Ethan's New Food - Day One

Here is how the first day of trying to help Ethan eat more balanced went.....

Breakfast - One his plate, I had 2 slices of bacon (typical), and instead of a Pop-Tart or cereal bar, I placed an Apples & Cinnamon Oatmeal breakfast bar. Even though the oatmeal bar has more sugar than one Pop-Tart, there is a lot more fiber, so it will keep him full longer. He ate the whole thing! And, actually, there was a little bit of bacon left on his plate when he was done....and that NEVER happens. This kid LOVES bacon. I also gave him a drink of 1/2 water & 1/2 V8 Fusion Concord Grape Raspberry...and he drank it all! YEAH! So for breakfast, he had more fiber & more fruit than usual. We are off to a great start!!!

Lunch - He & his cousin split a can of Chef Boyardee Whole Grain Mini ABC's & 123's with Meatballs. Again, this is something that he typically will eat but this time I bought the whole grain option. It does have more fiber, and they also claim that there is a full serving of vegetables in every bowl....so there are some veggies this meal. He doesn't eat much of it...maybe 1/4 of a can, but it also mixed with our new fruit snacks. If he takes 2 bites, then he gets a fruit snack. When he tells me, "All done"....then I don't push it anymore.

Snack - For snack today, I simply pulled out the Phineas and Ferb Summer Punch / Perry Punch GoGurt box...and all of the kids went nuts! They were ALL so excited! Ethan kept saying, "This one? This one?" It was awesome! So....all 3 kiddos had a GoGurt. Ethan had four tiny bites before saying all done. I'm calling this one a success!!! 4 bites of yogurt is HUGE!!!! Thank you Phineas and Ferb!!!! He also had his Goldfish as well.

Dinner - Tonight we had tacos for dinner. We have tried to give Ethan tacos before, but he always ended up gagging & asking if he could, "Pleh." So, tonight, I just put some of the taco meat in a bowl...with a bit of ketchup. He took SEVERAL bites of it without me having to ask him to take another bite....he did it all on his own! This is PROTEIN! And we use ground turkey instead of ground beef....so this was REALLY amazing! Shortly after dinner, however, he did ask for a Pop-Tart. And I gave him his request. I felt like he had tried a TON of new things & done very well, so he could still have his beloved Pop-Tarts. So, he ate these while we went on a bike ride.

Another Snack - Later in the evening, he asked for his chicken nuggets. Then he asked for fruit snacks. When I asked him if he was hungry, he said yes. So, I cut up a a banana, placed it on toothpicks & gave it to him along with his old fruit snacks. He ate is all & asked for more....and I obliged.

So, all in all, a VERY good day...eating-wise. No pressure...just try it & see. Oh....he was interested in the watermelon that I had cut up today, and he tried a bite. However, he just held it in his cheek for about 5 minutes & then spit it out. Maybe we aren't ready for watermelon, but that's alright. His diet today was sooooo much better than a typical day. Not all bread & a lot more nutrients. I'm a super excited mama!!!! Tomorrow we will try......smoothies!!!!