Zoe and Silas crack me up. They are beginning to figure out their likes and dislikes in the world. They are learning about human agency -- that they can make choices and impose those choices on the world (i.e., mostly on their parents and each other).
Most of the choices they can make at this stage are related to what toys to play with and what foods to eat. Food is placed on their trays at mealtime and it is up to them to feed themselves. You really can't force a kid to eat something they don't want to, and there is definitely no reasoning with a 15-month-old.
One day they might like one thing (frittatas), but not another (beans). A day later, they refuse the frittata, but they are all over beans. Zoe tends to be very skeptical of anything we try to feed her and she usually turns her head away. The food has to be placed on her tray for her to look at it, touch it, and ultimately decide if she wants to put it in her mouth. The main exception to this is oatmeal or cream of wheat, which she gets very excited for me to feed her every morning.
These guys definitely keep me on my toes and force me to think quickly and creatively much of the time. Tonight they were refusing a frittata for dinner. We are trying to avoid getting into the habit of making another meal if they refuse the food they are offered. I think this sets up a bad habit and expectation for picky preschoolers. But the risk is that they will not eat anything for dinner, and then what? I have seen in the past that they like to use toddler-size forks. They did pretty well eating spaghetti for lunch today,
At dinner when they weren't touching the frittata, I decided to get the forks out of the dishwasher and see what happened...
Most of the choices they can make at this stage are related to what toys to play with and what foods to eat. Food is placed on their trays at mealtime and it is up to them to feed themselves. You really can't force a kid to eat something they don't want to, and there is definitely no reasoning with a 15-month-old.
One day they might like one thing (frittatas), but not another (beans). A day later, they refuse the frittata, but they are all over beans. Zoe tends to be very skeptical of anything we try to feed her and she usually turns her head away. The food has to be placed on her tray for her to look at it, touch it, and ultimately decide if she wants to put it in her mouth. The main exception to this is oatmeal or cream of wheat, which she gets very excited for me to feed her every morning.
These guys definitely keep me on my toes and force me to think quickly and creatively much of the time. Tonight they were refusing a frittata for dinner. We are trying to avoid getting into the habit of making another meal if they refuse the food they are offered. I think this sets up a bad habit and expectation for picky preschoolers. But the risk is that they will not eat anything for dinner, and then what? I have seen in the past that they like to use toddler-size forks. They did pretty well eating spaghetti for lunch today,
At dinner when they weren't touching the frittata, I decided to get the forks out of the dishwasher and see what happened...
They ate the whole darned thing! Apparently working hard at using the forks distracted them from not being 100% sold on the food. Genius.
(Notice in the pictures they are both holding the forks in their left hand. I've just noticed they are both consistently doing this with silverware. Will we have two lefties in our house?!)
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