ETA picspam: We got a Roomba.

My cat has discovered how to wake me up so she can demand food. I should really get myself a Roomba and sic in on her.

yawn Eeep it's cold. Hugging laptop in lap as portable heater.

Such wonderful food advice Cindy. I regret my pathetic efforts at getting the boys to eat well. I did well in the beginning. No cows milk the first couple years because of my diabetes fear. Still Bobby's sugar tolerance is not so good. His only health issue is sugar related. He has to eat every few hours and avoids sugar. Failure to follow the rules results in massive headaches and vomiting. Poor kid.

Both boys are huge and healthy, but the eat completely differently. Bobby will try anything, but is vegetable avoidant. Bobby doesn't like cereal and wants hot breakfast every day. Luckily he is handy in the kitchen. Brendon has a very limited menu. He is crazy picky. He refuses to try anything new. Nothing that is combined foods. No sandwiches, no casseroles. The most combiny he gets is cereal with milk or butter on pasta. And cheap box mac 'n cheese. Lone exception is pizza. Only cheese of course. His every day school lunch. Stuff can't touch on his plate. He will eat any meat or seafood if it is cooked plain, and he will eat any fruit. No veggies except carrots. He will take a plate and get a plain burger, no cheese or bun or condiments. He'll eat it, then get another plate for fruit or another side dish if it is not veggie or anything not plain. He drinks an insane amount of soda, milk, anything else. We go through a gallon of milk a day.

I didn't want to battle over food and now I pay the price. Too often we have 4 people eating 4 things at a meal. We don't have a water drinking problem because of the Florida thing. Also the sports they play. Cold water is available via a water cooler at home and at the office. Bottles and orange coolers of the stuff are around at games and when they go fishing. They'll grab a soda or gatorade in a hurry, but water gets consumed too.

You can't force a kid to eat. I just wonder if I had made more of an effort if they would be eating spinach and asparagus with me. It makes me feel like bad mom when they turn up their noses at food when presented at friends or relatives houses. Oh well. Can't fix it now.

(It has taken me somewhere close to forever to type this. I keep getting distracted.)

Hee. I got predigest instantly. Must be from reading kids writing.

I got predigest - -but it took a bit.

Do toddlers do that thing where they get really skinny, then they build up for a bit and get kinda chunky then they have a growth spurt and are really skinny again?

The boys did the out then up thing. Bobby is on the chunky side now so I know a spurt is coming. Brendon hasn't been chunky since he was a toddler. It's just up and up and up. Brendon was 3 weeks early and 8lbs at birth. 22lbs at 4 months. He hasn't slowed down yet.

Bobby is 5'4" and 120lbs while Brendon is 6'4" and 190lbs.

Didn't Em go through the same phase?

Em was in the 5th percentile for weight until her 18 month check-up, when she was really 19 months. She finally tipped over the 20lb mark at 20lbs, 7 oz.. She's probably about 22lbs now at 20.5 months. She goes through phases where she's eating so much, Joe and I just keep feeding her in the name of experimentation (how much can she EAT?!?) and then the next week she wants nothing to do with food. I have taken to given her PediSure when she's not eating a lot.

I stopped trying to keep track because it was driving me nuts. She has veggies at every meal,fruit as snacks, no juice to speak of, a lot of water, and a lot of whole milk. And she eats pretty much whatever we put in front of her. She truly is her father's daughter.

None of this probably helps you figure out how to Lillian to eat, but you aren't alone with the petite baby.

Most of these things aren't things you can do to Lillian, because she's going to win. She's also going to be okay. She's just a peanut. What did her doctor say?

No nursing before dinner (we weren't). Milk instead of water with meals, and add cream to the milk. Sneak butter into things. Lots of avacado. Re-weigh at 18 months, and if she's still off the charts, see a nutritionist.

I mean, I actually know all the things to do, just not how to make them work. Partly because she doesn't seem to like fatty foods. Cheese gets one bite take out, then played with and tossed to the floor. Oatmeal mixed with anything but water is shunned like a fallen woman.

Given her druthers, she'd live on cottage cheese and peas, with the occasional pause for banana and avocado.

Daycare charts what they eat, so we get a daily report.

I was wee, but not this wee. As I recall, I was over 18lbs at a year (I'm too lazy to go check my baby book, which is on my dresser).

My cat has discovered how to wake me up so she can demand food. I should really get myself a Roomba and sic in on her.

ND is eagerly awaiting the moment he has the money to buy a Roomba. It is completely the fault of this extremely funny essay (which I think I originally was linked to here, but I can't remember).

Hee. I got predigest instantly. Must be from reading kids writing.

I did too. After ten years of teaching English, I'm extremely good at reading bad handwriting and deciphering mysteriously spelled words.

ION, I just woke up in my new house for the first time!

My niece is that way. 18lbs at 18 months. So wee and precious. Her mom is wee too. Maybe 4'11". I tell you one thing. It is a whole lot easier to haul around a tiny toddler than a big one. No matter what the size they still want to be carried.

Will she eat peanut butter? Have you seen if she's allergic?