Life as a Wife

I am super paranoid about Robert’s eating habits.  He eats very little food, seems to be extremely picky, and meal times are battles each and every day.  I force him to eat because he is tiny and has not gained more than a pound in the past year.  These past few days I have learned a lot about Robert and about the amount of food a toddler should be eating.  First, because of Robert’s heart disease his appetite is probably a little bit diminished and most of his energy is spent playing all day long.  So when it is time to eat, he doesn’t have much energy for it.  Second, I’ve learned that a toddler really only needs about two meals a day and it’s normal for a toddler to eat only a tiny bit of food at dinner or to skip dinner altogether.  According to www.wholesometoddlerfood.com, a toddler serving is only about “one tablespoon per year of age”.  I was shocked to learn this and to realize that Robert really is getting enough food each day.   I have spent so much time and energy worrying and fighting with Robert to eat and I’m seeing more and more that I need to relax- Robert is not going to starve himself.  Thank you, you wonderful and more experienced mothers for helping me and for all of your great advice.  I am working hard to relax and make meal times pleasant for Robert instead of a constant struggle.

Alex will be 8 months old on Sunday and it is high time he gets used to eating good wholesome fruits and vegetables.  Since Robert didn’t start eating baby food until around 9 months or so (I had my reasons), I had no clue where to begin with Alex.  A friend told me about a wonderful website: wholesomebabyfood.com.  This site is amazing!  It tells what kind of foods baby should be eating and at what age, and it tells how to make these foods at home!  I poured over this site for about an hour and made an initial plan for making my own baby food.  I have a good stash of butternut squash and sweet potatoes in the freezer and I make fruits (bananas, pears, etc.) as I need them.  I need to make a batch of green beans and peas and then venture on to carrots at some point but so far my efforts have been wildly successful.  Alex happily eats what I offer and then cries for more when his portion is gone.  I am so proud of myself for making food for Alex!  I can’t believe how easy it is, and it is so much cheaper than buying baby food from the store.  I bought a squash for $.69 and made somewhere around 20 ounces of food or so from that one squash.  It costs at least $.50 for 2 ounces if you buy squash already packaged.  If you are desperate to cut corners and save money like I am, this is the way to go!