If I have become an expert on anything this past holiday season, it would have to be eating out with two small children. Whether we’re at someone else’s home, sitting in a fast food drive through as we travel, or eating at a restaurant, taking two kids out to eat can be a real challenge.
Michael is at the age now where he knows what is expected of him in a restaurant. Mostly, that’s because we expect him to act the same way at our kitchen table as we would expect him to act in a restaurant, so there’s little confusion about table manners. Of course, there are times when he’s tired or cranky or exceptionally hyped up, and those meals are a bit more challenging. But, generally speaking, Bean is pretty good when we go out now. He’s two and a half and so he sits in a booster seat next to me or Chris. We try to get a booth, when we can, because it is easier to contain Bean. Most of the time, Bean sits in his booster seat through the entire meal. I make sure to order his meal when we order our drinks, so that he has his food sooner rather than later. I’ve also started bringing crayons and paper for him to play with while we eat. Restaurants are also one of the only times he ever gets to use a real pen to write with and so that’s always good for a few minutes of novelty.
Gracie is now nine months old. She can sit up on her own and so we get a high chair for her. Usually, I put my shopping cart cover in the high chair, just because she likes to chew on anything around her. It’s also convenient because she tends to drop things (like, EVERYthing…) and that cart cover helps trap falling debris. I like the cart cover because it has these rings that I can hook toys to, so even if she throws them, they just dangle.
For food, we used to order Bean a children’s meal every time we went out, but lately he is so hit and miss on whether he’ll eat a whole meal or not and so we’ve been just ordering him a side item or two. Gracie is also eating table food now and so we usually just give her pieces of whatever is on the table that she can gum to death. Here is a quick list of what are our go-to foods at each meal when we eat out:
Breakfast – Bean:
Plain biscuit (which we put butter or jelly on at the table – we keep it plain if we’re in the car)
Yogurt
Cheerios (he likes me to mix his yogurt and Cheerios together in one bowl)
Fruit cup
Single pancake (no butter or syrup because I’m a Debbie Downer and don’t like the sugar, although his Nana always gives him syrup)
Breakfast – Gracie:
*All of Gracie’s food is cut up into bite sized pieces and she either feeds herself or I feed her as I eat. I usually let Gracie sample whatever we have on our plates. Be sure if you’re giving your baby something for the first time, you wait about 3 days before introducing anything else new so that you can monitor for an allergic reaction. I’ve had one pediatrician who said to stay away from nuts and peanut butter strictly until they were one year old, but I’ve had another pediatrician who said that we could try it now at nine months with Gracie in small amounts. We’re choosing to wait a bit, simply because that allergy can be really dangerous in wee ones. We also don’t do honey until they are two years old and we keep the shell fish out of their diets until they are about two years old, as well. Other than those two things, though, we really let her try all kinds of foods. Be sure you talk with your pediatrician about what they recommend for introducing new foods to your baby. These are simply big hits that work for my particular family.*
Toast (If you butter it a little and let it sit first, the bread becomes a little soggier and easier to chew)
Biscuit
Single scrambled egg (be sure to ask that they not cook it in butter, if you’re particular)
Cut up pieces of fruit
Lunch or Dinner – Bean:
*He can pretty much eat anything and he tells us what he wants or doesn’t want, but these are some of the most popular when we’re out. Our best bet is usually to look at the side items part of the menu, instead of the kids menu for Bean, unless I know he’s particularly hungry.*
Grilled cheese
Fruit cup
Grilled chicken strips (usually from my salad)
Mashed potatoes (especially if they are sweet potatoes)
Applesauce (the biggest thrill EVER, if you are Bean)
Yogurt
Cheese quesadilla (sometimes I get chicken and cheese to get some protein in there for him, but Bean usually picks it out. He’s not much for meat…)
Avocado
Lunch or Dinner – Gracie:
*Basically, if it’s relatively bland and unsauced, Gracie gets to try it.*
Fully cooked turkey or chicken
Fruit
A french fry (if I’m desperate and she’s getting fidgety. She’ll slobber all over a french fry for an hour!)
Pasta
Any vegetable that’s on someone’s plate
Applesauce
Yogurt
Avocado (these are great in Mexican restaurants with a cheese quesadilla. Both my kids love that meal.)
Rice (brown, when available)
With the kids getting a bit older now, eating out and on the go has become much easier. The trick is to get them in, keep them happy and as healthy as possible, and get them out quickly! Meals on the run aren’t necessarily relaxing anymore for me and Chris, but they certainly are an adventure!
What about you? What are your kids favorite things to eat when you’re out and about?
04Jan
Over our Christmas vacation in Pensacola, Florida, with Chris’s family, Chris’ mom, Jackie, took us all to the Naval Air Museum at the Air Force base in town. Chris and I had been a thousand times before on class field trips as we grew up, but this was our first time going with Bean and, like so many other experiences, this one was just better because Bean was with us.
He’s really into airplanes right now (“eha-panes”) so this museum was the perfect place for him to explore. It’s basically just a big aircraft hanger with restored government planes dating all the way back to the beginning of flight. You can touch anything and even climb in and explore a lot of them.
On January 1, Bean turned 19 months old and as we walked around that museum, it struck me how old 19 months really is. Bean is such an independent, active, on-the-go little dude right now and I just love it.
He isn’t scared of anything that we’ve found yet and his curiosity is one of my favorite parts about his personality. Actually, he’s a lot like his dad. Chris loves to wander around and get into things on his own, and I see that so much in Bean. Both of them are content to entertain themselves and they both do better when they are learning on their own terms, instead of being taught to.
If 17 months was all about independence, then 18 months was all about learning when to ask for help. I was pleasantly surprised to see Bean not quite so headstrong this past month as he was the month before that. I think he is learning that asking us for help doesn’t mean we are going to take over or tell him what to do. We help and then we back off and let him continue on and even at 18 months old, I can tell Bean is learning to trust that about us.
One of the greatest things we have taught Bean this month was the word “help.” Whenever we would see him struggling with something, we would ask him if he needed help instead of just jumping in and doing it for him. When we asked, “Do you need help?” he would repeat back to us, “Help,” and then that gave us permission to help him out. Sometimes he would actually say no, that he didn’t want help and so we’d let him figure out whatever he was struggling with on his own. But when he would ask for help, we made sure to just get him started on the task at hand and then turn it back over to him to finish. We never wanted him to feel like asking for help meant that he couldn’t do something himself. Now, Bean will come to us and ask for help without us prompting him. It’s a nice way of showing our respect for Bean and for Bean to learn that asking and receiving help doesn’t require that he give up any of his independence.
Another thing that has taken off this past month that seems to really help with the temper tantrums is Bean’s ability to communicate and his ability to understand abstract concepts. He is talking up a storm and every day he seems to be adding new words to his vocabulary. He now understands what and where “home” is and so when we’re out somewhere and he starts to get fidgety, I can explain that we’re going home soon and he seems to understand what that concept means. He usually starts giggling and saying something about seeing Lucy and Molly (or Daddy, if Chris isn’t already out with us). Another concept that has really helped things is the idea of waiting and being patient. Though he is hit or miss on actually doing it, he does understand what it means to wait for something. So, if I say that he has to wait before we can eat dinner or he has to wait before we can leave, he understands what that means. He might not WANT to wait, but he at least knows what we’re saying.
I’m so happy that Bean is still as interested in books as he has always been. He still loves to be read to, but he also loves to read out loud to us or to his stuffed animals. In fact, just tonight after I had read two books to him and I put him down in his new big boy bed, he asked for a book to read in bed. So, I tucked him in with a little board book and he read until he fell asleep. I love that about Bean! I hope he keeps this love of books and that as he gets older we can start reading more together.
One thing that is totally new and surprised me and Chris’s mom until neither of us could hardly say a word was Bean’s ability to work puzzles. He got several new puzzles for Christmas from both me and Jackie. One night over vacation we were all sitting in Jackie’s living room together and Bean pulled out one of his puzzles and without any help from anyone, he put every single piece into the correct spot on the first try. We tried not to squeal and call too much attention to it so we didn’t distract him, but it was really hard not to shout out, “MY BOY’S A GENIUS!” He pulled out a second puzzle and did the same exact thing – every piece in the right place on the first try. And this time I couldn’t help myself and I actually did shout out, “MY BOY’S A GENIUS!”
Another thing that surprises me is how much he is learning at school these days. I hear him singing bits of the alphabet perfectly clearly. I see him counting to five (though his favorite is, “One, two, three, GO!” and, for some unknown reason, “Two, five, GO!”). He can identify just about any animal, including dolphins, whales, and turtles that he learned on our trip to Sea World over Thanksgiving break. He knows every single body part from his head down to his toes and can even sing, “Head, shoulders, knees, and toes” now. Though most of these little bits of knowledge are sporadic and he remembers them mostly because of songs he likes to sing, I still love that his little mind is soaking up all that knowledge during the day. It makes me feel even better about our decision to put him in daycare.
I find that I say this just about every month, but 18 months really has been my favorite so far. Chris and I love that we are able to communicate so much more with him and that he seems to be growing and learning and developing at such a fast pace, while still keeping that easy going attitude that we love about him. But my favorite part of 18 months? Bean learned to say, “I love you, Mama” and “I love you, Dada.” And that is, hands down, the greatest thing I’ve ever heard.
A few weekends ago, I asked my mom and dad if they’d take Bean this past weekend. Chris was going out of town and I really wanted a weekend to myself. They happily agreed. Naturally.
A few days later, my mom tells me that they have decided that they were going to take Bean to Disney World the weekend they had him. They have season passes and they’d love to take him. I got off the phone and sat there for a minute. I was sort of irritated, actually. What a strange reaction. But my hormones are raging right now (that’s New Guy making his presence known since he isn’t making me sick anymore…) and so I thought maybe I’d settled down and the feeling would pass. But a few days later, I was still sort of irritated.
When I finally stopped and thought about it, I decided I wasn’t irritated, I was sort of bummed. It would be Bean’s first trip to the Magic Kingdom and I really wanted to be the one to take him. So, I mentioned it to my sister. My sister is the person in my life I go to to tell me straight up if I’m over-reacting to something. Gin has the ability to listen to me, understand my point of view, and then say to me, “Kate, grow up and get over it.” It’s a gift she has.
And that is precisely what she told me when I called her about this. “That’s what grandparents are for,” she reminded me. And she was exactly right.
Bean is going to have lots of first-times in his life and you can bet I’m going to try to elbow my way into 99.9% of them. But there will be times when he’ll experience things without me. And that’s okay. That’s actually really good. It will make Bean an independent person. It will teach him that life exists outside of our family and it will give him to confidence and security to be happy in places where Chris and I can’t be.
You know, grandparents play a HUGE role in that part of Bean’s development. Both my parents and Chris’ provide different viewpoints, different experiences, different environments than Chris and I could provide and that only makes Bean’s life richer and fuller.
And it’s not just good for Bean, I think having grandchildren for our parents changes the way they see the world now, too. It opens whole new viewpoints, experiences, and environments for them, too.
And besides all of that – they just have fun spending time together!
They watched the parade together through Downtown.
They danced in front of the big castle.
They had ketchup for dinner.
They rode the carousel.
They watched the elephants spray water in the jungle cruise.
They rode the Peter Pan ride.
They saw the Country Bear’s Jamboree. (Which hasn’t changed a bit since I was Bean’s age.)
But mostly, they just had fun.
When they finally came home last night after a full day at the park, they were all so happy and excited and as I sat through all the pictures they’d taken and heard the stories from their day, I felt all warm and fuzzy inside as I realized that THIS was the reason we moved to Florida. This was it. It was for afternoons just like that one. It was so Bean could grow up knowing things that only grandparents can teach him. It was so Bean could know his grandparents just like Chris and I grew up knowing ours.
And it was so our parents could smile this big…
First, I should start by telling you that the meanies who broke into our house stole my camera cable, so I haven’t been able to download any pictures. To compensate for this, I will DESCRIBE the picture I’d like you to image. Should be fun. Hope you’re all wearing your Make Believe Hats today.
Since we are staying with my parents for a couple weeks, Bean thinks he is on vacation. And why wouldn’t he? Being at Nana and Granddad’s is a lot like staying at a five star resort when you are fourteen months old. Bean wakes up every morning to a homemade, cooked to order breakfast.
(Insert picture of cheese toast with a side of grapes and strawberries and a little container of yogurt…)
He begins his day with a stroll around the neighborhood in Granddad’s golf cart, pointing out every bird, dog, cat, and tree that we pass. When he returns back to the house, he takes a little dip in the baby pool they have on their back deck and he is fed a little snack like a bird, without ever having to lift a finger.
(Insert picture of big, fat, white belly in a tiny wading pool…)
After a little time by the pool, Bean takes a little morning nap in his pack ‘n play that has freshly laundered sheets which have been turned down for him. When nap time is over, we head to the kitchen where the chef has prepared worthy of any good hotel. After lunch, Bean might head up to the golf course with Granddad and Nana where he takes his plastic golf clubs and hits golf balls around the practice putting green, just like a real golfer. Of course, his fans fawn all over him.
(Insert picture of short, fat fourteen month old toddler in Bermuda shorts, waving around a red plastic golf club while he waddles across the putting green…)
After a rousing game of golf, Bean and his entourage head back home in their golf cart where they might watch a little Finding Nemo while they take a snooze in Granddad’s big, overstuffed recliner. Another homemade snack of oatmeal cookies and blueberries will follow. And then it’s time for a little play session with Mr. Bear and a set of stacking cups that are Bean’s favorite toy at his grandparent’s house. Dinner time is a family meal served at the table, where Nana hand-feeds Bean every morsel he consumes with Bean only having to open his mouth to indicate he would like some more. Never is a finger lifted by the hotel guest. After dinner is a warm bath drawn by the hotel staff and then it is time for bed (which, of course, has long been turned down for him and where Mr. Bear waits on his pillow).
Yes, life is good for Bean Man at Nana and Granddad’s. So good, in fact, that when Bean is now out with just me and Chris, he cannot FATHOM why we make him FEED HIMSELF!!!! (gasp!)
I think they are creating a monster. We may leave him here when we move. I’m not really up for a life of indentured servitude.
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