The Picky Toddler Chronicles: Beet Pancakes

Before she closed in on the one-and-a-half mark, Avery was easy to feed. She liked veggies in muffin form or raw and she would try meat if it was dry (like plain grilled chicken breast). She wasn't picky by definition but that soon changed. She went from picky to fickle...which, in my opinion, is the worst form of picky eating. Moms read about how toddlers may eat a bunch one day and go without the next, or they may eat one thing for weeks on end and then quit, or some other fun variation. Avy does a fun variation- she will eat one thing for a long time and then NEVER touch it again. By never- I mean that since she has said "no" to some food items she has not touched them again to date. She is also absolutely particular about textures- nothing wet that wasn't born that way, no chunks, no multiple colors unless it is a muffin/cake and absolutely no dipping or sauces of any kind.

Well this just keeps me awake at night. Even after a visit to the pediatrician who described her and others like her as "air ferns" I did not find comfort. I realize the pediatrician meant that toddlers thrive on basically nothing-- but that doesn't make it an easier pill to swallow. So I have tried every "trick" I can find. From Muffin Tin Mom to Jessica Seinfeld I have tried it.

A little of this and a little of that seems to work....for a moment.

Thus, I have a notebook going called "The Picky Toddler Chronicles". In it I mark down the things I have tried and Avy's response. By the time I figure out a good formula she will probably be on her way to college. But it has helped me with the guilt and worry I feel over her lack of eating.


Today we tried Beet pancakes from Weelicious...the recipe is found here. They were a big hit. As you can see in these photos!

You can taste the beet but Avy has no idea what that is. They aren't very sweet, which is great. She ate 3 without any topping. They are a little thicker than I like pancakes to be but Avy didn't complain. We followed the recipe as written the first time around. I'll make a few changes next time- like Agave instead of brown sugar and maybe olive oil instead of butter. I did not use white and wheat flour- I just used wheat. They seemed to be just fine- nice and soft.

Definitely worth the hassle of roasting beets and peeling. By the way, I didn't use gloves to peel the beets and I have no staining. And when you roast the beets- if the skin doesn't peel off super easy- then cook the beet longer. The instructions for roasting beets are found here...but they are kind of vague.

My Munchkin Hates Me!

I sincerely don't believe she actually *hates* me but she has been awfully mean lately! About two weeks ago she kept waking up sneezing and then having a short-term drippy nose. I assumed that because I was having some allergy problems she was too. Well- a few days later we find out we infected pretty much every munchkin in our playgroup. Ouch...we deserve the dirty diaper award for that! Anyway, she was downright GROUCHY for days and days. It has not let up so far. Her symptoms of illness seem a little better--just a clear runny nose BUT she is so angry. She has been smacking me, scratching, pinching and yelling if I even look in her direction. She doesn't really do that to dad. Sometimes she tells him "no" that she doesn't want to play but she has not been nearly as awful towards him. I have a nice scab on my cheek where she removed a strip of skin! This is not mixing well with my already heightened sensitivity due to being pregnant.

I'm ready for her to be well and happy again. This is not fun. I can't really take her anywhere because she has the drippy nose but trying to keep her happy when she doesn't want me around...well....you can see my dilemma here. Ugh!

Brainless

I know there really is evidence that pregnant women have memory and brain functioning issues, but man, I think it is worse this time than last. During my first pregnancy I could tell you how far along I was right down to the actual week and day. Now, I think I'm somewhere between 15 and 20 weeks?? It is June 5th but I thought last month was June...and keep calling it July. I guess I missed the fireworks already??

While I'm getting dumber, Avery is getting smarter. Thankfully! Someone in this house has to keep their brain. Every day we are amazed at her little tiny voice and all that she says with it. When she hears music she sings with it but she replaces the words with "Happy Birthday". I just love it when she does that, it is too funny. She puts strings of words together too! Tonight as the sun was setting she said, "oh no, bright sun" as the sun shined in her eyes. Too cute. Her new thing is to do this really awful dance when she hears a good song too. It is adorable, but I hope she gets better with age. Right now her form looks like she's tapping one foot while flapping her arms around and bouncing her hip all at once. Oh, and she shakes her hair with the beat too! What a geek.

Big Girl Bed

Since we found out we were expecting a baby this fall I have been asking Daddy to convert Avy's crib into a day bed. Well, the silly rails that keep kids in are "unavailable". I called to see if they were on backorder or what, but all I was told was that I could put my name on a list and be notified when they were available for purchase. How annoying!

It has been about six weeks now since that happened. While changing the crib bedding I decided to just put the mattress on the floor and see how that went. Well Avy seemed to love lying down in it and reading with me before bed. She was all tucked in with her light-up turtle but as soon as the light went out...she freaked out. We heard her crying and yelling "night night". I went in and the poor thing was standing in the middle of the room in utter blackness. So Daddy came in and took the front off the crib to turn it into a day bed...without a rail.

We put pillows underneath an started the bedtime process again. She went straight to sleep. I'll add photos soon (we have a horribly annoying camera that takes hours to upload even 10 photos).

First check: Avy was right on the corner of the mattress with her left arm dangling off the crib. I took a picture and pushed her to the middle.

Second check: sleeping soundly in the center.

Third check: around 6am Avy was in the middle of the bedroom floor, face down into the carpet, knees tucked under and her butt in the air.

Fourth check: I heard her reading "Buddha puddha" AKA "Mr. Doodle's Poodle". She was up in her day bed with pillows propped and a pile of books. So I climbed into bed with her to read.

I am sad to learn that the bed only handles 125 pounds. Me and my big pregnant belly just wont fit with 25lb Avy. :( Oh well, it was fun to do it at least once.

Nap time has come and gone and Avy has done nothing but read in her bed. We'll see how night #2 goes in the day bed. I look forward to the first time she gets out of bed and comes into our room to wake us. Awwwwww

Itty Bitty No More

Avery in March of 2009 and there she is at the end of February 2010.

Man I just had one of the most reflective weekends!!! I know what spurred it and am thankful. More on that later...but right now I have to tell you about our basement.

With spring coming around the corner we decided to sort the basement a bit. I had been throwing maternity, post-pregnancy, "fat" clothes and any infant/baby thing Avery was no longer using, down the stairs into the basement. We decided to put everything into tubs and label them.

Well- the emotional effort that goes into sorting your first child's clothing is intense. We had a bin for neutral/boy clothes and baby girl clothes. Touching Avery's first shirt she wore in the hospital, the beanie they put on her and then the outfit she went home in was so hard. Before doing this I don't think I could have described a single onesie that she used to wear. Holding each one up and folding it, I had all kinds of memories about her wearing this cute one and that cute one. Yeah- seriously- she's old enough that I have MEMORIES about her. I know a memory technically develops moments after the event occurs, but I was naive. With only 14-months of life with Avery (not counting the 42 weeks in the womb) I would never have believed her first days in my arms would seem so long ago. But they do! It was so hard for both Stephen and I to put those itty bitty clothes into a bin and realize how fast the time went. We spent so much time waiting for her next milestone that we missed those tiny baby moments, in a way. Obviously we enjoyed her baby moments but the next time I have a baby I wont be looking ahead so much. I want to spend more time in the moment.

Those of you with little babes...pull out some of those tiny baby clothes and give yourself a reality check. While it is so awesome to anticipate your child's next big thing- once it arrives, then what? The previous moment is gone! I'm pulling back the reigns on time. More photos, more journaling and more focusing on the moment. I don't want to put toddler clothes into a box and feel like I didn't get enough time with my one-year-old.

Pre-Teen Years already...

Laugh if you want to, but I swear I am getting a taste of the pre-teen years. Yes, she is only going on 11....MONTHS...but still...she has that sass going like there's no tomorrow. All day and night for the past 2 days...we get a shrill, ear bursting, rage-provoking, scream. And for what? Heck, we don't know. For now, if we shake our heads "no" she stops. (Why is she listening to us?)

We have yet to determine what she wants. At first we thought it was only when I talked. We tested that out...nope....she did it to Stephen too. She has a few words in her vocabulary but so far none of them are helping resolve her issues.

Onward we trek- how many years is it until they pass the teenage phase?