Toddler Times

No. No no. No? No! Noooo.

All of our daughter's variations of her favorite word. 

Did you have fun at school today?  No. Did you paint at school today?  No. Did you go outside today? No.
Oftentimes, she thinks it's funny.  She'll start out serious but be giggling by the end. Or she'll say no, and then look at you with the biggest grin. She's a ham, just like her dad.

The tantrums seem to come out of nowhere,  and they are so dramatic.  Sometimes I wonder how different her behavior would be if she didn't go to daycare.   I feel like that's where she learned dramatic whining.  I know that's where she learned hitting, but it's also where she's learning lots of good things.  Everyday she surprises me with a new word.  This week she's even saying short,  intelligible sentences.

We Love to Eat!

I'm not sure why, but my husband and I are grasping at straws figuring out what to feed our toddler.  We've heard that they can eat what we eat.  She's got most of her teeth already, and always wants whatever we're having, but there are definitely some things we're afraid to share - spicy, rich, highly salted, lots of sugar foods.  My personal favorites to buy her are Baby Mum-mums and Ella's Kitchen snacks because the servings are individually wrapped; meaning perfect for car rides or on-the-go meltdown preventers.  Of course, I'm still training myself to consistently pack them in the diaper bag...

Cheerios, oatmeal, and other easy to grab items have been suggested, which then seem super obvious; however, any of the prepackaged or even the old standbys are all carbs! 

Then I realized how unhealthy my husband and I eat on a regular basis.  It's sad in one way and annoying in another because we thought we were fairly healthy.  Plus, it's a huge lifestyle change and investment to truly eat healthy.  A dream of mine is to have our own vegetable garden, but we don't have the yard space where we live now, or the right amount of sunlight.  I'm not even saying we have to go all organic, but eating fresh food instead of processed food all the time would be a nice big step in the right direction. 

The other night, our daughter and I were sitting on the sofa watching The Voice while husband was taking a nap (he was working the overnight shift).  We were eating milk and cookies (chocolate chip is my favorite) for dessert.  I had a turkey, cheese, and spicy brown mustard sandwich for dinner, and Little Bit was eating bits of the turkey out of the bag like there was no tomorrow.  My brain kept flashing words like SODIUM NITRATES and HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP as I shared my meal with her.             

Ok, so all that was written about a month ago.  We're a little better, but not tons at feeding a family of 3 instead of 2.  She dose eat sandwiches now, so she's getting the sodium nitrates, but her new school feeds them well, so at least I know she's eating right there.

I've just been told my blood pressure is high so I need to do a low fat diet.  Since we have 10 pints of ice cream in the freezer, and some cocoa dusted truffles (palm oil and probably straight lard), I'm not starting my "diet" right away.  My next excuse will be that our kitchen isn't big enough to cook the kind of food I want to eat.  Always something.  Either way,  buying to feed three is still a challenge because she doesn't eat as much as we do, but enough that we can't keep sharing our meals with her. Send along any advice or tips, please.  

P.S. - she's a total Louisiana girl!  She loves all the staple foods, like shrimp, snoballs, red beans, and jambalaya.