WEEK 04: Load up the Plate

This week was all about the plate. As I've mentioned before I've been offering various options of finger foods to the boys for a while now. Recently, I have been organizing options on a plate for them at random feeding times. This week, we jumped in with a full commitment to lunch. Every lunch this week was offered as finger foods for them to feed themselves from a plate. Some lunches were followed with spoon baby food, but some were not. I just played this by ear on how much they ate.

FOOD DESCRIPTION
I didn't make any new foods to freeze this week, but did make a new item for the refrigerator. Yogurt has been one of the early dairy introductions and I've served it plain, in cereal, or mixed with fruit (mainly blueberries or bananas). This week I blended frozen organic berries with organic plain yogurt. 

As options on the plate, I included cooked sweet potato pieces, cooked whole wheat macaroni, whole wheat bread, cheddar and provolone cheeses, cooked turkey pieces, and tofu.

PROCESS

• Mixed Berry Yogurt I bought frozen organic mixed berries a couple weeks ago and stored them in the freezer. One morning, I thawed them in the refrigerator and was able to use them to mix into my yogurt. I just used my blender to chop up the pieces, but still left it a little chunky. I used Stonyfield Organic Plain Yogurt, but I have also used various plain and greek yogurts as well. I think it is important to avoid the low-fat varieties or ones with added flavorings or sugars. Beware of the ones marketed for kids as these often are the sugar and processed additive culprits. It's easy enough to add your own fresh or fresh frozen flavorings. You can even make your own yogurt and Yoran describes this in her book, but I haven't become so adventurous yet.
• The Plate I have various toddler-style plates, but the ones I've been using this week are the Sassy Dippin Dinner Plates and have a rubber ring around the bottom edge. They don't stick to the table with a suction, but help it to stay in place with little hands reaching and messing with food. They also have lids, so you can prepare a meal ahead of time and leave it in the refrigerator until you're ready to serve. I do sit with the boys while they eat for two reasons.

1. I like to see how they're doing with their skills and want to make sure they are eating safe pieces and not too much at one time. 
2. I use this as a training time to teach them what is and isn't acceptable at the table. They are not allowed to throw or purposefully drop food and this has been the week to teach them not to move their plates. The plate is not a toy and the purpose is to eat the food from your plate. This may sound crazy, but an 11 month old really can learn these things.

WHAT I LEARNED
I must say that I think the mixed berry yogurt has been one of the boys favorite yogurts so far and I love the ease of the frozen fruit and the health benefits of the yogurt. I'm not totally sure why they liked this one so much better than ones I've made before. It could have been that they are getting more used to yogurt, or I may have gotten the ratio of fruit to yogurt just right. Or, maybe they really liked the mixed berries. Whatever the reason, I hope this love for yogurt continues.

REACTION
The boys liked the plates. We have not achieved self-feeding success yet, but both are practicing and learning. Every few days, new skills are learned and they are getting better. They also both get excited to be able to feed themselves. I will say that this has led to some negative reactions to being spoon-fed by mom at times.

SUMMARY
This week was messy, but a good learning experience that we are continuing.


Please share your thoughts or ideas.
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