After the First Post...

So I have to say that so far so good on this blog-therapy! I think I had like two people read the blog, but that is all good because it isn't really about who reads it but how I feel afterward. Last week after my first post, I felt a lot better. So much so that I remained calm in a situation that I usually get out of control on. So it really did help.

So to a Looney Mama Issue: EATING...I know I know, so many people have the eating issues with their kids. Picky Picky Picky is not even enough of a word to use for my Peanut. She is beyond that, she doesn't even TRY anything new. Anything that looks crazy or different, forget it. She doesn't eat or try any veggies, she gets them from eating her yogurt that has both fruit and veggies in it, which she LOVES, thank god! The only fruit she really does is a banana, however, she will eat (and drink) her yogurt with any fruit at all, but yet trying to explain that an apple is the same taste as the apple yogurt, doesn't work with her yet. Her protein is chicken, chicken chicken and she does, bread, cheese, tortilla with cheese, waffles, nutella and of course any crunchy thing...chips, crackers, pretzels and her number one favorite CHOCOLATE!!! But that is it. And what is so frustrating is she was SUCH a good eater with the baby food. And I thought I was golden...oye was I ever wrong...

As soon as the Peanut started walking, the independence-I-want-to-make-my-own-decisions started and it just gets "better" every day. While I am ecstatic that she does have a mind of her own, it would have helped to have come later in life, but alas...no. I wish I could get her to just TRY some food. The doctor says there is nothing to worry about because from the things she does eat she gets her nutrition and it does make me a little okay...but it still can drive me crazy to the point of MAJOR breakdowns. I feel like bad mommy because I give her the same thing to eat every day.

For a while, I stopped giving her new foods because it just sat on her plate and maybe touched but never tried. They say that you have to give the food like 15 times in a row before they try it. I have now given peas almost every day for a week...one more week to go. She touches them but doesn't try any. I tried forcing, you can only imagine how that goes. I haven't quite tried the "this is the only thing you are getting" and then she gets so hungry that she eats it. I am not sure how mommy is gonna deal with that, as there can be some major breakdowns for the Peanut when she is hungry. I am waiting till she is 2 to even try that.

They say to try sitting and eating with her and give her your food but don't make a big deal about it. Okay, I get it, family time eating. Dinner is a no go because she goes to bed at 730, the husband isn't home till about 630 and by 530 the peanut is ready to eat. So right now eating dinner is a little difficult. It will come, I know that I am gonna have the family dinners and sometimes we won't...I think my family is gonna be okay. Whatever, that is another annoying thing..."the experts" but that is another blog to bitch about...so anyway, even when we are eating and she is around, whether she is eating with us or not, she may have an interest in what we are eating but as soon as I say, "you want to try" it is an immediate turn up of the nose...

I sometimes wonder if I waited too long to enter more table food into her life and maybe I didn't do enough variety but then again, I do remember trying to introduce those things and even get her to try chicken was difficult in the beginning...not sure how I got her to do that...she was maybe still young enough. I always feel so much pressure to make sure that my child has this well rounded diet and I GET the obese child thing but I remember growing up and eating a lot of the same things and not eating others...and I was okay. The biggest thing was I was an athlete, so I stayed active and that was the key...but I am getting ahead of myself...she is only 22 months old...

What also makes the not eating other foods frustrating is when we are out and about and we need to get her lunch. I wish I could go to subway and get her a sandwich or Panera or someplace like it...but it ends up being Mickey D's because chicken is the only thing she will do. I don't want to carry around yogurt because it is uber messy in the car. The child LOVES Nutter Butters but won't eat a PB sandwich...so frustrating...

Everyone says she will out grow it...BUT WHEN...I hate giving her the same thing every day...and I get that she is having control over it, but really don't most kids have control over eating...they have control what they put in their mouth and really do we have much of a say. I will eventually try the, this is what you get, when she can understand a little bit more...I am thinking that reasoning isn't quite there yet...but I will keep trying...and I have bribed with chocolate and she still won't try things....

One time she ate a pea and I freaked out...but it was only one and it was by accident because she was too busy watching TV. And yesterday she ate a green bean because it was a fried green bean but after a few bites she realized it wasn't what she thought and she stopped and wouldn't eat another one. I definitely think she has issues with different textures. But still she won't try ANYTHING...she is stubborn as a mule!!

Right now, I am pretty calm about it each day but it will last for maybe a few weeks and then the cycle starts all over. It is one of my top 2 Looney Mama moments. So I am hoping that by just getting this out might help me get through this. It should be interesting to see how much weight she has gained since her 18 month appointment...then we shall see what will happen!!

In the end I know all kids have their own things that frustrate their mamas, it is just a matter of how we deal...which will bring me to my next post I am sure... THE EXPERTS!!!

Maybe by wishing, she will turn 2 and just decide...okay now is the time to eat.