I is for Independence: Two Days of Hard Fought Ladybug Meals

Aaand we're back to babies for a bit. Landon and I have been having a lot of fun lately, and also a lot of not so fun. Not so fun is tantrums in public, refusing to eat meat, and throwing anything related to food on the floor (usually accompanied with a dead pan stare). Ahh the joys of toddlers.

The only time pouting is cute is when it's a photo of someone else's child

The majority of frustrated times are now revolving around meal time. Little Miss Landy now has a strong opinion on what she would like to eat and what she would like to throw on the floor. I used to love meal time. It was such a wonderful time when we sat together and had our mini dinner parties (no wine). Now it's a mental mind field of "will she eat this", "how can I get her to do this", "how can I stop that", and the stress of making sure she is getting the iron she needs. Just to back track, L has iron absorption issues and we try to get it in naturally instead of by liquid supplement.

I used to ignore her when she threw food (get ready for a full circle moment) but then I started telling her not to, because she could understand me. That worked until she realized that she didn't have to listen just because I said so. Then I would take her out of the seat and make her pick up what she threw and put her back in. That was messy and also didn't go so well. She actually likes throwing the food AND picking it up. Then I thought, if she throws the food, I'll just turn her around so she has to eat looking at the wall. She really didn't care too much about that either.

"parenting"

So we are back to just ignoring it. I'm not sure if it works for her, but it is MUCH easier for me. When she finishes her meal if there is food on the floor, I ask her to help me pick it up and she mostly does. Don't get me wrong, she is not down on her hands and knees scrubbing the floor, she picks up a few bigger chunks of things and hands them to me. Baby steps. Literally. After all, she thinks picking things up is fun so I'm going to use that until it changes (probably tomorrow). 

I have offered different meal suggestions for toddlers, but still had some emails wanting an example of a typical day. A typical day is never typical, so here are two days of real life Landon food. 

Day 1:

Breakfast

Landon and I usually share breakfast. I fry 3 eggs. She takes two yolks and maybe the whites of one egg and I have the rest. This day I made some oatmeal that I ate most of and she had maybe 7 or 8 bites. She has water with all of her meals. 

Unexpected Snack

We did a bit of running around on this morning and a even in the afternoon. She got restless at the grocery store so I bought a bag of goldfish and gave her a handful. Then she saw the magic pop machine and I still had things to get. Instead of fighting a tantrum, I fed it. Magic pop. 

Lunch

Black eyed peas, zucchini, two GIANT organic strawberries, and some fresh pineapple. She wasn't really that excited about this lunch. To make up for it I mixed some goat cheese in with the black eyed peas. That helped a little. This meal was not a huge success, but I am going to blame the surprise morning snack.

Afternoon Snack

This afternoon snack was more like a picnic. L had a dr's appt. Of course, as Murphy's Law of Naps clearly states, she was taking the best nap of her life and I had to wake her up to leave. I grabbed things that were easy on the go. A banana, some magic pop in a zip lock, and a cheddar cheese stick that was eaten in the waiting room. I know bloggers are weird, but I am not going to take a picture of a cheese stick in the waiting room. There is a line.

Bakery Stop

My bakery vice. We'll wait to intro these to Landon

 I had to stop at the baker on the way home to order a cake. This bakery has a website landing page with the phone number. They don't answer the phone. Every baby gets a free sugar cookie unless their mom is so mean that she refuses. Free sugar cookie for L. 

Dinner

I made dinner small on purpose. Because of the entire banana she ate at 3:30, the sugar cookie at 4:15, and countless "bites" of magic pop. This is salmon and broccoli. She ate all of it and nothing more. She threw it on the floor. This was the meal that led me to my decision to ignore the food olympics. I had a glass of wine after bed time. Well deserved.

Day 2

Breakfast

Just a second reminder, we share breakfast. Also, this is what is offered. Lots of times half of the banana or the rest of the oatmeal is put back away for the next day. This breakfast was homemade oatmeal with a 1/2 C unsweetened apple sauce added in. It is one of my favorite ways to sweeten plain oatmeal. Three fried eggs, a peach, and banana. I took half of the peach and put it in the oatmeal chopped up. L ate the other half. There were eggs left over for me. This was a big breakfast.

Bakery Stop

Again. I know. I had to go back in because, like I said, they don't answer the phone. Who wants a sugar cookie at 9:15am? Landon. And me too, but I'm an adult so I just stole half of  hers when we got in the car.

Lunch

This was a really good lunch. More salmon from the filet I cooked the day before, mashed potatoes leftover from our dinner, raspberries, half of an avocado and a dolup of sour cream for the salmon. It was my back up plan in case she decided she didn't like salmon today. Turns out I needed it and it worked like a charm. She ate most everything offered. I only gave her half of the  mashed potatoes and she left 3 raspberries that I ate. Mommy clean up. Also, the food throwing dropped to a one time occurrence. Ignoring the baby behavior wins again.

Afternoon Snack

When she woke up from this nap L was really fussy. Her eye teeth have been coming in for what feels like MONTHS but she really only has pain on and off. I can't wait for those suckers to break through. She was really in pain and having a tough time settling down. So we turned on sesame street and she had some advil followed by her snack. We don't make it a habit to eat in the living room, but this was pretty pitiful. 10 minutes after the advil I heard her crunch into the magic pop, served with half a banana and a cheddar cheese stick.

Dinner

This isn't the actual dinner that goes with this day. I had a blog window available and I took it. Tonight I will be attempting to serve meatloaf, broccoli, sweet potato and the rest of the avocado from lunch. A very similar dinner to the one above, just sub out the peas and the chicken. Use your imagination. You'll need it in the years to come.

There they are. Two whole days of Landon food. It kind of makes me hungry. Question, does anyone else babyproof the old fashioned way?

Budget friendly babyproofing for the busy mom

Don't worry, all of the toxic items are in real baby proofed cabinets. This is just my lazy way for pots and pans and all other things. Rubber bands are courtesy of the produce section of the grocery store.

I just found some leftover sugar cookie in my bra. Today is not a glamorous day.

-RT