Well, who'da thunk it?

The message about eating seems to have been heard loud and clear. Ever since Gracie and Luke refused to eat and we put them to bed without letting them have any more food, they have eaten almost everything we've put in front of them. We've limited snacks and limited television when they get home from pre-school and that has really helped.

I know I joked about it in the last post, but I did read the BabyCenter.com article on finicky eaters and learned some interesting things. Two things really resonated with me: 1) portion size and 2) the amount of choices we give them. I started paying attention to how much food we were putting on their plates and it was HUGE. It might be the right amount for an adult, but it was enough for at least 3 toddlers. It was the first change I made. We started putting less of each food item on their plates two nights ago and have had real success with them finishing more. The other thing, which is contrary to everything we were told a year ago, is to give them fewer choices on their plates.

Fewer? They just told us to give them lots of things to choose from!

This parenting thing can get super confusing. The article says that some kids can't choose when given too many items on their plates. This is an argument reflected by John Rosemond about toys. His has stated that when children have too many toys, they don't play with any of them because it is so overwhelming. It makes sense, but so did the "give them lots of things to choose from" argument.

We tried that on Tuesday night with lots of success. I bought a roasted chicken from the store and served it with raw broccoli and ranch dip. It was devoured! When they started playing, I reminded them that if they wanted to play that dinner was over. They both sat right back down to finish their food.

On Wednesday, Daddy made dinner and got a little excited with the food choices. They finished some of the food, but not all of it, and left a lot of food. When they started getting up and playing instead of eating their dinner, we declared dinner over and had them take their plates to the kitchen. We told them that if they asked for more food, they could finish their dinners, and left the plates for them to come back to. An hour later, Gracie and Lukie started asking for apples and I reminded them about their dinner. They switched to asking for cookies and again, I reminded them about their dinner. They did not like this at all. I did eventually let them each have one cookie once they had their jammies on, but limited it to just one despite repeated requests. We will try going back to less food and fewer choices tonight. I'm really thinking that less is the key here.

We've had some definite steps forward and I feel inspired to continue begin stricter with them about food.

Eat or don't. It's up to you, kid.

There are picky eaters in the world.  Many of them.  I just never thought my kids would be some of them.  When it was just Gracie, Lukie, and me in the apartment last year, they would eat most everything I put in front of them with some exceptions. Recently, however, they have really been testing my patience.

Things Gracie will eat:
turkey, cheese, crackers
chicken, green beans, and noodles from Panda Express
bacon
pizza
plain chicken
cheese
yogurt

and, sometimes, she'll eat:
apples
lettuce
quesadillas
carrots
cookies
milk/chocolate milk
corn
melon
bread
tomato

Lukie will pretty much eat anything we put in front of him, except when he decides he doesn't want to.  Yeah.  He's fun like that.

We don't really have any control over lunch at day care.  We have them help us make their lunches, but when they are at school, they eat only what they want to.  All of the rest of their food comes home in their lunch boxes.  Of course, it would be great if we would make them eat what was left over, but not very safe given it hasn't been in the refrigerator.  Dinner has been the real challenge.  We make dinner.  We put it on their fun plates.  Lukie will eat most of it, especially if it has meat and noodles or meat and rice.  Gracie...She pushes it around and refuses to eat.  Then, she'll ask for crackers or cheese an hour later.

A couple of nights ago, I had enough.  I resolved to let them go hungry if they would not eat what we put in front of them.  So, last night, Gracie said she wanted turkey, cheese, and crackers and Lukie agreed.  I made each of them turkey, cheese, crackers, and added some sliced tomatoes and carrots. 

To say that they ate little of it is an overstatement.  Gracie threw her cheese at Lukie and said that she didn't want it.  Neither of them ate the turkey.  Lukie ate some of his tomatoes and that was it.  Daddy and I told them that they either at their dinner or they would go to bed.  Lukie turned his plate over and dropped his food on the floor.  So, that was it.  At 5:15 pm, they went into the bath tub, and were in their room, in their jammies, at 5:45 pm.  Daddy and I read a few books to them and, then, at 6:30 pm, the lights went off.  There was a lot of crying and kicking of feet, requests for bananas, etc., but Daddy held firm.  They were asleep a little while later and, thankfully, slept through the night.

This morning, they had cereal and when they started to play instead of eat, I asked if they were done and reminded them that if they did not eat their cereal, there was nothing else to eat.  This got them both to sit down and finish a little more.  I don't expect it to be super easy, but I'm sticking with this method.  I thought about trying something flashy and fun to get them to eat, but why?  If you don't eat what we make, then you don't eat.  It's a simple equation, one that Gracie and Lukie need to learn quickly.

Here's something funny:  I started this post about two hours ago and just got an email from BabyCenter.com about finicky eaters.  Let's see if the "experts" can help with the issue.

How do kids grow if they only eat fruit and chips?

I don't know how other moms do it. Feed their children, I mean. Lukie usually eats okay, but Gracie...I'm stunned the girl is even growing. They don't seem to like 90% of what we make for them to eat and it gets more and more frustrating each day.

So what will they eat?

Pears, bananas, yogurt, chips (Flaming Hot only), grapes, occasionally strawberries, meat (most kinds). Anything on Mommy and Daddy's plates (even if it is also on their plates)

Oh, and chocolate milk. Sometimes regular. Usually not.

What won't they eat?

Anything with sauce on it. Anything with bread surrounding it. Anything Mommy and Daddy proclaim as amazing.

I guess I should be thankful they are eating something other than fruit snacks and Goldfish crackers like last year. One thing that is a definite "They Will Eat It, yay!" item is String Bean Chicken and Chow Mein from Panda Express. We went there tonight. Mainly because 2 of our 2 children haven't eaten well in the last 3 days (I think we have a stomach bug).

See? They love food from "The Panda."

They usually eat everything on their plates. Yes, everything. I bet if they thought they could get away with it, they'd ask to go every night.

I know eating out is not good for them. Homemade meals are always better. However, when you have Twinsies who don't eat 90% of what you put in front of them, desperate times call for desperate measures.

And I'm feeling particularly desperate lately.

I never realized candy was so evil

So, forget the fact that my children ask for candy about 50 times a day. Forget the fact that Daddy has convince Gracie and Luke that fruit snacks are candy. Forget the fact that Lukie can find candy hidden in the deepest darkest recesses of our kitchen.

Know this: Candy was created by evil people intent on making crazy maniacs out of nice, normal children. This is truth.

Gracie and Luke have mood swings caused by sleep. Those are nothing compared to the mood swings we experienced today! We had thrown popcorn, torn books, bruises on Gracie's face, water ALL over the bathroom, and more things I care not to remember.

I trace all this back to cookies and the See's Candy box that we opened at Aunt Bec's today. Good Gravy of America! I don't know how they got as much into them as they did, but Gracie and Luke had way too much chocolate and sugar. It's not like I meant for them to eat all of that. I kept snatching away anything they had in their hands, but they kept finding it. They even raided Aunt Bec's pantry and found Hailey's candy. The little Pilferers!

Their behavior and unhappiness made it clear to me that too much sugar is very bad for Twinsies. In the morning, I plan to eradicate the house of all visible candy. Some will be saved for Daddy and low blood sugar, but the rest of it is going!

It's fruit and veggies from here on out!

It's all about food

For as little as Gracie and Luke actually eat, they sure talk about food a lot.

Last week, we went to breakfast at Beeps and Lukie started stealing my food.


Last night, Gracie, amid her singing and telling me what red and green lights meant, told me what she wanted for dinner.


Not to be outdone, Lukie did too.


I'm in love with these two.

Dinner and an Interview

Tonight, we went out to dinner at Islands to celebrate Daddy being home from the hospital. All Gracie and Luke kept asking for was "Chicken Nuggets!" The entire trip in the car, we carried on a conversation about chicken nuggets, "shensch shies," and dip. Dip is the new incentive to eat in our family. If it can be dipped (and sometimes even when it shouldn't be), Gracie and Luke will eat it.

Gracie and Lukie shared the Tiki Tenders and Daddy and I enjoyed salads. We had a great time! And of course, while we were there, we took a little video with our Flip camera.

Reunion

I haven't written much of late. Primarily because we've been in a state of upheaval. Last Tuesday, Daddy was admitted to the hospital with a very high fever. They kept him until today. He had lots of I.V. antibiotics, watched a lot of movies, and was generally bored.

While he was gone, my job was to keep the home fires burning. Suddenly, I had to get Gracie and Luke ready to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house in the morning. I had to get their clothes ready and their lunches ready. I had to make sure they took their baths and I read them books. And I had to sing them to sleep every night. My workload suddenly doubled and I had flashbacks to six months ago when Gracie, Lukie, and I lived on our own for 5 months while Daddy was very sick in the hospital.

We survived the past week and while we could continue doing this a bit longer, we are all happy to have Daddy home.

Tonight, we were so happy, that we baked cookies with the dough that Mrs. Shaw made for all the faculty and staff today. We now have a dozen chocolate chip cookies and blissfully ate 1/3 of them before bath.

Gracie and Lukie cuddled with Daddy on the sofa and ate their cookies.

Wait, look closer and you'll see:

What is in these things? They are so good!

Lukie's cookie became a smushed mess, but he didn't seem to mind.

We are so happy to have Daddy home! Stay well, Sweet Papa!

Bright Ideas

When we were in Modesto, Caryn took us out for ice cream. Thinking my best bet at not losing the ice cream was by having it served in cups, I had Gracie and Luke served their Cabana Banana ice cream in the cute cups and given pink spoons. They did well with them, but grew bored rather quickly.

Caryn, on the other hand, had all of her kids served ice cream in cones! You can only imagine my awe watching her hand her twins (about two weeks younger than Gracie and Luke) their own cones. She, wisely, had them served less ice cream, but the twins were able to eat their own ice cream, just like the big kids. It got me thinking that I have been isolating Gracie and Luke too much. In my effort to keep them clean (and thus, the area surrounding them clean), I'm keeping them from learning how to be a big kid.

So, when we went to Auntie Ten Ten's house yesterday, I bought some Drumstick ice cream cones and brought them to share with everyone. While they were in their swimsuits (and trapped outside), I gave each of them a vanilla cone and sat back to watch what would happen. At first, they weren't sure what to do with them, so I broke out an ice cream cone for myself and demonstrated. It took awhile for them to break through the chocolate, but once they did, they were very happy! They wandered around, eating ice cream and chatting to one another and others around them, showing off their ice cream cones.

Eventually, the ice cream began to melt and that is when I caught these:





Auntie Ten Ten told me to just dunk them in the pool. When I hesitated, she did it for me! I still ended up giving them a bath. By the time they were done snacking, they had watermelon juice, cantaloupe juice, melon juice, and Doritos dust all over them. I'm very glad I let them have their own cones. They really enjoyed the independence.

Note to self: They don't understand that you can eat the cones. Next time, let's stick to Popsicles!

And just for fun, look at how big Baby Emerson is getting! She's the spitting image of her Mommy. Hard to believe she is only 10 weeks old.

Peanut Butter on a Spoon

My favorite treat when I was little: the biggest spoon I could find and as much peanut butter as I could scoop out of the jar. If Mom had chocolate chips, I would roll my peanut butter in them!

Gracie and Lukie love peanut butter, so much that they lick it off of their toast instead of eating the toast with it. This morning, when I had soggy toast handed back to me, devoid of peanut butter, with little voices begging for "More. More. More!", I decided to go Old School.



Yes. Gracie is wearing her Halloween jammies. Yes. It has already been 7+ months.






I think we have a winner!

Free Range Twinsies

You would think that feeding growing toddlers is easy. They will eat anything you put in front of them. That used to be my kids and it still is my kids when they are with anyone other than me.

Recently, meal time has been incredibly stressful and marked with projectile apples and lots of "No, no, no!" I dread mealtimes, because nothing I make seems to entice Gracie and Luke to eat. Aunt Bec has a running theory that it isn't my food, but their chairs that have them pretty much sitting on the floor. Since they won't eat at restaurants either, I don't know if this theory holds water, but I'm willing to consider anything.

This morning, after a frustrating weekend of making french toast and having it thrown at me, grilled cheese and having it thrown at me, pasta and having it thrown at me, and peeling tangerines and having them thrown at me, I made pancakes. Pancakes were one of the first foods Gracie and Luke ate by themselves.

Remember these:



They started tugging on my nightgown almost immediately after I put the mix into the pan. So, instead of putting them in their chairs, I handed each of them a freshly made pancake and they toddled away chattering excitedly. A few minutes later, they came back asking for more pancakes. I took advantage of their hunger and handed them each another pancake. They came back one more time. Three whole pancakes!

I wonder if this means that I need to let them roam while they eat? Does being mobile while eating make the food taste better? Does it make the whole eating thing more exciting?

Help! I need some kind of hope.

Stacy's Dinner

I've mentioned before about my amazing colleagues making us dinner each night. This week has been amazing: spicy beef chili and cornbread, swiss steak and mashed potatoes with baby carrots, chicken noodle soup. Tonight, Stacy made dinner for us. We had lemon chicken and cous cous.

As I suspected, Gracie and Luke loved the chicken! They each ate a drumstick and a thigh all by themselves. They were a little more conservative about the cous cous. I tried to convince them it was rice, but they knew better. It may have been that the cous cous was smaller than grains of rice. Or, it may have been that it stuck to their fingers. Gracie and Luke are weird about things sticking to their fingers.

Lukie doing his Happy Food Dance

To finish off the meal, I gave Gracie and Luke their newest favorite thing ever...Danimals yogurt smoothies. I found one that has the special bacteria to help with digestion. They are both on antibiotics, so this yogurt is very important. Gracie's stomach does not do well with antibiotics. The good news is that they LOVE the yogurt.

Gracie was very upset that she was finished with her yogurt. She decided to put her extra chicken in the yogurt container.

Stacy, thank you for the very yummy dinner. We have leftovers. I can't wait for lunch tomorrow!

Sunny Palm Springs and Salsa

Nana, the Twinsies, and I hopped in the car and trekked to Palm Springs today. Our goal was to go to lunch at this Mexican restaurant we never remember the name of. We know what it looks like and where to find it, but when called upon to name the darn place, none of us seem to remember.

It turns out that the restaurant is called Las Casuelas. Usually, we get the Chopped Chicken salad and if we were thinking straight today, we would have ordered our usual. However, Nana and I were thrown off by the presence of Gracie and Luke, not to mention the fact that Lucas fell off of a bench and hit his head. He has a nice goose egg in the middle of his forehead. Nana ordered a combo and I ordered a Chicken and Avocado Salad.

But what we ate is not the relevant bit of this story. You see, Gracie and Luke were starving by the time we were seated. Out on the patio, there were lots of things to look at: people, birdies, motorcycles. However, Gracie and Luke were not interested in these things. Oh, no. All they cared about were the chips, and the salsa, and the guacamole!

Gracie refused to eat a chip without salsa on it. At first, I dipped them for her, but when that got boring, I pushed the little bowl to her and let her dip her chips herself. Notice the pinky action.





Lucas really had fun with the Guacamole.


By the time the meal was over, we were all covered in salsa and guacamole!



We were very happy that we drove all the way out to Palm Springs with Nana!

Celebrating Mommy's Birthday

It was a great day today. I've already forgotten how many times Lukie threw his binky on the floor and how many times Gracie ate crayons.

After dinner with Nana, Aunt Becca, Auntie Ten Ten and the cousins, we headed to Grandma and Grandpa's house for even more cake and ice cream. Grandma left the spoons a little too close to Gracie and Luke, with the following results:

Some of the best entertainment all week!

Popcorn Fun

Gracie and Luke have been eating me out of house and home since they started feeling better. The other night, they were acting like I had been starving them for the past month. I've been trying to give them healthier snacks, so I decided to make some popcorn.

I'd say it was a success!









Of course, as usual, it was all good until they discovered popcorn is throwable!

Mommy actually cooks dinner!

I used to cook all the time. When it was just Eddie and me, I cooked 3 to 4 times per week. I used to make Garlic Pepper Beef, grilled chicken, enchiladas, chilaquilles, and much more. I can count the number of times I have cooked on one hand since Gracie and Luke were born. Since I have been myself with them for so long, I've been awful about preparing our own meals. I purchase frozen meals or we buy a rotisserie chicken, anything other than cooking the meal myself.

Since I am home for Spring Break, I decided to actually do some cooking. We went shopping the other day and I bought cilantro, onions, tomatoes, beef, rice, and a few other things. Today, while Gracie and Luke were at day care, I actually chopped the onions, cilantro and some garlic. I marinated the beef. I made my famous Spanish rice. Before I left to pick them up, I had a pot of my rice and sliced, cooked beef ready for us when we got home.

I picked up Gracie and Luke and headed home. While they were taking their babies for walks on the patio, I tried the food. I was a little worried because the rice did not seem to have the same amount of flavor I am used to and the meat was a bit tougher than I wanted it to be. I cut the meat up into small portions and placed it with sliced tomatoes and rice into their bowls.

After getting them to sit down, I put their bowls in front of them and watched to see what would happen. Without spoons, they started shoveling meat and rice into their mouths. I started hearing, "More. More. " just a few minutes after they started eating. They kept making happy eating sounds and Lukie did his Happy Food Dance in his seat.

I finally got them to use their spoons for a few bites, but they kept dropping the spoons and using their hands to put as much rice as possible into their mouths.

Three helpings later, they finally slowed down. They had orange all over their faces from the Spanish rice and Luke had rice all over his lap. They both picked up their bowls and tried to scoop the rest of the food into their mouths.

Forty-five minutes after I sat them in their seats (this is a record, I assure you), I stripped both of them down before I let them leave their seats and set them on their feet to go to the bath tub. They both walked straight there and waited patiently for me to turn on the water and to set them in the tub.

I would call this meal a success. Now, if I can only manage to do this again tomorrow and the next day!

Enchiladas!

I work with some amazing people. They are some of the most generous and supportive people I have ever met. With all that has been going on with Daddy, colleagues have offered to make dinner for Gracie, Luke, and me Monday through Friday.

Last night, Andrea made us a fantastic Italian penne pasta casserole. So yummy! Today, Alison brought us chicken enchiladas. Gracie and Luke have never had chicken enchiladas and I have to admit I was nervous trying them. Sometimes, they won't eat something if it is too spicy and I never know what "too spicy" will be. Gracie eats salsa for crying out loud!

To try to minimize the mess, I sat down with on the floor with them and tried to feed them bites of enchiladas. They were having none of that. So, I cut pieces of the enchiladas and put them on their trays. Here's the result:





Somehow, Gracie stays cleaner than Lukie every time!

After they were done with enchiladas, we shared some strawberries and apple juice. Then, it was straight into the bath to wash off our enchilada faces.

To all my work friends, if I forget to say it in a few weeks: all of the food you made us was amazing and we love you!