grind of Randy going back to work and me keeping our home running and our child growing/learning as smoothly as possible.  2012 was a year of big changes for our family with our move to Connecticut and me becoming a stay-at-home-mom.  Both of these transitions however are temporary and that brings us to 2013 being   a year of even bigger changes.  In March, Austin will become a big brother, in May, I will turn 30 years old (yikes), and in June, Randy will complete his fellowship and we will move to where his new career will take us.  There is so much to look forward to and that is just the first half of the year.  The second half will consist of me going back to work, making a house our home, Austin starting in preschool, and tons of weddings.

With all these changes, I'm really hoping that I can continue to grow as a Mother, Occupational Therapist, and in general be a healthier version of myself.  Here are some New Years Resolutions that I hope can help me evolve into that person.

1.  Help Austin adjust to each transition as smoothly as possible.  If this is a year of big changes for me and Randy, it is an even bigger year of transition on our two year old son.  While all of the changes happening to us this year in my eyes are good, they may seem scary and unsettling to our little man.  I think the easiest way to help him adjust is to try to maintain as much consistency in our daily lives as possible.  This will definitely be difficult around some of our bigger transitions (new baby and move), I think that as long as we take the time out of our day to make sure some of his most basic routines remain the same, that he should have an easier time with each change.  That will mean less sleep and downtime for me but I think it will be worth it in the long run.  (Sleep and downtime will come someday).

2.  Become a runner again.  Anyone who knows me well, knows that I love running.  I'm definitely don't fit the mold of a record setting runner (lean, long, fast) but I know that I'm a runner when I hit that stride (somewhere around mile 2.5) where it feels like I could run for miles and miles.  Running is therapy for me.  Its my "me time" and I can't wait until this baby arrives and I'm given the all clear to hit the pavement again.  My running goal for 2013 is to try to run 4/7 days of the week and to train for the Adirondack Ragnar Race set for this September.  Not only will this help me to shed my unwanted baby weight but it will help me to designate time for just me.  (win/win!)

3.  Learn to sew a quilt.   I love the way quilts help to make rooms look cozy and classy (especially ones now made with more modern looking fabrics).  My goal for this is to make our new baby a quilt for his/her new nursery.  My In-Laws set me up with materials and a book of quilt ideas as a Christmas Present so now it is just a matter of me sitting down and getting it done.  Once this baby's quilt is done, I'm hoping it will jumpstart me into making one for Austin's new room where he will transition into a twin bed.

4.  Get a new Job.  As much as I love staying home with Austin, I miss adult human contact and doing something I love.  Its also been difficult adjusting to not making my own paycheck.  Randy and I have decided that the best solution to this problem is for me to rejoin the workforce partime this fall.  I'm excited and freaked out by this all at the same time.  Will I be ready for this when the time comes?  How are my skills as a therapist since at that point I will have been out of work for almost a year and a half?  Will I be able to balance working and having two kids and a busy husband?  I'm hoping that each of these questions/doubts will work themselves out as time goes by and as far as my OT skills are concerned, I will have to keep my eyes peeled for some continuing ed opportunities so that it doesn't look like I've been wasting my time during my time as a stay-at-home-mom.  (ATTN: OT friends, keep me posted on continuing ed ideas/opportunities!)

What do you think?  Are these resolutions managable/obtainable?  What are your New Year's Resolutions?

Again, Happy New Year to you all.  I wish anyone reading this lots of love, health, and happiness for 2013.