munchkin meals: 18 months

MacKenna had her 18 month check-up on Monday.  She is now 17 lbs 11 oz, 28 1/2 inches tall, and is ahead developmentally despite her small size.  The doctor kept commenting on how funny Kenna is, which is so true!  Kenna just kept on asking, “All done?”  Her least favorite place to be in the world is the doctor’s office (especially the eye doctor) and she was done by the time we walked in.  But, she did great and is growing right along her curve.

The pediatrician always asks about her eating habits.  Of course, I had to tell her about how picky MacKenna is and how she would rather eat crackers than anything else.  The doctor’s response?  “Well, don’t give her crackers!”  Easier said then done!  Unfortunately, she can communicate everything she wants (and also is a girl who knows exactly what she wants), so all we hear is “cracker” and “cookie” (fig newtons or graham crackers) all the time.  However, in the year since we’ve started solids, she’s come a long way and I’m pretty pleased with how she’s been eating lately.

Someone didn’t get Dada’s snack and was really ticked off about it.

MacKenna is at the point where she would much rather be eating what we’re eating.  We’ve been trying more and more to give her what we’re eating for dinner instead of making her her own thing.  For the most part, she does pretty well with what we’re eating.  Her favorite is still pizza, but she absolutely LOVES quinoa and I am usually able to sneak some broccoli or tomatoes in there for some added nutrition.  We were also really surprised when she loved our frittata we made that was stuffed full of veggies.  She won’t eat them on their own, but she’s more than happy to gobble them up in other foods!

We’ve made a few discoveries lately.  One is that Kenna absolutely LOVES bananas and raisins!  Um, happy mama right here!  She can have all the bananas and raisins she wants!  We also figured out that she is definitely NOT allergic to peanuts, thank goodness!  We buy a trail mix that has a ton of nuts and peanuts in it.  While I was eating it one day, she kept asking begging for some, so I picked out some of the raisins (no nuts of course since she’s still too young) and gave them to her with no reaction (also how I realized she loved raisins).  She also had a peanut butter dessert this past weekend and LOVED it.  Bring on the PB&J’s!

My absolute favorite thing she’s been doing lately is eating snacks with me.  As soon as we get home, she runs over to the fridge, asks for milk and a snack, and we cuddle up on the couch and eat our snacks together.  It is one of my favorite parts of my day!  It’s probably not the best habit to get in to and my couch has definitely seen better days now (thanks to her milk exploding all over the microfiber cushions), but I’m not going to deny her or myself of that time together.

While MacKenna is still picky, she really has been doing great lately and has been open to trying new foods.  I’m so thankful that she will at least choose some healthy items over non-healthy ones.  I just wish she knew how to say “broccoli” instead of “cookie”, “cracker”, and “pizza”.

Does your child ask for healthy foods or do they only want those “sometimes” foods?