Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Little Miss Green Bean

Look, I can't really complain much about my daughter. She has been ridiculously easy. She sleeps well. She eats well. She's silly and funny. She doesn't cry all that much. When it's time for her to take a nap or go to bed, 98% of the time all I have to do is lay her down in her crib and then walk out of the room. And she puts herself to sleep. Seriously.

All that being said, she is somewhat fickle about food. She eats a lot of food, but she likes what she likes and that's all there is to it. She also is very situational about food. She'll eat almost anything in a restaurant setting, but, if I offer her the same food sitting in her high chair in our home, she feels like we are torturing her. It makes me want to bang my head against a wall.

When she was only eating spoon fed, pureed baby food, she ate everything I put in front of her. Fruits, veggies... ESPECIALLY veggies. She LOVED pureed green beans, spinach, peas... my happy little veggie eater.

Then, when we did away with baby food and switched to solid, finger foods... well it all just went topsy turvy. Vegetables? Are you kidding? No way, Jose. She was NOT. HAVING. IT. She would do one of two things:

Option 1: Look at the food and refuse to even touch it.

Option 2: Grab the food, touch it barely to her tongue and then spit it out like I had given her something soaked in poison and gasoline.

Before you ask, YES, I did try to hide it in other things. I'd smush the veggies and put it in something else and try to get her to eat it other ways. My little smarty pants has her own personal filter. She'd eat the good stuff and spit out the veggies. Driving me insane.

So... she just hasn't been eating veggies. She eats breads, fruits, dairy and meat. A couple times a week I would spoon feed her some green beans or carrots just to get some veggies in her so she has the nutrients. She loves the pureed stuff. Over the last few months I've tried several times to offer her solid veggies. She's always incredibly offended that they are on her tray.

Until tonight.

I opened a can of green beans. I put some on her tray while I was cutting up her chicken nuggets. At first she cried, and then did the "HURRY UP WITH THE GOOD STUFF, MOM!" holler that she always does. But I took my time cutting up the chicken. And then... I watched her put a green bean in her mouth.

She spit it out. She stared at it in her hand. Then she put it back in.

Then she popped another one in her mouth. Then another. Then another.

SHOVELING THEM INTO HER MOUTH, Y'ALL.

I then transformed into a total spaz (it happens somewhat frequently) and I danced and twirled around the kitchen with great joy for this little victory.

I then would run into Grant's office every 90 seconds to let him know that she was still eating green beans.

"She's still eating them!!! She's had like 15!!!"

(90 seconds later)

"Grant. GRANT!!! Our daughter is eating a vegetable. A VEGETABLE. YEAAAAHHHH BABY!!"

(90 seconds later) (I do a leap into his office)

"HIGH FIVE ME"

For some reason he was somewhat annoyed with this little display of enthusiasm. Can't imagine why. Maybe it's cause he was trying to work? I'm not sure.

Here's the thing. I need to bring myself down to some kind of normal. I'm well aware that I could offer these tomorrow and she could be like, "Meh. Something else, please."

My mind is running wild with veggies I could try again. Carrots! Peas! Broccoli!

Of course, I had to take a picture.



ELLIE PAIGE. LET'S KEEP THIS GOING.

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Let Me Give You a Little Piece of Advice

I go to Target often. Multiple times a week, sometimes. Look, I'm not proud of it.

Okay, I'm kind of proud of it.

It really got bad when my Target started selling basic groceries. They don't have all the options that HEB has, and they are not as well priced, but the fact that I can get decorative items, some new pajama pants, nail polish remover, Q-tips, chicken breasts, yogurt, salad, new dog bowls for Moxie, and a wide variety of flavored puffs for Ellie... well, that's just a gift. Cause you know what's not fun? Getting Ellie in and out of the hot car in multiple crowded parking lots. I like one stop shopping, is what I'm trying to say.

I love Target and it also scares me. I sometimes tend to lose control. But, since Ellie has been born, I've tried my best to rein it in. I'll be in the home decor aisles and I'll see a throw pillow, a decorative mirror, or a lovely, scented candle in a cute jar (oh, do not even get me started on the candles, they are my weakness) and I will put it in my basket. Perhaps I'm in the accessories area and a beaded necklace is calling my name. Into the big red basket it goes! But then, I start thinking about all the necessary items in my cart, such as diapers and food and a birthday gift for so-and-so, and I almost always end up putting that unnecessary decorative item back on the shelf. 

And then I pat myself on the back for all the self-control I'm displaying. 

Cause I don't need that candle. That's $10.99 that I don't really need to spend.

Fast forward to today.

We've been re-doing the dining room. I needed a cute, decorative centerpiece for the dining room table. I suddenly thought of a cute little knick-knack at Target that I've almost bought 12 times in the last 3 months. It's $24.99. Not extraordinarily expensive, but not a priority item. But today... after all the paint and new draperies, I feel like this little decorative item would add just the right touch of color and happiness to the new room.

After Ellie woke up from her afternoon nap, we headed out to Target to get a few grocery items as well as the $24.99 little floral arrangement. 

Side note: I think it's cute that Ellie totally knows where she is when we walk into Target. We clearly go there too much. As soon as we walk in she starts bouncing and pointing. 

Anyways, we checked off everything on the list. And then we went to home decor.

Y'all. It wasn't there. 

My little item that I've put back on the shelf with an abundance of self-discipline. 

Gone.

Nothing like it in its place.

Just, gone. 

I went up and down multiple aisles. "Maybe they've moved it", I thought. But, alas, it was nowhere to be found.

And then I proceeded to try to find something else that would work. But nothing really measured up. So, the moral of the story is:

When you see something you like at Target, you just need to go ahead and buy it. 

You're welcome.