Labor Day Weekend Part 2

Sunday we had a party at Gram's and Grandpa's to attend. This was a large family get together of all the people on Mom's side of the family. We enjoy big family parties because it gives Mom and I some time off. When with family who has kids you can always trust that they will stop your kid from doing bad things and that their kids will entertain yours. This time was no different. Alyce spent almost all of the day hanging out with the girls as there were are few/no boy children on that side of the family.

Monday we took a trip out to see Grandma for dinner. We had barbecue pork steaks, potatoes, bread, and brownies for dessert. Alyce was not very cooperative during dinner eating only one bite of meat and nothing else. Sadly when it came time for brownies we only allowed her one bite because she wouldn't eat her dinner. Parenting can be so cruel. After dinner Alyce played around with Bandit (the dog) while we cleaned up. Before you know it was 8:30 and time for us to go home to put Alyce down for bed and closing out our three day weekend.

Cooking Dinner With Dad

Last night Alyce helped me make grilled cheese sandwiches. Alyce helped butter and stack the bread while I grilled them. When I started the electric griddle it was time for Alyce to vacate the premises and well she was none to happy about that as she wanted to do everything with me. We redirected Alyce's attention by asking her to set the table. We gave her paper plates, silverware, empty cups, and napkins to put on the table. She did a great job as long as we pointed her towards the right places for each item.

A friend of mine at work told me that if you let your kids help make dinner they are more apt to eat it. I have to agree with him on that. Alyce ate all of her dinner, well most of it. She didn't eat the cut up tomatoes, but who is keeping score?

Sooo Big!

I say Alyce is Sooo Big because at her 18 month checkup in April we got her updated height and weight. And she is Sooo Big because her height of 33.5 inches puts her in the 90th percentile. Her weight of 24lbs 7oz puts her in the 50th percentile in that category. Ever since she started walking at 10 months she hasn't really put on a whole lot of weight. Between her 15th and 18th month she only put on half a pound. She is a picky eater (which kid isn't) and she gets a quasi rounded diet, but the quantity is surprising. For instance last night we gave her half of a turkey and cheese sandwich. She probably ate about two thirds of half of a sandwich. Toss on a few carrots, some apple juice, and that sums up dinner. Maybe it is enough to sustain her and keep bones growing, but won't put pounds on her. In any case the doctor wasn't worried about her weight so I guess I shouldn't be either.

One extra thing that was interesting about this turkey sandwich (again with the sandwich). If we were holding the sandwich she wouldn't have anything to do with it. If we put it on her feeding table (thanks Babee Tenda) she was all over it. All over it is usually good, but in her case she keeps jamming in food, not finishing a bite, and not swallowing until she has a mouth full of food. What does the community think? How can we get her to slow down her eating?