Toddler Food

Carter is a good eater. He eats a good mix of foods, and we really shouldn't complain about his eating habits. But sometimes we do.

He is getting quite a bit more finicky lately. In typical toddler fashion, it's not so much about one food versus another, its about him asserting his independance. One day he'll eat something, the next day he'll refuse. And, in general, Carter isn't fond of is leftovers. If I reheat something, he's not into it. It's as if he knows I didn't put out sufficient effort.

So, I've discovered a trick that (so far) virtually guarantees that he'll eat what we give him. If he helps cook it, he'll eat it (he's also guaranteed to eat it if it is a waffle or mac n' cheese).

I've been letting Carter help pour, mix and season his food. We watch the toaster oven or the microwave, and I talk to him about what we're doing. Even if its as simple as letting him hold the peppermill while I put a tiny bit of pepper on the leftovers before they go in the microwave, the participation is sufficient to get him to eat the food. The first night I tried this trick, he wolfed down an entire fillet of asian-spiced tilapia and green beans. Another night, in my desparation to find something he could sprinkle on some leftover lima beans, I chose a spice that was a bit too spicy. It was clear that Carter's mouth was on FIRE, but he refused to stop eating. Fire-mouth aside, the only other problem is the time it takes to get the food from the heat source to his plate. He's not fond of waiting for the food he has prepared to cool down!

As with most toddler tricks, I don't expect this to work for long... but I've gotten a week out of it, so that's something!

Words

Carter continues to pick up words at his own pace, but they are coming decidely faster these days (or, more likely, we're starting to understand what he's been saying all along). Here are a few of his favorite words these days:

food (na-na)
waffle
lunchbox (unbaugh)
the door (da doh - always ending on a very high pitch, as if asking "[who's at] the door?")
oh no (ooooooh nooooo!)
elmo
Thomas (dada)
Me (mama)
milk (ma-ma)
more (ma, most often: ma-ma-ma-ma)

Yes, those last three are a bit confusing.

Children's Museum

Pics from our trip to the children's museum yesterday:

New Read-Aloud Books

Another thing Carter and I did this weekend was to go to the bookstore to spend a gift certificate he got for Christmas. We got Where the Wild Things Are, one of my all time favorite books to read aloud. We also found two new books that I really like! The title of Llama Llama Mad at Mama immediately caught my eye. The story is told in rhymes and hilarious pictures, and it details a fairly realistic experience of shopping with a little one. The other one we found was Ten Terrible Dinosaurs, by the author of Dinosaur Roar (also a favorite of ours). It's a counting backwards book that starts with ten exuberant dinosaurs, and it has a really fun ending to read aloud.

Just in case you were looking for a good toddler/pre-schooler read!

While Dad's Away...

Thomas had to make a quick weekend trip to NYC for work this weekend, so Carter and I had the weekend to ourselves. I took Carter to his swim class for the first time on Saturday (my first class, not his - Thomas usually takes him). Apparently, I lucked out and got the first warm water of the session. We also made another frigid trip to the zoo (that's the only time we seem to go!). Here are a few other things we did:

We cooked

We went to the Children's Museum (more pics from that adventure later)

We bought a potty!

We aren't actually potty training yet, but we're working on potty awareness, and when Carter saw this at the store, he got very excited, so I wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to bring it home! If you can't tell from the photo, its a Sponge Bob Square Pants potty. And Carter mostly wore it on his head this afternoon, but I didn't manage to catch that with the camera!

Last Day at the Beach

Today was our last full day at the beach, and finally, we had sun! Tomorrow afternoon, we head back to Atlanta. Here are some pics from our day.

Lounging in the morning

It was sunny today, but COLD!
The house where my family stayed when we were here several years ago
Our bad "carma" strikes. First time since we've owned the car, though. Four months is pretty good for my family. (A big thanks to my dad for getting us supplied with important car stuff just in the nick of time!)
A lovely beach sunset

Rainy Day at the Beach

We may be missing out on the snow in Atlanta, but we got plenty of precipitation down here too. When it rains all day, you have to find ways to occupy yourself, so...

We drove by the World's Smallest Police Station in Carrabelle, Florida.
Carter practiced his photography.
We enjoyed some treats.
And we put stuff on our heads.

Chasing a Seagull

The first thing Carter did when we went down to the beach was to follow the seagulls around. Here's a video. I'm hoping to get a video of feeding the seagulls tomorrow.

St. George Island

We arrived at St. George Island right on time - at 2:30am last night. Thankfully, Carter slept for most of the way. We were happy to see Cart Cart when we arrived, and we were grateful that he got up to let us in in the middle of the night!

It's chilly here, but it's the beach (and we have internet access)! Here are some pictures from our day (which included 4hr naps for Carter and me).

Headed South

I'm headed back to Atlanta this afternoon. The boys will pick me up at the airport and we'll head to Florida. I promise to take lots of pictures for blogging when we get back, but we'll likely be offline for the next few days. Happy MLK weekend!