Veggies

Thus far vegetables have not been Nathaniel's favorite. Actually I take that back, he eats plenty of vegetables as long as they are pureed (not including my homemade puree (little booger) or from a restaurant. For some reason any whole vegetables that I make at home get the big *toss to the floor* or the *no no no headshake*. I know it is a little weird to still be giving him pureed anything, but I decided if it gets him a serving or two of veggies/fruit/protein why not? He still gets plenty of the finger foods to go along with it.

 

Like a Sherlock Holmes mystery I tried to figure out what the restaurant vegetables had that mine didn't. There was the obvious BUTTER/oil. Maybe it was just the excitement of eating out. Maybe the spices. My main conclusion was that mine were a little squishier than a restaurants. I tend to steam a whole batch and freeze it. The defrost process doesn't always leave the freshest tasting veggies. So I tried a different cooking method. I just do a small batch in the microwave and add a tiny bit of organic real butter and PRESTO. Green beans, broccoli, cauliflower and peas have all been eaten. I wouldn't say it is his favorite thing ever, but he eats them. Woo hoo. He has also suddenly started to love grape tomatoes and cucumbers. Those are so easy to fix, like fruit, so I am excited

 

In general Nathaniel is going through a little bit of an eating change. He is starting to turn down any of the puree's from a jar and his daily oatmeal. So while I solve one problem (veggies) other problems arise... murphy's law right. The oatmeal is more worrisome than the puree. He still doesn't eat meat. Not that I have tried a ton, but every time he is offered any he spits it back out. I think it is the texture. The puree's I'd choose always have some protein so he is missing out on a bit of that, but I can replace that in other areas. The oatmeal had some good vitamins, fiber and grains, which I don't have a great replacement for yet. Maybe the oatmeal will just be a phase. In the mean time I'm going to put a little undetectable wheat germ here or there.

 

On a side note he is getting better at using a spoon and fork. He ate 2/3 of a yogurt the other day with a spoon. Pretty good for him. Normally he uses the spoon for about 3 bites and gets bored. The fork is a little bit funny. He likes to poke at the food and then take it off the fork and eat it. I know some people push for a toddler to use a fork and spoon, but for now I figure as long as he gets what the point of it is I'm happy. I don't even always remember to give him a fork or spoon so that probably doesn't help haha. He will use them in due time and for the rest of his life, it is the only time you can eat like a cave man and no one cares :)

 

On another side note this poor kid is getting several teeth. Every time I get a glimpse in his mouth I swear I see another molar coming in. Right now I think he has four teeth that are half way erupted. 3 molars and the fourth one on the bottom front. He is drooling a bit and chewing on stuff. I assume because it feels good. I can't blame him.