Tales from the Tracks

I’ll admit it - I’m an odd duck. When my son became a toddler and started rejecting whatever fruit, vegetable, or meat Gerber saw fit to blend and bottle (because, really, what self-respecting preschooler would eat pureed meals?), I panicked. “What am I going to do?” I thought. “I have no idea what to feed a toddler!”

It’s been a challenge, no doubt, but finally, after a year of trial and error, I think I have crafted a long list of toddler-approved, healthy foods that can be given as a snack or combined to create a nutritious meal. Below are some of the toddler-friendly foods that have worked for me:

Best Bets 

• Edamame (soy beans) - This tops my list. You can buy it shelled and frozen, so it’s easy to prepare. It’s fun for toddlers to eat since they use their fingers, and it’s packed with lots and lots of protein!
• Yogurt - Possibly my son’s favorite food. Full of calcium and protein.
• Berries - The antioxidant power of berries is amazing. Plus, toddlers love the sweet taste of this finger food.
• Baby Carrots - Carrots are filled with beta carotene. Small, easy-to-eat baby carrots are perfect for little hands.
• Cheese - I have not yet found a type of cheese my son dislikes. Usually, I buy a big block of Cheddar and cut off squares to make a healthy, calcium-filled snack.
• Oatmeal- Oatmeal is both a filling and nutrient-rich breakfast. Almost all oatmeal is fortified with vitamins and minerals. Because oatmeal is thick and somewhat sticky, it’s the perfect texture for toddlers learning to use a spoon (it won’t fall off so easily).

Honorable Mention

• Avocado - Delicious, mild flavor and full of all the “good fats” you want your toddler to eat. The only possible drawback is the texture, which toddlers will sometimes reject.
• Tuna - My son would eat tuna morning, noon, and night if I let him. While fish is a great food to feed your toddler (hello, omega-3), tuna has a high mercury content so you should give it to your toddler in moderation.
• Peanut Butter - A healthy source of protein and fat, especially when paired with whole wheat bread. Plus, toddlers love all the different shapes you can make out of their sandwiches. Just make sure that your toddler is clear of allergies first.

Remember - it’s mostly about fun. Position the food as a special treat or let your toddler prepare it with you. And hey, if all else fails, a Flintstones vitamin ought to put your mind at ease.

A few months ago, I posted about a tool that analyzes your child’s facial features to determine which parent he or she more resembles. (If you haven’t seen it, check it out here.)

Equally fun - and possibly more so - is predicting what your baby could look like before birth. When I was pregnant, I spent hours and hours trying to predict my future baby’s eye color, hair color, height, facial features, you name it. There are a lot of cool sites out there where you can enter you and your partner’s features and they will predict what your baby may look like. Below are some of my favorites sites and tips on predicting what your baby may look like:

• Eye Color Predictor - What is the likelihood that your baby’s eyes would be brown? Blue? Green? All you need to know is your eye color, your partner’s eye color, and the grandparents’ eye colors - the site does the rest. It displays both genotype (genetic makeup) and phenotype (actual eye color) for all potential offspring.
• Height Estimator - Height is more variable than eye color, and thus, harder to predict prior to birth. However, the following rule should give you an idea of how tall your child may be: Take an average of the mother and father’s heights. Then, subtract 2 inches for a girl and add 2 inches for a boy to get your child’s (predicted) adult height.
• Hair Color - Probably the hardest trait to predict is hair color because there are believed to be multiple genes that influence it. Parents can produce children with a wide range of hair colors, regardless of their own. However, since dark hair is generally dominant to light, two parents with dark hair are much more likely to produce a blond baby than two parents with blond hair are to produce a dark haired baby. For more information on why this is, please read about dominant and recessive genes here.
• Dominant and Recessive Traits - Which traits are dominant? Which are recessive? Knowing this will allow you to make an educated guess at you and your partner’s genetic makeup and better predict what your baby may look like.

I know I’ve said this in nearly every one of my posts, but I think it bears restating: I truly loathe stupid people. The following story is a perfect example of idiocy compounded exponentially.

Just two weeks after Joshua Lipton was charged in a drunk driving accident that seriously injured a woman and left her hospitalized, the 20-year old college junior attended a Halloween party dressed as a prisoner in an orange jumpsuit. His friends posted pictures from the party on Facebook and it wasn’t long before they made their way to the hands of the attorney prosecuting the case. The pictures were used as evidence in court to show that Lipton lacked remorse for what he had done. The result? The judge slapped Lipton with two years in jail.

Let this be a lesson to all you stupid people out there. If you’re awaiting sentencing for a DUI that left someone hospitalized, it’s probably not a great idea to publicly mock the situation.