Food Confessions

Since I'm apparently in confessional mode here on the blog, I figured I should come clean about my recent slacking. When we first started Ethan on solids, I was so careful about what went in his body. I made everything he ate, choosing organic and local foods where possible (the only non-organic was bananas because those are clean enough). I scolded when Ethan got bites of Cool Whip or Jello from his daddy (not scolding Ethan, obviously, but his enabler). I made sure that Ethan got the best nutritional start I could give him.

Then he started finger foods. At first, I kept up with all organics. Cheese, veggies, yogurt, cereal, etc. Then he started refusing different textures, and I had to find a way to get him to still eat fruits and veggies other than just giving him purees. Enter the freeze-dried fruits. Now, in my defense, they are at least all natural, containing nothing but the fruit, but they aren't organic. That was probably the beginning of the end. Next came the cereals since Ethan started getting into his daddy's Honey Nut Cheerios, and, let's be honest, non-organic cereals are so much cheaper. Then Ethan started refusing to eat his yogurt, but he would still take bites of mine. So in an effort to get more protein into him, I began just giving him my yogurt instead, which, while not organic, at least doesn't have any artificial sugars in it.

Eventually, it just became a matter of finding things he would eat. Chicken fingers and french fries when we're eating out? Sure. At least he's eating meat. Pancakes covered in syrup? Look at how happy he is! Then Daddy began sharing his Christmas candy loot so Ethan got his first tastes of chocolate and began a new obsession: gummies. He will now point to the cabinet and exclaim, "Bear!" when he wants them. He knows I will never give them to him, but if Daddy is around, he can usually charm his way to sharing a small handful. It still drives me nuts because I really don't want him eating things like that, but at the same time, I guess there's something to be said for moderation.

So there you have it, the mom who was so picky about what her child ate when he was an infant is now letting him have refined sugars and even the occasional fast food french fry. I still try to give him nutritionally balanced meals, and at least we eat at home most days, but about the only organic he gets now is his milk. I'm hopeful that once he starts doing better with textures I will be able to give him more variety, but for now I'm just taking small victories whenever I can get them (like the fact that he ate a good bit of the pork tenderloin I made on Friday and didn't even spit any out! Or that I can get some spinach in him when he takes sips of my daily green smoothie!). Maybe the first several months of careful attention will help balance out this inbetween time?