Finicky Eater

These days, I've come to believe that Alex lives on air. The following are some of the selections I'll offer him at each meal every day. What he'll eat, however, comes to approximately only one balanced meal per day. Yet, he gains weight and stays in the 50-60% mark for weight at his height. So, the ped says not to worry.

Yeah, I'll try.

Breakfast: Any of: Oatmeal, dry cheerios, waffles or pancakes with any of: half banana, half apple, quarter orange. Drink: water
Lunch: Any of: grilled chicken, cheese toast, Gerber meat sticks, home made pizza with any of snow peas, carrots, raw broccoli and any of half banana, half apple.
Drink: water
Snack: Any of: wheat crackers (no salt), dry Cheerios, Zweiback toast with any of whatever vegetable or fruit he'll eat. Drink: water, unless he's refused to eat since breakfast, then it's watered down Tang or watered down vegetable juice.
Dinner: Any of: chicken, ground beef, pork, Gerber meat sticks with any of snow peas, carrots, raw broccoli, raw cauliflower; any of macaroni, rice, tortillas and any of red seedless grapes, blueberries, banana, pear. Drink: water.

Most of the time, I have to make several offers - making something different from the choices above when he refuses to eat what's there. Vegetables listed are most commonly offered all together and I just add more of whichever one he actually ate. Thankfully, he will eat whatever fruit he asked for at that meal. If he didn't say 'yes' to my running through each fruit available, it means he won't eat any of them."

April 30, 2009

A Beach Day!

[Transcribed from video and Yuku]

Alex and I took a walk to the beach.  My plan was to tire him out at the beach and out at dinner with Daddy.  Since the nap striking behavior has made for such late bedtimes, I was sure that an evening of running around followed by a late dinner would do the trick.

First he ran along the beach, finding everything.  He yelled with glee and his new freedom. He told the birds to "Stay away!" and told the boats anchored in the marina to "Stop!" He wanted a "Sailboat ride" from one of them.  The branches on the shore were lots of crackly fun.  Then he got to be a monster, stomping down the beach. "Boom! Boom!" he declared with each step.

It got chilly, but I hadn't brought any jackets for us.  I had to stop in a store on Mamaroneck Avenue and buy us some sweatshirts. Oversized for Alex, so it lasts a while - since it was a tad pricey.  Red, because Alex loves red.  "Mamaroneck", it reads, because that's where Alex lives.  (Although, Mommy's reads "Larchmont" and is gray).  We were still too early to meet Daddy so we went back to the marina to look at the boats.  It was so pretty with the pink dogwood blossoms out.  Alex called to the boats anchored in the marina. "Sailboat ride!" "Speedboat ride!"  I promised him that we'd go on boat rides in the summer. "Summer!" he cheered.  He assured me, laughing, that "Speedboat ride OK".  Good to know.

"Boats are gone", he said as one went by.  He was disappointed until he heard the clock tower ring out that it was 7 o'clock. "Sen clock!" Alex said.

Soon, it was time to meet Daddy and off to Jolly Joe's we went for dinner. (The Barnacle on Boston Post Road).  Alex loved the crayons he got at the table.  He loved the restaurant.  He loved the jukebox. He loved the muz-tic.  He loved singing "Jingle Bell Rock".  He loved getting his very own "red dip" (ketchup).  He kinda loved the French Fries.  He loved the idea of having chicken fingers.  He wasn't loving the chicken fingers though.  Too tired to eat.

Mommy's plan worked a little too well.

April 29, 2009

Day Out with Daddy

[Transcribed from video]

A playground visit with Daddy! Alex said he went "Up" and "Down" on the swings.  Not too much, though, Daddy. I know you get a kick out of it and everything, but Alex has things to do.

April 25, 2009

Little Helper Guy

[From Alex's journal]

Alex and I did crafts today and Alex helped me do some chores in the bedroom. He also helped me do some grocery shopping.   I had a lot of schoolwork to do. I told Alex all about proving trigonometric identities. He was enthralled. I could tell.  I've started to capture all of his funny sayings like "Dig-Dig". To celebrate (and prompt), I got Alex some new construction vehicle stickers today.  I told him it was because he ate all of his breakfast.

Today Alex:
- Took his nap right away
- Said "Oswald" and pointed to his Baby Einstein octopus
- Called a wallaby a "deer" and a llama a "goat"
- Recognized his name in a notepad font in a slideshow
- Recognized himself as a baby in old photos

April 21, 2009

Typical Fun

We've been stuck inside a lot lately, because it's been a colder than average April. I've had to come up with fun indoor activities for his busy little self.  These are some of the favorites:

- Drawing and stickers. He can't really do much in the way of crafts yet, but he loves when we draw together.
- Activity books. Alex has a few 'touch and feel' books and a few 'find it' books. He loves to go over the large, busy pictures looking for the things I'll say I've spotted. I've also taken to making my own 'Find it' pictures in Photoshop Elements or with stickers/colored pencils - filling up a page with his favorite images
- Letters and Numbers. Alex loves to go over his alphabet magnets and his alphabet blocks naming numbers and letters. This activity occupies him long enough to surprise me. I'll add to challenges by spelling out simple words or making two digit numbers.
- Song time. Alex loves, loves LOVES to sing his favorite songs with me. I'll often take his stuffed animals and place them in a circle like what happens at 'Babytime' at the library. Then I'll sing nursery rhyme songs with him (using his song playing toys for recall on the songs).
- Multimedia learning with Baby Einstein. I have the whole collection of the Baby Einstein DVDs, but I'll also do this with his other favorite videos. I break out books, toys or other items that are featured in the DVD and go over them with him while they're shown on the DVD.
- Pretend play. I make up stories about pirates, dragons, dinosaurs or trains and trucks and play them out with his toys or stuffed animals. He'll bring the story down to his level of complexity, but he still loves this.
- Story time. I ask Alex to pick a book to read and I'll read the story and go over the pictures the way he likes to. I'll do this with two books at a sitting. (Usually his attention span limit). Alex's favorite books are those I had printed at scrapbook sites. They're stories/poems I wrote about photos of himself. If you don't do digital scrap, you can still do it with pictures of Charlie from a single day's adventure or a season.
- Building time. One of his favorite activities is to actually watch me build things with his blocks. We'll take out his cars/trains and drive them around the buildings. Of course he also loves knocking them down.

Most often I'll have to go through each of these per day, because Alex is just itchin' to get outside. As soon as the weather is warmer, I know that most of our time will be spent outdoors.

April 16, 2009

A Ray of Sleep!

[From Alex's journal]

Today Alex ASKED for a nap! He still didn't eat his lunch.  He's been sitting on the potty and learning how to wash his hands. (He really likes that part).  I made two slideshows; one of Alex's week with Grandma and Grandpa this month, the other of our beach adventures last summer.

Alex has been speaking in sentences for the past two weeks.  What a big boy he's getting to be!

April 13, 2009

No Adventure Today

[From Alex's journal]

Today, I tried to take Alex to the Stamford Town Center so that he could play in the children's climb area.  The train took way too long to come, so I made a change of plans.   I went grocery shopping and bought cookies instead!

The bigger news, though was that today Alex:

- Used a fork with his spaghetti
- Asked for carrots
- Sat on the potty
- Washed his hands
- Tried to say "President Obama"

April 7, 2009

A New Journal

[From Alex's Journal]
Today Alex:

- Counted to 10
 - Used 3 word sentences
 - Said "puddle of water"
- Washed my hands
- And sat on the potty for the very first time

April 6, 2009

Introducing Our Special Book

[Transcribed from video]
It was a rainy, yucky day outside. After having such great adventures outside with Abuela and Abuelo all week, Alex was a little restless.  We took a trip to Trotta's and I picked up a little sketchbook with stickers.  I sat Alex down to draw pictures in our new "Special Book" as I called it. 

It seemed that Alex's favorite part of our new art project was playing with the glue sticks. Even after I showed him what can happen with glue, he was more interested in holding onto the glue sticks.  "Glue!" he said. "Pencil!" too.  He wasn't too interested in coloring.  "Glue!" he called out when I tried to get him interested in other things.
Not even dinosaur stickers could successfully pull him away from the glue sticks.

I also picked up a little journal so I could keep some running notes of Alex through the year.  Yay to Being Two!

April 6, 2009

Captain Salty Dog Sets Sail

[Transcribed from video]

Grandma and Grandpa have to go back to Florida tomorrow.  Today, they wanted to join Alex at the Marina Playground - one of his favoritest places in the world.  

Daddy captured the whole thing on video.  "Yay! A Camera!" Alex cheered as he was on the swings.  Then they quickly lost their appeal.  Where he really wanted to be was all the way at the top of the tall tower on the ship. There, he loved spinning the ship's wheel and seeing Grandma and Grandpa down below.  He was cheering out "Arrgh!" and "Treasure!" while looking out over the park.  There was no removing him from the bridge then.

Arrrgh!

April 5, 2009

The No Bail-Out Baby

[Transcribed from video]

Alex got a new Cars bank from Grandma McCann for his birthday.  It makes Vrooom! sounds when you put the money in the slot.  Alex loves the idea of having coins to drop into the bank. He's just not sure about letting go of the coin to place it in the bank.  

This afternoon, Grandpa gave him some coins to drop in the bank, but Alex just didn't want to go all the way with it. He laughed. He giggled. He showed us all the money he had. "Money!" he gushed as he clipped two coins together. He just didn't want to let go of it. When he was finally coaxed to drop a coin in, he was startled by the sounds the bank makes. He was sure he'd rather have the coins in his hands. "Money!" he gushed again when Grandpa gave him another one.  "No!" he declared to all other coaching to drop the coins into the bank.

Already not trusting banks, even piggy banks in his own home.

April 5, 2009

Awww, A Guy Could Get a Big Head

[Transcribed from video]
This afternoon as Alex playing with his hammer and ball tower while Grandma, Grandpa and Grandma Mery sat in the living room watching him.  When he got the last ball through the top of the tower, Daddy led everyone in cheering and clapping for Alex's accomplishment.

He wasn't sure why we were all clapping, since he'd done that plenty of times before, but he was sure flattered!

April 4, 2009 

Yay Bacon! At Dinner??

[Transcribed from video]

Tonight, we all headed out to dinner at IHOP. There, he learned how to blow kisses. Soon he was doing it to everyone.  He must have been really happy to be having pancakes and bacon at dinner. He cheered "Yay! Bacon! Yay! Pancakes!"

I was told that he also formed a fully correct sentence while I had gotten up from the table.  When I returned, Dan and Mery told me that he asked "Where is Mama?"

Soon enough, he'd had his fill of pancakes and bacon and was asking "Down!" He even tried to undo his own highchair straps.  Slow down there, little dude!

April 3, 2009

Serious Reader

[Transcribed from video]
Tonight, as Grandma and Grandpa got ready for bed, Alex laid down on his zoo blanket and held his own story time. He laid onto his back, crossed his legs and rested his Trucks book on his leg.  From there, he held forth about the "car" and the "truck" in the book. He wasn't very interested in going to bed himself.

We played his Lullaby Baby Einstein video and even tried to show him that Blink-Blink was drinking his milk.  It took a while to work.

April 3, 2009

A Visit to Stepping Stones

[Transcribed from video]

The week of adventure continued today with a visit to Stepping Stones Museum in Norwalk, Connecticut. The last time we were here, Alex didn't really get it.  This time around, though? Boy! Did he get it! There was so much to explore in the Toddler Room.  There were climby-spaces, soft couches with books and puzzles. There was a slide and Alex went down all by himself! (Well, grandma had to show him how to get back up to the top of it.)
But the best was yet to come. There was...the Water Room!

Running water that pushed boats through! Balls that went down a drain and down through a tube to a tub below. Pumps that pushed water out! He got so excited when he saw that he could make the water come out. There were even plastic animal toys that looked like Loki! Alex identified the "Crab!" in a "conch shell" too. 

What splashy, boaty, wavy, messy fun!

As fun as the water room was, it seemed to pale in comparison to the giant dig-digs outside. They were remodeling the Bubble Yard. We even got to watch the construction workers while we had lunch at the cafeteria. They looked just like Alex's construction magnet play book!

The best part was that he got to play with Grandma through it all. Wow!

April 2, 2009

A Visit to Earthplace

[transcribed from video]

Today Alex and I went with Abuela, Abuelo and Abuela Mery to Earthplace in Westport, Connecticut. This nature museum had a fantastic children's room where Alex had a ball. First, he played with Abuela and Mery at a magnet table at which they made spiders and insects move. They played with a pin impression board at which Alex was amazed each time Abuela pushed the pins back out from the other side. He was wise to it when he ran around to the other side, though. When we passed a playroom with a tree, Alex declared “What's that? Is that a tree??” Then he saw the fish tank. “Fish!” he cried. We had to keep pulling him back away from it to see more things.

He really loved the guinea pigs in their animal exhibits. “Guinea pig!” he laughed. The snake – not so much.

His real favorite spot was the playroom in which he'd spotted the tree. There were TOYS there! That was a bigger attraction than the fishtank, I think. Well, that and the sound shore exhibit with the stuffed birds.   Then there was the really BIG attraction of the playground outside.  See, Earthplace is also a nursery school. They had climby-places and kitchens and playhouses.  We needed luck getting him out of there.  Of course, we couldn't without a stop at the gift shop where Grandpa bought him a can that bleats like a goat.  It cracked Alex up!

We stopped at an Italian restaurant for some dinner and he got a free cookie from a nice man there who bought one from the bakery next door.   He conked out on the way home, but woke up just in time to see Daddy when we picked him up from work.
 
What a big day!  
 

April 1, 2009