Home // Posts tagged "feeding" (Page 2)

Are You Kidding Me?

3 June, 2013 1 comment

Thanks to the DVR I don’t watch a lot of commercials, but I did catch one the other day for a product that truly makes me fear for western civilization. I give you Cupcake Pebbles. I’ll skip over the lectures on America’s obesity and diabetes problems and get right to the ridiculousness of eating cupcakes for breakfast and trust me if you are going to eat a cupcake for breakfast man up and eat a real one. I salute Post for blowing right past Cookie Crisp and anxiously await the arrival of brownie cereal. In addition to waiting for ice cream flavored cereal, I will also enjoy waiting for the day when LTD begs me to buy him a bag of sugar to eat for breakfast and the tantrum that will result when I decline.

Seedless, Baby, Seedless

1 June, 2013 Reply

While Summer may not have officially arrived it sure seems that way in our household. LTD has discovered a passion for watermelon. Thanks to the seedless variety, the little guy chomps away on the pink stuff with amazing gusto. It really is the perfect thing for him to eat because he can hold the rind and feed himself. And it really is the perfect thing for us because when he spends it around and tries to eat the rind it makes us laugh really hard. I will add that the mess he creates while munching with abandon is quite large and wet, yet all things considered isn’t that hard to clean up so I say bring it on. Lastly, I will mention that if you take a bite of his watermelon in front of him, he doesn’t get mad, he laughs hysterically and for that reason I myself have rediscovered the joys of watermelon.

Interview – Così Restaurants

11 May, 2013 Reply

Welcome to the second conversation in the Beyond the Car Seat interview series. The Mommy and I often enjoy eating out, but with LTD getting increasingly both more mobile and vocal our options are limited. However, the one place we have found that meets all our needs is Cosi. Not only do they have a kid friendly set up, they also offer a free rewards program that includes 10 entrees and the 11th is free. I spoke with Bob Speirs, vice-president of operations, Così Restaurants about Cosi and why it rules.


What would you say is Cosi’s kid friendly philosophy and how did the company arrive at it?
At Così, we’re always working to create an atmosphere unique to the neighborhoods where our restaurants are located and that serves the guests the visit us. For many of our restaurants, this means ensuring that a mom and dad who want to have a great salad or a worldly sandwich also have options for their children that provide choice and taste.


How has the response been to the family atmosphere?
Our guests have overwhelmingly supported the environment that, for many, goes beyond standard options for families with children.

What is the most popular kids item on the menu?
Our guests have many favorites. While there isn’t a clear standout in the kids menu, pizza is always going to be a favorite with the kids and our recent introduction of Così Thin Crust Flatbread Pizza has been warmly received.

Of course, popular with parents are our other options that they can feel good about giving to their kids like fresh fruit, baby carrots and non-fat milk.

Is there anything coming up in the future involving the kids menu or activities?
Like the rest of our menu, we’re always looking for improvements based on the feedback of our guests and our own desire to continually improve the Così experience. We recently held The Così Little Chefs contest that gave our guests and their children an opportunity to submit a new menu item to us. We’re working now to see how the winning entry may work its way to our menu.

What happens when adults, like my wife, want to order off the kids menu?
We’re certainly flattered to think that our kids menu is good enough to satisfy adult tastes.

PS: Am I the only one who orders my son the fruit cup?
The fruit cup is actually a very popular choice, so much so that we’re looking into seasonal fruit options for the summer like seedless watermelon.


LZ Come and Get it

25 March, 2013 Reply

With Dog Week nearing an end, I would be remiss if I didn’t really re-enforce the fact that our dog, LZ, loves food. Most of the time this craving is a pain in the butt when The Mommy and I want to have a meal at home or a heaven forbid a party. For years the rallying cry has been LZ off. However, with the baby eating food under his own power the dog’s addiction has been our ticket to avoiding the vacuum or broom. Now when the baby drops (or more accurately throws) food on the floor instead of yelling LZ off we get to say LZ come. With the exception of avocados and raisins, the dog is our little baby clean up machine. As I have mentioned before, too bad the pooch can’t also clean the baby’s face after each meal, but I am told the practice is considered “mal vu.”

High Noon

8 March, 2013 Reply

One of the side effects of having a baby, and this should come as no surprise to anyone, is that you wake up early. Very early. Waking up early comes with its own set of side effects. For me, perhaps the hardest of these is that I know get hungry a lot earlier in the day. Does anyone want to guess what happens when I eat lunch at 11:30 or noon? That’s right, I want to eat another lunch around four. You don’t even have to guess what all this has done to my belly. Like the baby, it’s only growing in one direction. Yet another side effect that is damaging my health results from my eating at a pace that would make a NASCAR team proud. If the little guy takes his nap around noon I’m all set, it’s like eating at Tavern on the Green with my sandwich morphing into one of Mario Batali’s specialties. However, if LTD doesn’t feel like sleeping and my stomach growls, I am left with no choice. Not only do I eat wicked fast, but I usually make poor food decisions. Trust me, you don’t want to know about my fruit roll up casserole. The moral of the story is that I need to drink a lot more water and pray he sleeps at noon.

Decoy Spoon

2 March, 2013 Reply

Mealtimes with LTD have always been a voyage into the unknown. We never know where the food will end up or how much the dog will eat. Now a new challenge has presented itself during chow time. LTD wants to feed himself with the spoon. How do we know he wants to feed himself? He grabs the spoon as it comes near his mouth. Can anyone guess what happens to pears and oatmeal after a baby, with all the grace of a rhinoceros with a meth problem, grabs the spoon? However, The Mommy and I have come up with a simple solution. We call it the decoy spoon. By giving the little guy the decoy spoon he distracts himself long enough that we can get most of the food in or near his mouth. Of course in the nothing is ever easy category, he usually drops the decoy spoon on the floor after the first bite because he thinks it’s funny.

Say it Don’t Spray It

21 January, 2013 Reply

The mess LTD makes while eating increases in direct proportion to the increases in his food choices. Yogurt makes a particularly nice mess as does cheese. However, everything we have fed him so far pales in comparison to the mess he makes with his mouth. You haven’t truly lived until you’ve seen a baby blow a raspberry with a mouth full of mashed up peas. If this hasn’t happened to you, then you don’t as of yet know the joy of getting mush sprayed onto your face by your own creation. Of course the little guy lets out his requisite laugh after each blown raspberry.

The real challenge for me and The Mommy is that we can’t help but laugh as well which sends a mixed signal to LTD. I can only hope that he is too young to figure out our conflicting messages and I hope that we are cured of the habit when he is old enough to really notice. On another food related matter, things are pretty gross with the green foods like peas and avocado, but they are not in the same league with the dark colored foods. Lets put it this way; I won’t tell you what it looks like when he is done eating prunes.


Product Review – Bebe au Lait

20 January, 2013 1 comment

This week, we consult The Mommy for our review since I have never actually used the product. The Bebe au Lait Nursing Covers and Hooter Hiders have become a staple in our collection of baby gear when we leave the house. Don’t take me word for it; let’s get the 411 straight from the source. “At first I used it because I wanted privacy,“ said The Mommy. She added, “but now [that LTD is ten months] I really use it to close him off from the outside world so he doesn’t get distracted when I’m feeding him in public.” The Mommy also mentioned that she knows of nursing working moms who have used the Bebe au Lait to cover up when they are pumping in the back of their cars in the office-parking garage. She also called it a giant boob tent, but that may have been off the record.

While I can’t review the product from the point of view of someone who has used it, I will add that I feel like by this point I know what kind of taste The Mommy has and she enjoys the Bebe au Lait for an additional reason other than the fact that it is practical. She likes the “good quality fabric and beautiful designs.” I knew she was going to say that. I also knew she was going to say, “It makes me want one in every style and design.” Sadly, we are going to be weaning LTD in the near future, so LTD’s college fund is safe for now.

Yo Baby Yo

11 January, 2013 1 comment

Last week The Mommy green lit the addition of yogurt to the baby’s food palette. The results from this grand experiment have been mostly positive with the only draw back being the mess. I would say that LTD had a hard time dealing with the new texture of yogurt, which for lack of a better word is slimy, but he kept wanting more. In the beginning, he would make a slight gagging face after each spoonful and then lick his entire mouth and chin. Now he seems used to yogurt and enjoys it quite a bit. We have been giving him Stonyfield’s YoBaby because it is made with whole milk. The Mommy informed me that babies need only whole milk, which was hard for me to find in yogurt form since most of the products I saw in the store were no fat or reduced fat. Unlike me babies need all the calories they can get since they grow like weeds especially in the first two years. The Mommy also told me that the little guy needs to eat a large amount of calories in a small amount of food, hence the whole milk.

On a separate note, LTD has taken to grabbing my nose when I feed him. After every bite he reaches out grabs my nose and then moves his finger up and down on my eyelashes. I have a team of experts analyzing this new behavior pattern and will keep readers posted on the outcome.

Fire in the Hole

7 January, 2013 Reply

The other day The Mommy and I were in the grocery store and took a stroll down the baby food aisle. We are always on the look out for new items that are age appropriate. LTD reaching nine months of age and his eight teeth have allowed us to expand his horizons. The time had arrived for the product known as teething biscuits. We picked up Healthy Times Biscuits For Teethers. With LTD strapped in to his high chair and the tray fastened we decided to see if he would enjoy a biscuit. The biscuit went right to his mouth, but it didn’t stay there long. He had no problem with the taste but the length and texture of the teether were too much for the little guy’s hands. Under different circumstances I don’t think the dropping of the biscuit would have mattered, but the kitchen floor provided an inhospitable environment for the biscuit. You see, the impact from the high chair sized drop caused the biscuit to turn into three sharp pieces of shrapnel. The Mommy, LTD and I decided that collectively we are not ready for biscuits and when we are he might eat them closer to the ground, much to the delight of the dog.

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