Would You Like Ranch With That?

Surely, I'm not the only Mommy out there to complain about how picky of an eater her child is, one at age 3 nonetheless. And, I definitely realize that I am not in the best position to talk about picky eaters, considering I am one of the most picky eaters that I know. I have been all of my life. Do I wish that I liked more foods? Absolutely. Is it harder than it seems to be a picky eater? Definitely. Perhaps this is what makes it so hard for me to sit back and raise/accept a picky eater.

This isn't new territory either. Nolan has been battling this problem since 6 months old. He took on wonderfully to breastfeeding, I honestly can't believe how easy I had it - especially compared to some of the horrible stories I've heard other new mothers go through. It was a few short months afterwards that the trouble began. When he was a baby, the child did not, would not, could not eat baby food. Cereal was a no. Fruits were a no. Veggies were a definite no. Everything. Was. A. No. It was horrible and caused so much frustration and stress. So much so, that we came extremely close to seeing an occupational therapist about it. Nolan ended up beginning "table foods" at a much earlier age than most. Cottage cheese, applesauce, bananas, yogurt all became a quick favorite because it's all that he would accept. He also has one of the worst gag reflexes I've ever seen, and that's been in place since the 6 month time frame. Perhaps all of the above are reasons he just got back on the growth charts about a year ago....at a whooping 3rd or 5th percentile - but progress for us!  Did I mention that he's still only weighing in at 27, sometimes 28 lbs?

Today, we still battle meals. If I could take the child to Red Lobster every single day, he'd be much bigger...no doubt. The little tyke can put down crab legs like nobody's business. That is the one restaurant where we can rest assured he'll get some calories. He loves their salad. He loves their shrimp. He LOVES their crab legs. What doesn't he like there? The cheddar biscuits - seriously, what's wrong with this kid?!?!

He is also a sweet-a-holic. He would never pass up an opportunity to eat a sweet. Recently, at school, they celebrated the 100th day. They asked each child what they wish they had 100 of. Nolan's response? 100 donut holes. We've started to crack down more and more on the sweets at home. The deal has become if he eats dinner well (which probably is pretty low to most people's standards) and tries his food rather than refusing it, then he can have a bedtime snack of his choice. Some days it works well and other days he goes to bed somewhat hungry because we refuse to give in to the sweets and he fights back by keeping control of not eating the "healthy" foods.

I truly think we've tried every recommendation under the sun in the past 3+ years. Unfortunately, we still haven't found one that has a whole lot of success. We have, however, gotten pretty good at finding "tricks" to make him eat (PS Ranch and Ketchup make a WORLD of a difference). Below are a few of them:

Yes, that's an octopus hot dog.

Carrots with smiley faces.

A creative "green bean sandwich" with 2 of his favorites: croutons and ranch.

...And this last one is NOT one of the above, but for his bedtime snack tonight, he grabbed one of his personal favorites and said to himself, "I just love these!"

We're hoping that there is just 1 one thing that Baby #2 does not get from his big brother: his eating habits. Every other aspect of Nolan, I would be more than happy to see repeated. This has led me to the decision that I am going to make my own baby food with this next one. Hopefully, I'll see a difference.