DOUBLE DIGITS!!! Yowza. Eight weeks away from his one year birthday… I can’t even handle it.
Let’s see… the biggest Arlo-related news is that we finally hired a nanny! She’s wonderful and we’re really excited because she is speaking exclusively Spanish to him. That was our #1 priority and requirement when hiring someone and we’re so happy that he’ll now be exposed to the language so consistently. Our hope is that he will grow up bilingual, or as close as possible to it so this is a great start.
Milestone-wise, it feels like nothing super major happened, he’s just gotten better at everything! He’s getting more and more steady on his feet, but I think we actually have a little more time than we expected before he’ll start walking. He gets super nervous when standing sometimes, probably because he’s fallen a lot since he’s so active and overly ambitious, so I think that’ll buy us some time before the walking insanity begins! He also recently started clapping, which is beyond adorable! And he has six teeth!!
He’s thankfully doing much better on sleep. Most nights he’ll sleep about 11 hours. *Knocks on all the wood* Here’s what we changed: We started putting him in overnight diapers (Pampers Swaddlers Overnights) and we moved his bedtime up a half hour to 7:30. We also feed him an extra small bottle in-between his normal ones which I think helps, even though we still have to fight him to take a bottle.
But while we’re on the topic of eating, his appetite is CRAZY now! OMG he eats so much!!! It feels like before we’d just kinda give him a few bites of what we were having but now that doesn’t really work because he JUST KEEPS GOING! Ha! So I’d love to know, what are some easy and healthy (dinner) meals that you prep (or prepped) for your little ones around this age?? Preferably finger foods so we don’t have to spoon feed him. Our new nanny has been helping with some meal prep stuff but I’m super curious how you all handle it. It’s completely overwhelming thinking about feeding another human when I feel like we barely feed ourselves proper meals!!! Any tips? Do you have a prep day so you don’t have to think about it all week? I know a lot of you might just say you feed them whatever you’re eating, but a few nights a week we do a meal delivery service and there isn’t a ton of “extra” to feed him, but yet he doesn’t eat enough to warrant paying for a third meal. Need something to feed him on this nights! His favorite foods of late have been strawberries, avocado, eggs, chicken, meatballs and lentils.
All around, it just feels like he “gets” things more. He’s so darn smart. Our music classes started up again after Christmas break and while he always loved it, he’s so much more involved now. I set him down and he’s off and grabbing all the instruments, shaking/playing them, interacting with the kids… he barely even remembers I’m there. Ha! And now when we say things like “Where’s your car!?” or “Where’s dad??” he’ll go hunting for them/him! He’s getting the concept of rolling a car down the hall, flipping through books on his own and opening/closing/unlocking things on his busy board.
Every day he gets smilier and more excited to see us. And every day I can’t beleive this whole “mom” thing just keeps getting better and better! And that’s Arlo, 10 months!!
Find the tutorial for the monthly number pillows here!
My boys all loved super-thick pea soup with cubes of ham at that age. It is something we have to help them with but it was a favorite.
Arlo is adorable. What a sweetheart.
Ooooh I bet he’d love that!!
Roasted sweet potatoes. You can add them to a meal or by themselves as a finger food.
The more times I’ve done this the lazier I get…we give our kids what we eat. I’ve also learned recently to just give them large pieces of food they can hold & suck on or work on without needing to be fed by one of us. And keep his favorites ready in the fridge for the take out nights when there isn’t a ton to share from your own plate.
Hi!
I hear ya! My husband and I are pretty adventurous spicy eaters aka not fit for a baby. So we fed my daughter by baby led weaning. So mostly finger foods of a variety that she fed herself.
She ate EVERYTHING as well. Each meal we aimed for a raw, steamed and meat.
Raw is easy- whatever is in the fridge usually a berry or cucumber
Steamed- we steamed veggies and froze them (easy to reheat for you and the nanny under hot water)
Meats- or eggs she ate ALOT of eggs a
Variety of burgers (curry, lentil, beef, turkey) pre cooked and cut up. All of those things are easily cooked because they are usually pre-made and just need heating.
Leave the fancy complicated dishes for the weekend!
But there are no rules for feeding your kid. If he wants eggs for dinner giv’er
Another suggestion would be to make some smoothies with high protein Greek yoghurt in it. Freeze them into pucks for quick top ups to satisfy that hunger.
Good luck!
Love the raw, steamed, meat method!! Makes it easy to have a plan. He also loves eggs! Thank you!
An easy meal I would feed my boys is just frozen mixed veggies from a bag. Heat them up and they are already bite sized peices. The ones with corn, carrots, beans and peas. They loved canned fruit (the ones packed in water) I’d cut it up and it’s already soft for them. Lots of pasta too
Soooo smart!! Didn’t even think about veggies that were already chopped!!
All three of my kids have been crazy about chunky homemade soups (and still are!) at that age. I usually drain most of the broth out and just let them go at it with their hands and they eat so much and get all sorts of protein and different veggies this way. I’ve also crumbled up crackers or biscuits to soak up the broth which looks disgusting and I’d never eat it but the baby does! Haha
My son is great eater and I feel inteoducing him to a variety of flavors and textures helped develop his great palate. The website I used is lined below. I found it to be an excellent resource when venturing into finger/solid foods. Also I can’t stress what a godsend these bitesizers scissors are! I had two pair one for home & the other for on-the-go. I can’t reccomend these enough, definitely a game changer.
BiteSizers Portable Food Scissors with Cover – Certified Food-Safe by NSF, Stainless Steel, Cuts Baby Food (Blue Hex) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NGE4I64/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_umIzAbA03J9J6
http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/solids.htm
my 17 month old has become a finicky eater but one thing he loves to eat is spinach & orzo. I just saute spinach & garlic in olive oil, blend it up, then mix in small pastas like orzo or ditalini. one bunch of spinach will typically make enough for me to freeze portions so it’s an easy go-to, all i have to do is cook some pasta. i also make things like roast salmon and grilled or baked chicken (or buy a rotisserie chicken) and shred it up for him to pick at. good luck! feeding a baby/toddler can be pretty stressful.
We are going through the same thing now! We have settled on a combo of:
(1) fresh easy to eat things (scrambled eggs with cheese, pieces of cheese (string cheese is easy!), avocado toast, cut up fruit, yogurt, etc.),
(2) leftovers of our food (we try to make extra and set it aside before we eat – our baby LOVES roasted carrots and roasted butternut squash which luckily we do too!)
(3) our freezer stash which consists of homemade things like meatballs (pinterest has great recipes for toddler friendly meatballs – I make them in mini muffin tins every couple Sundays), frozen veggies which anyone can easily steam cook and chop up, Earth’s Best mini meatballs (in the freezer at Whole Foods), and our favorite pouches (mostly applesauce at this point, but I like the fruit/veggie mixed ones for extra nutrition – we LOVE the brand Once Upon A Farm).
Good luck!
Ahh I was just looking at the earth’s best meatballs, good to know they were a hit!
I meal prep everything for my daughter on Sundays. Right now I can tell she’s over the pureed stuff and really enjoying the finger foods more. Right now she’s loving mini blueberry muffins made with almond flour and flaxseed, chicken apple meatballs, banana pancakes (mash one banana, one egg, a little baby oatmeal cereal, dash of cinnamon and vanilla extract for batter), roasted sweet potato fries, mashed potatoes, rotisserie chicken, rice, whole wheat quesadilla, and especially loves cream of chicken and wild rice soup! I make everything ahead of time, portion it out in some OXO baby food containers and it’s all easily reheated and ready to serve!
Muffins!! I bet he’d LOVE that! The banana pancakes too!! Thank you!
I have two great, veggie loving eaters. Here are some things that were always a hit when they were tiny:
Frittata: Chop or shred veggies (shredded zucchini, shredded carrots, minced spinach or kale, minced tomato) and cook with ground beef in a curved bottom saucepan and then pour whisked eggs on top and cover, cook, and flip. my kids liked it when I cut it like a pizza.
Egg “Muffins”: Cook brown rice. Chop or shred veggies and sauté. Mix rice with veggies and crack an egg or two over top so that egg coats the mixture. Stir in cheese if desired. Scoop into a mini silicone muffin pan and bake until egg is cooked. Little muffins are perfect for finger food dinner and also good as cold leftovers in school lunchboxes. I would make these with any grain, ground meat or legume as the base… just whatever leftover I had.
If you don’t have silicone molds, you can make them like mini pancakes on the stovetop.
My kids loved frozen peas. Literally frozen. Not thawed. Not cooked. Hard frozen peas. Feel good on teething gums, thaw quickly in your mouth, and are sweet and satisfying.
Falafel.
3 ingredient pancakes. Lots of variations online.
Good luck! Sending good vibes for a healthy and adventurous eater!!
We just started doing egg cups and it’s so convenient!! Gotta try your recipe. Didn’t think of falafel! Smart!!
I gave my kids a lot of tofu cut in cubes with a little teriyaki sauce. I also made some kind of frittata, you just do eggs and any kind of veggie you want and cook it on a pan like you would do an omelette and that’s it.
I also still give them banana pancakes, smash one banana, add 2 eggs and a tablespoon of melted coconut oil and cook it like pancakes. Delicious
Also the roasted chicken at Trader Joe’s, it comes already sliced, super easy.
I feel like we’ve been doing these forever but can’t remember exactly when we started but pretty much every week we have these staples:
Annies Mac n Cheese with green peas tossed in – so easy and great source of protein and calcium! We freeze them in the GreenSprouts glass containers to just pop in microwave and serve with chopped cooked sweet potato that we also freeze in those containers or just in baby serving sizes.
If he likes lentils we always have this in the freezer too ( but it’s messier so we tend to just feed her ourselves) Ground turkey, spinach and lentils: cook ground turkey with garlic and onions, add jar of favorite pasta sauce, frozen spinach and rinsed and drained lentils and cook until lentils are finished. We freeze in serving sizes so when we are eating cereal for dinner at least the babe has a good meal!
Ooooh that lentil dish sounds awesome! Love freezer meals!!
My kid loves yogurt. I’ll give him Oikas brand Greek yogurt because it’s thick enough that he can feed it to himself without dripping (too much) everywhere.
So many great recommendations in the comments.
At this age our daughter loved spaghetti so to make it a little healthier we did spaghetti squash. You basically cut the squash in half and bake for 45 mins in the toaster oven. We add marinara, chopped spinach, and cut up turkey meat balls. Was great for reheat too!
Arlo is so stinkin’ cute btw!!! Love following your family. Xo!
***Invest in a pair of kitchen scissors to cut up foods with for him. Total game changer!***
Black or pinto beans- Easy to make beforehand, last a few days in the fridge or can easily freeze. Can serve with crumbly cheese like cotija on top, or feta. Can mix with brown rice or add to quesadillas.
Quesadillas- Can add beans, spinach, chicken, mushrooms, etc. Real easy.
Pasta- Can also make a few days beforehand to use during the week. Choose while wheat, brown rice, or quinoa for added nutrition. Mix with fave sauce, broccoli, melty cheese, ground meat, etc. Or even just plain you’ll find is a great no-mess on the go snack.
Frozen peas- These are a must! Pop in the microwave with a little water or add to boiling water for like a minute to thaw quickly and serve. Also great on-the-go snack. Just pack frozen and they will thaw on their own. I like to take these to restaurants with us!
Pea popsicles are also great to always have on hand. They keep my son entertained for a while or are great to ‘ice’ and soothe a hurt mouth from a fall.
Smoothies- Once he can use a straw on his own, these are great and real nutritious. Catherine McCord from @weelicious posts one everyday in her stories with her kids!
Tofu, cheese, any grilled meat, eggs, frittatas, waffles, pancakes, oatmeal, cream of wheat, steamed veggies, etc. etc. Make sure to get those shears though, they help to cut everything up!
I always have in the freezer some kind of vegetable savory muffin. They are super easy to make and i put in different vegetables each time. I heat them up in the microwave straight out of the freezer and serve it to my son with a bit of tomato and avocado cubes. He feeds him self.
I’ll gladly share my muffin recipe!
Oh! Also, pasta is very good. Short pasta that he can grab on to. I have this great one pot pasta recipe with a lot of veggies. I make a pot and it lasts for a few days (including me having it for lunch a few times).
We used to make food in bulk on one day a week. Sweet potato fries, steamed asparagus/broccoli/carrots, and applesauce mini muffins were big hits. I would also always have blueberries ready for snacking.
So many great comments here! I’m going to send you an email since I have so much to say on this topic. BUT I agree with Stephanie above: Larson eats what we eat! He LOVES trying whatever is on our plate and as of about 9 months he’s been able to eat almost everything. I’ll find some of our recipes that he loves best. Then we do a lot of things like scrambled egg, oatmeal, yogurt, berries, peanut butter toast, etc to fill in the gaps! Here’s one we just made that Larson was head-over-heels for — I know it looks complicated but it’s pretty simple as far as a potpie goes. https://www.acouplecooks.com/savory-vegan-pot-pie-with-sage-crust/
I struggle so much with the whole feeding thing. My daughter’s 18mos and still doesn’t always eat what we eat. She’s texture picky and plus, we don’t always want to eat at 5:30/6pm when she does. Here’s what’s helped me:
COOKBOOKS/WEBSITES: I am terrible at inventing things to make for her. So, I took a bunch of books out of the library and just copied all the recipes I liked. And, I am constantly pinning recipes to make from websites. Or just searching Pinterest for ‘toddler (insert the one random ingredient I actually have in my fridge)’.
Favourites:
babyfoode.com
weelicious.com
healthylittlefoodies.com
Little Foodie by Michele Olivier
The Best Homemade Baby Food on the Planet by Karin Knight, Tina Ruggiero
Baby-Led Feeding Cookbook by Aileen Cox Blundell
It All Begins with Food by Leah Garrad-Cole
Real Baby Food by Jenna Helwig
FREEZER: I can’t even find time once a week to prep food, so instead, I take an entire day once a month-ish and do nothing but make freezable food all day. (I warn my husband ahead of time and he takes the babe so I can cook. <3) I usually end up with at least 1-2 options for every meal plus some random purees to mix into things.
CONVENIENCE FOODS: I like to keep some easy things on hand for when I feel lazy or am too busy to properly make a whole meal. Muffins (I love the Quaker mixes – easy to make and freeze!), bread for toast (you would be surprised the number of purees/soft things you can spread on toast!), egg cups (great for hiding veggies in!), cheese for shredding (or cottage cheese rinsed off is easy to pick up too), bananas, frozen pieces of melon or avocado (also great for teething!), cheerios (because, duh) and rice cakes.
I was a nanny for a little boy 0-2 years and the biggest hit was cakes! Like sweet potato cakes or quinoa cakes. We’d make and freeze them and then just reheat when needed. He also was a huge fan of quesadillas as a quick meal. Just a tortilla folded in half with spinach, lunch meat, and a little cheese.
Super baby food. Is a great book. It breaks down by month. You don’t have to do the porridge and he might not even eat it at this point, but there are so many great ideas. I hardly fed my babies jarred food just because I was using the freezer method or chopping right what we ate that was appropriate for their tummies. A Magic bullet was my best friend.
Hi! Arlo looks so big in this post, I think he’s changed a lot in just one month! I wish I could be Arlo’s nanny, spanish is my native language, so bad I live in Mexico haha! he’s the cutest baby! I have no kids yet, but I’m taking notes on all these advices 🙂 I love all your posts about Arlo and your colorful lives 🙂 keep being awesome!
My first kid was literally draining me, so I had to start giving him mashed bananas, roasted sweet potatoes, and avocados by 7 months. He was pretty cool with beans, small bits of ham, things like that. Truthfully unless you’re eating sushi or habeneros, there’s very little that you could just mash up from your own plate and feed him. We tend to overthink and stress with our first kid, and really, they’re almost always fine. Look up what age to wait until for things like honey and peanuts, and then just feed the kid.
My 14 yo appears to be living off cereal, hot lunch, and canned pineapple. He’s rarely sick, really energetic, and is nearly 6 foot. Don’t stress. x
*COULDNT mash up. Despite proofreading I missed that, apologies.
I ended up googling recipes for my 10 month old and found a great link with 100+ recipes –
https://www.mylittlemoppet.com/106-baby-finger-food-recipes-baby-led-weaning-recipes/
Some of our favorites include the banana pancakes and chicken fingers. I typically meal prep on Sunday, as I’ve found it easier than starting from scratch when I get home from work on the week days.
I also have started topping off meals with a pouch puree to squeeze in extra fruits and veggies. We bought refillable pouches from Baby Brezza, which allows me to make the puree then throw in the refrigerator or freezer and use as needed.
Congratulations!
so much hair, ahhh! and he’s gotten so big.