Adventures in Baby Food

My good eaters are back! Life is sooo much easier when they eat what you make...the first time! Full bellies make for happier babies and less preparation and throwing food away makes for a much happier me. So all around eating is a good thing. The transition off of formula has been great for Ella & Clayton. We still give them a bottle of formula before bed, but we will probably cut that soon if this keeps up. They love their whole milk and have started drinking juice an water really well from their sippies so hopefully we will be washing far fewer bottles very soon. Also a good thing!

I spent the weekend prepping food to freeze. I am always on the lookout for nutritious stuff that freezes well and thaws quickly and if you can mix in multiple food groups in the same step, even better! Sorry lots of exclamation points this post... Sunday I cooked up 3 varieties of meatballs which totally fit all of my criteria. We have beef/califlower/ricotta, chicken/ginger/carrot/celery, & turkey/brocolli/cheddar hanging out in the deep freeze downstairs (best baby purchase ever!!). I tasted them all and I must say that if the kids don't eat them we will. E&C just had noodles and meatballs of the beef/califlower variety after their squash/yogurt/applesauce puree (like I said, lots of food groups together) for lunch and it went over quite well, so hopefully they like the rest of my concoctions just as much. For breakfast they had scrambled eggs w/ broccoli and cheese and some toast. Mya needs to get her solids yet today and I think I will serve another of the banana-avocoado smoothies she had over the weekend and loved. It just occurred to me that all I have had today is a banana and a bowl of cereal, so we know where my priorities lie.

Their distinct eating habits are cracking us up. Ella eats with both hands (whether or not you are feeding her from a spoon) She puts a fistful in her mouth with one hand and simultaneously digs a few bits out with the other. Then she usually runs her messy hands through her hair or in her eyes. By the end of the meal she has herself, the floor and the high chair completely covered with food. We often wonder if any of it actually makes it to her tummy. Clayton is quite the prissy eater. He usually makes it to the end of the meal with very little on himself. He doesn't like to touch slimy foods, but will eat them if you hand feed him. High maintenance? He does often finish the meal with the messy hands to the hair as well, so obviously we need to work on other ways to communicate that we are finished.