Skip to main content

Happy Third Birthday! -- and my last blog post

Henry turns three years old today and he is so excited for his birthday. 
A birthday high-five! Henry requested peanut butter toast and a strawberry banana smoothie for his birthday breakfast.
This weekend, we'll celebrate with family. By special request, Henry's Grandma and Nana are baking a rainbow cake that I am sure will be a highlight of the day. Henry says that his birthday wish will be to ride a real elephant (unfortunately, I don't think Daddy or I will be able to make that dream come true).
We recently upgrade Henry's plates, bowls and cups from plastic to ceramic and glass. He was excited to find his new "big kid" dishes in the cupboard last week and has been very careful with them. If one does break, he is old enough now to help clean up.
It's been quite a while since I last posted so I think it is time for me to officially close out this blog.

Thank you for everyone who joined in on Henry's childhood food journey. I hope you enjoyed reading about our experiences from Henry's first bites to his toddler whims. Personally, this has been a rewarding and creative media for me to document our family's adventures, to learn more about childhood nutrition, to examine our family's cultural beliefs about eating, and to connect with other parents.

Maybe you've even be inspired to tried out a few new recipes with your family. These four have been the most popular recipe posts on this blog:
  1. Quick No-Pastry Vegetable Quiche
  2. Veggie Pizza Muffins
  3. Savory Breakfast Muffins
  4. Vanilla Spice Sweet Potato Fries
We have been trying out some new pre-dinner activities at restaurants recently. A few of our favorites for keeping Henry occupied while we wait for our food are Tegu blocks, ImagineInk coloring books, finger puppets, and mini games from Imagine I Can and Haba.
Looking back at the goals I set out with on this blog, I believe we are on the path to nurturing a love of good food in our son. 
  • Henry enjoys eating foods from cultures around the world, from pho and fajitas to sushi and schnitzel. There are only three foods that Henry refuses to eat: eggs, mashed potatoes and melon. We'll keep offering them and maybe one day he might decide that he likes them. I have updated his current list of favorite foods at the end of the "About Us" page. 
  • Henry is growing up healthy and strong. He has always been petite, but we don't worry that he is not eating enough. His growth curve remains steady and he has not experienced any ear infections since he had the ear tube procedure. We have learned to trust that he really can listen to his own body and decide how much to eat (or not to eat). It is our job as parents to keep offering a wide variety of balanced foods.
  • Henry is learning about where food comes from by helping in the garden, and by visiting farms and markets throughout the year.
  • We all enjoy cooking and eating together, although I aspire to include Henry in more meal-making activities. Sometimes, I forget what he is capable of achieving.
Henry practices using training chopsticks to eat gyoza.
Thank you again for following along over the past 2.5 years. And please join me in wishing HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Henry!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook

UPDATE (10/2/12): Unfortunately, I did not hear back from our original winner. Congratulations to our alternate winner for "The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook" -- Robin Pfefer. UPDATE (9/29/12): I am happy to announce that Kashia Clopper is the winner of "The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook". When I was first thinking about using the Baby-Led Weaning (BLW) model for Henry, I was unsure about whether it would really work. I was excited about BLW’s claims of less stressful meals that the whole family could share together. Plus, I was all for encouraging Henry to gain new skills by learning about the shapes, textures, colors, smells and flavors of food. This sounded ideal in theory, but would it work in practice? After some fun but ineffective attempts at letting Henry feed himself, I went in search of resources to learn more about BLW. I needed to learn how to prepare meals for our family in which Henry could participate. That’s when I found “ The Baby-Led ...
16 comments
Read more

Do Your Kids Eat Everything?

UPDATE (3/15/2013): Congratulations to Kia as the random drawing winner in this giveaway! Thank you to all those who entered this contest.  Before we began our food adventure with Henry, Daddy and I had many conversations about how to encourage Henry to become “a good eater.” After watching other parents constantly struggle with their toddlers, we wanted to know if there was anything we could do from the start to prevent picky eating. That’s when we read “ French Kids Eat Everything ” by Karen Le Billon . The book is an easy and enjoyable read about the year that Karen’s family spent in France and how it changed the way her family eats. The heart of the book explores the 10 French Food Rules for raising happy, healthy eaters. “French Kids Eat Everything” sparked numerous discussions at our dinner table about how our family eats. We have become more conscious of our assumptions about food and how that will influence Henry’s understanding of mealtimes. In addition,...
17 comments
Read more

Tuesday Tip for Picky Eaters: Set a good example

This week’s Tuesday Tip for Picky Eaters: Set a good example. As parents, we are the first role models for Henry. He will learn from our example, so Daddy and I need to eat our fruits and vegetables too. I am not a big fan of mango, but I let Henry watch me eat it with a smile on my face. Then he wants to try some mango too. Henry is more likely to eat fruits and vegetables when he sees Mommy and Daddy eat them too. A recent study confirmed that when parents lead by example their children have a more nutritious diet. The best way to inspire healthy eating habits is to demonstrate them first-hand to your children. Another study found that when parents ate an extra serving of fruit or vegetables each day, their child ate an additional half serving. Yes, it is important to talk with kids about food. But don’t just tell your child to eat their vegetables, let them see you eating a balanced meal that includes plenty of fruits and veggies. It may not always seem like it,...
3 comments
Read more