Filling Bean’s Tummy
Ever since we took Bean off formula last week, he has been eating like a little machine! I don’t know if he’s just filling himself with other things since he doesn’t have the formula or if he’s going through a growing spurt or maybe both. Whatever the reason, Bean can’t seem to get enough food in his tummy.
This is Bean pointing to his tummy. He knows where his tummy and his feet are and we’re working on “Where’s Beanie’s head?”
We taught him to say “more” when he wants more to eat. In hindsight, I should have taught him to say “please” first because now he just walks around saying, “Moooooooore” in this really demanding, low tone. It’s pretty stinkin’ cute, actually. But it sounds pretty rude. Maybe we’ll start working on manners next…
Sometimes I’ll give him a ton of food, he’ll ask for “Mooooooore” so I’ll give him some more, he’ll still ask for “Mooooore” so I give him more, and then 15 minutes later he’s climbing back up the leg of his highchair, trying to get into his seat again for even “Moooooore.” Little piggy. I think some of that is his fascination at being able to tell me what he wants. And I think that’s great, so I make sure to encourage him to communicate using his words. He looks awfully proud of himself when he’s able to tell me something.
So, what’s filling Bean’s tummy these days? Let’s take a look at what he ate yesterday:
These pictures are of Bean walking, but I’m not sure you can tell he’s actually moving!
Breakfast:
A whole wheat waffle (I buy whole wheat frozen waffles and just throw them into the toaster – delicious!)
A banana
A whole cup of strawberry yogurt
And he still asked for “Mooooooore” so I gave him a few handfuls of blueberries
A cup of whole milk
Mid-Morning Snack
Cheerios
Blueberries
A cup of whole milk
Lunch:
2 slices of deli turkey
An avocado
1 piece of whole wheat toast
1 piece of colby jack cheese
Grapes
A cup of 1/2 water and 1/2 juice
Afternoon Snack:
Goldfish (Bean’s current favorite thing to eat)
Kiwi
Cup of water
Dinner:
Chicken meatballs (this is a great recipe made with ground chicken, 1 jar of baby food, and Cheerios!)
Peas and carrots
Applesauce
Sweet potatoes
Cup of whole milk
Animal crackers for dessert – yummy!
For mealtimes, Bean eats in his high chair. I eat with him for lunch and then at dinner I feed him while Chris cooks for us, since Bean is usually hungry before we are. But after he eats, he hangs around us while we eat our food, trying things off our plates and nibbling on whatever we’re eating.
I love that he is eating like a little person now. He’s always eaten really good and he’s never been picky, but he is becoming an even better eater now that he’s off his bottle. He tries anything we are having and I try to continue to introduce at least one new something to his diet every week (this week it was the kiwi). I’m so glad that he seems to be as adventurous in his eating as he is in his playing. And eating like this is so much cheaper than buying formula!!!!! DOUBLE YAY!!!
I’m always on the lookout for new foods to try with Bean. What are your kids eating this week?
45 Comments
Maybelline
Yayyy Bean Man..!! you are such a cutie.. and handsome too!!
Ashley
Wow is he getting big!! not looking very baby like at all..It’s so good that you are feeding him such a variety of foods, I have nieces that are such picky eaters & won’t try anything new b/c they were always given the same thing when they were little. I plan on making sure my (future) kids are eating a variety of foods.
Alaina
Wow, look at him go! Go, Bean!
kk
he looks like he’s grown so much in the past 2 weeks.
wow looking at his breakfast, he really does eat alot of food.
kk
oh and is there a video we can see him saying “Moooore”?
Tressa
I second that!!! MORE….please! 😉
Diana @ A Little Bit of Life
Wow he is becoming such a little man! Totally adorable too!
Heather Ben
love bananas & peas.
that is a lot of food!
Lizzie
I don’t know what happened, but I can’t seem to see the pictures!
Katie
That’s so great! I’m glad the transition is going well.
I’ve benefited so much from what you share. My Peanut is two months behind Bean so I’ve been able to get some great ideas and lessons from you. Thank you!!
kat
ditto what was said above! he IS getting huge – crazy how different he looks from just a few months ago 🙂 looking like a proper little man xox
andrea
way to go bean!!! it’s so great when kids take to changes like a champ, it makes it so easy on the parents and you know that they are well adjusted, happy kids! congrats!
AJ’s new breakfast favorite is an english muffin with cream cheese and jelly, he is also loving grapes at the moment, but his appetite is starting to dwindle again so i’m lucky if he eats one good meal a day. I’m waiting for the growth spurt since he was ravenous for the past two weeks.
Holly at Perrydise
Wow, he is eating a lot.. I’m sure he is hungry without those formula calories. I am loving being off of formula. I might have to try your meatball recipe!! Our little one looooves bananas, cheese and mac and cheese. She loves the side dish noodles from the package, she was shoveling them in last night. She also seems to really like chicken. I have tried eggs recently and she loves to be fed an over easy egg by spoon. One thing she wanted of mine was a pickle. I said “fine have it but you’re not gonna like it”.. well she did like it, surprise surprise!!
deepa
Pancakes with bananas and blueberries, applesauce, cheese (he is my child, after all) grilled cheese like it’s going out of style, yogurt, furit and oatmeal, potatos, peas, carrots, squash, orzo (also a big hit), egg yolks, and toast with tons of butter. Fish has been hit or miss, as is chicken, but tofu has gone over well! Beans went over TOO well, he was up all night with gas for a week…
Glad to see the Bean is doing well without his formula! Is he feeding himself with a spoon yet?
Katie
Hi Deepa – He is wielding a spoon, but there’s not much eating action going on yet. He knows how to use it, but it can’t keep the food on it yet. I still let him bang a spoon around while I’m feeding him though.
deepa
Oh – he seems close! Rohan grabs my spoon-holding hand and “feeds himself”, but we are not even close to the spoon on his own yet.
Aubrey
Bean! You’re walking! Go Bean, Go!!
And congrats on eating all the different foods!
Lori @ I Can Grow People
Porter, formerly the kid who ate anything and everything, has become the pickiest eater! So frustrating! Also frustrating, is my husband’s dependence on feeding P baby food because it is “easier.” If it is just me and P, we usually eat the same thing. So. Much. Easier! Ugh.
tan@tan/green
I agree that it is the best when the kiddos can eat what we eat! Fruit and Grains (oatmeal, cheerios, etc) for breakfast…baby food at day care for lunch and whatever we are eating for dinner has been our schedule. The craziest thing he liked so war was very garlicky, very sesame-y baba gannoush. I worry that the other foot willfall soon enough as with P-Bo…
Mindee@ourfrontdoor
Wow! What a terrific, nutritious variety of foods. That’s awesome.
Tressa
Beanie is getting so big! He looks like a little boy now, not a baby any longer! Still so precious
Alyssa
WOW! I had no idea that 1yos ate that much food! Sounds yummy though! 🙂
Jen at Cabin Fever
He’s a growing boy! Be prepared to never have any food in your house again. And please probably would have been a good word to teach in hindsight! haha 🙂
Cabin Fever in Vermont
Caroline
Wow, it’s great that he’s eating so much! Just out of interest, you mentioned he struggles with constipation at some point- some ‘experts’ say that milk can be a cause or add to baby constipation- I only mention this because my boy suffers with this problem and so he only has milk morning and before bed.
Katie
Hi Caroline – He hasn’t had any problems with regularity since he was about four months old. I think that was mostly due to the fact that he was on formula. My doctor suggested we try 4oz of diluted pear or apple juice every day and so we started doing that and it took care of the problem. Occasionally he’ll have some problems, but I think that’s because he eats cheese like a little mouse!! 🙂
Caroline
Oh good, glad he’s ok in that department! I think I’ll get some pear juice and give that a go in our house. Thanks!
Maggie
Jeeze Beanies breakfast was way better than mine!! I gotta start eating like this kid, with the two snacks a day bit. I may start adding that into my work schedule. I’ll just say “afternoon snack time” when my co-workers raise an eyebrow at my goldfish and kiwi.
Sara Rickman
Wow! He eats more than my 5 year old! He MUST be growing!!
Tenesse
Wow, he is a very good eater, thats really a lot. My girl who is only 2 months behind would definitley given up at lunch. He must be in a burst of growth.
Sarah C. H.
Such adorable pictures. I’m impressed with how much he’s eating. I could substitute that for my own diet some days. Haha.
Cindy In Owensboro, KY
WOW!!! That is a tremendous amount of food– my little girl only eats probably 1/4 of what he is eating. She is soooo weird about her eating habits. She gets stuck on one food and wants to eat it constantly until she gets tired of it. For awhile it was yogurt, then it was oranges and bananas, right now it is peanut butter mixed with nuetella. I don’t understand how one kid can eat so much and another kid so little.
Michelle, Mom of Henry (13m!)
He’s a GREAT eater! I got some great ideas from your list (kiwi- hummm, I’m going to have to try that one!). Henry eats pretty much the same stuff plus a few more whole wheat crackers and cheese. In fact, I do the frozen whole wheat waffle too- and I’ve started putting a very thin layer of all natural peanut butter on it to give a little protein in the morning (and it does help fill him up). Plus, it’s yummy! We also do boiled eggs. They are so fun to eat (he can eat it ‘whole’ with big bites) and super healthy. Also, I usually put some variety in his veggies if I can. I get the frozen veggie- okra, lima beans, peas, etc. and just steam on the stove top. He also LOVES edemana (sp?) which is super good for them too. Love learning what other mamas feed their babies!!! PS- you’ve inspired me to eat better too. And start doing more cardio! Ironically enough, as soon as I got back down to my goal weight- I got prego again! So Henry is going to have a baby brother or sister in February!!! 🙂 I just don’t want to get as big as I did with Henry (every woman’s goal for second child, right?!).
Margaret
Ezra turns one on Saturday and he’s eating whole milk yogurt for breakfast, some fruit (whatever’s lying around – peaches, blueberries, graps). He loooves scrambled eggs. He would eat five eggs if we let him. For lunch and dinner it’s still mostly baby food but we give him lots of whole wheat toast. We’ve moved away from puffs, because he generally just throws those on the floor, but we do give him rice cakes, too, to keep him occupied. I have the hardest time figuring out baby meals, though, when I’m not comfortable giving him our food (or if our food’s too messy/spicy).
Katie
Hi Margaret – We just started rice cakes here this week, too! Bean is a little unsure of them but he seems to like to flavored ones better than the plain. Buttered popcorn is a BIG hit! I felt exactly the same way. I was thinking about that as I wrote this post actually. The hardest time for me for food with Bean was that in-between stage – like 6 months to a year. He wasn’t quite ready for table food, but he wasn’t going for the baby stuff. That’s a tough phase. Try that website that the meatball recipe is on. I got a LOT of good ideas there and they use food that you actually have in your house already – very helpful!
Sarah C. H.
I just re-read his menu. That’s actually probably more than I eat most days. Haha. Wow. Go Bean!
Ann G-B
Connor just started with whole milk this week (still mixed with breast milk). This weekend he will try his first birthday cake!
I haven’t tried kiwi yet. I will put it on the list!
And sweet potatoes keep my little guy regular whenever he needs some assistance.
Jenny
Bean’s diet is a lot like my Will’s. Will started eating the same thing we do somewhere around a year or 18months. Last night he had a huge salad with butter lettuce, olives, mushrooms, radishes, tomatoes, cucumber and carrot. Not bad for a 2.5 year old! Just keep giving Bean new stuff to try and hopefully he’ll stay a good eater. You’ll be surprised by what he really likes!
Ella
Beans diet is so healthy! My little boy is going through a very fussy stage. As a baby he would eat anything and everything i gave him. Its a battle at the moment and hopefully he will grow out of it. His favourite foods at the moment are yogurt, mashed potato and apples.
Cute photos of Bean 🙂
Nate's Mom
Way to go, Bean! Nate is on the “all fruit” diet by his own design: strawberries, watermelon, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. The side effect? Stinkless poo. Seriously. Can’t smell the stuff. He’s also eating pancakes, yogurt, yogurt melts, and chicken. The rest winds up on the floor. Oh! And graham cracker sticks are good, if he’s in the mood.
Nate needs some chow lessons from Bean because your boy has got it going on! 🙂
pam-tastic
Mmmmm….mmmm…looks good! The menu actually looks pretty good, can I cover for dinner?
twitter: pam_tastic
Nancy
Alice says “more,” too so I call her the “more-a-saurus” and roar at her. It cracks her up.
We eat all our meals together, so breakfast alternates between eggs, granola with yogurt or oatmeal with maple syrup/honey/brown sugar (not all three at once!). Lunch is usually dinner leftovers from the night before, or a salmon burger (the ones at Costco are tasty), with a veggie side. Sometimes, I make tuna and shells for lunch, or macaroni and cheese, if I have the time. I cook all kinds of things for dinner but Alice likes chili, broccoli, pizza, noodles, hot dogs, fish (goes crazy over fish– mainly salmon and cod), chicken, rice, etc. Burrito night is a big hit because she digs the avocado, rice, sour cream and sometimes beans, if she’s in the mood. We recently got her to taste shrimp but the jury is still out on that one!
carla
We do french toast with cinnamon raisin bread. I soak the bread in egg and cook it up, add a little butter (or not) Joy doesn’t like eggs but this is a good way to hide them.
When we have pasta – always whole wheat – and I add some silken tofu to the butter or sauce – again another protein source hidden. You can do this with mac and cheese too.
Joy never ate pureed food all that much, but she will if you mix it with rice or pasta. who knows?
courtney
My kid’s like Bean, he’ll eat almost anything. One word of warning (nothing bad), at about 15 months my son stopped eating and I freaked. I mean I would pick him up from school (daycare) and he would’ve refused to eat all day. My doctor was not at all worried – she said it was normal to do this throughout the toddler years and even into early childhood. I found out she was right. He will eat like a horse for a couple of weeks, and then, suddenly, stop eating for a couple weeks. Sometimes at the end of the day when I think about what he’s eaten (or not eaten) I think he must be starving. In spite of this he keeps growing (he’s not very big by any means) and thriving. Sorry so long – just wanted to give you a heads up 🙂
Megan
Q-Tip was such a good eater until she realized that she has a say in what goes in her mouth. I really shouldn’t complain…she’s pretty good about eating most things. Her favorite thing right now is probably a grilled cheese sandwich and any kind of fruit. She used to be the best veggie eater ever but she’s kinda picky about that now. I try relentlessly every day hoping and praying. Sometimes she’ll eat em…sometimes she won’t.
Q-Tip is on rice milk because she still has problems with milk so I’m always trying to get some dairy in here and there. We do whole plain yogurt every morning and I add a little “no sugar” apple sauce. Then I add a little bit of multi-grain baby cereal just to thicken it up so she can eat it better by herself with a spoon. Then I add a dash of Cinnamon for a little more flavor. She loves it. It sounds complicated but it’s really not.
When Q-Tip was Bean’s age I used http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/ for a lot of recipes. That is where I learned the baby cereal as thickener trick. They have a lot of neat stuff on there. I’m sure you already know about it but if not check it out.
Megan
http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/
Phoebe
Go Bean!!! He is looking more and more like a big-boy!