A real human being

Zoe's appetite is growing (and getting pickier) and she's giving me a run for my money!  No longer can I just rely on the "same old stuff" I used to give her ... I now have to come up with new food to give her or she won't eat it!

Example #1: The same Gerber probiotic oatmeal + apple sauce (or any other fruit I have on hand) that I've been feeding her for breakfast for months is no longer good to her. She spits it out immediately.  If I feed her the same lunch or dinner too many times, she doesn't hesitate to let me know she's "not feelin' it".  She hardly will even eat the Gerber veggie purees anymore, either.

Example #2: Before, I used to get away with mixing the puree with rice or oatmeal and we'll call it a day.  Now she wants "real people" food ... I guess because she's a "real human being".  Before Zoe was like a garbage disposal -- I could give her anything and she'd eat it with a smile.  Now, she has to be in the "mood" for certain things or if she doesn't like the way something looks or it's color, I have to convince her first that it's yummy.  While I used to complain about my garbage disposal child, I must admit that I kind of miss the ease that came with that phase =).

Example #3: She's also quite unpredictable these days ... one day she'll LOVE hard boiled eggs and the next day she'll look at me like I'm a crazy woman for trying to feed it to her.  Now that she's a "real person" she basically eats whatever Mike and I eat (or a slightly modified version of it) ... which means I have to make sure our meals are well-balanced and suitable for a growing toddler (oy!).  I'm glad she's still enjoying her veggie-fruit smoothies ... that way, I at least know she's getting her nutrients.

Yesterday, Zoe and I went to Walmart to do some light shopping.  Light shopping turned out to be $75 worth of mostly Zoe food ... whole wheat raisin bread, whole wheat blueberry waffles, yogurt, veggies, etc. etc.  Since she loves to snack I'm trying to make sure I have "healthy" options for her to snack on so I try to get whole grains and stuff like that.  It's kind of different shopping for a little toddler.  I've been so used to not buying all this stuff (i.e. bread) since Mike and I don't really eat them but I know a growing kids needs a variety of things to eat (bread being one of them).  Talk about pressure!! Hahahaha!  I know I have a LONG road ahead of me when it comes to finding stuff to feed my family so I might as well get used to it and practice as much as I can in ways to make our meals creative, healthy AND delicious!