Mealtime Tricks

Owen is not always the best eater, so I've learned a few tricks along the way to help him 

be a little more adventurous.  He'll eat fruit all day long, especially strawberries, grapes

and watermelon, but vegetables and protein have always been a little tougher.

One day as he sat with untouched, cut up pieces of chicken in front of him, I said to him,

"Can Mommy try a bite?"  He was more than happy to share and get the chicken off his plate.

What's hilarious is as soon as I ate a piece he started eating the rest of it.  I thought it was 

maybe just a fluke, but we've tried the same tactic since then and it has worked like a

charm.  I've got him to try turkey meatballs, chicken strips out at a restaurant, and

various other things that he previously would turn his nose up at.  

I discovered my second trick today at lunch.  After he finished up all of his watermelon, he 

wasn't interested in anything else on his plate.  I noticed he was using a pretzel to stab at

the chunks of string cheese he had, and then he would put the pretzel up to his mouth.

He had used a fork once before at Grandma's house, so I went and got him a fork to

see if it would do the trick.

   

Sure enough, once he got the fork loaded, he started eating the cheese he had moments

ago refused.  I can't guarantee these tricks will last forever, but for now it is nice

to have a sneaky way to get him to eat a little bit more every once in awhile.