Big Boy Zog and the Weight Gain

This post is a sequel to Baby Zog and the Calories which I posted in January and can be read here.

For the last three weeks we have seen a wonderful positive change in BBZ's eating. He still gravitates toward crunchy/grainy snacks, fruit and dairy products. We still sneak high fat and high calories like cream cheese or yogurt smoothies into his daily diet. However, he has definitely expanded his "food portfolio" lately and seems more willing to try new things. For the most part he remains to be what I call a "food purist" - meaning that he'd rather eat foods in their pure form than foods that have been combined into a certain dish or meal. In other words, he's likely to eat a slice of bread, a slice of cheese and some turkey, but not if you put them together into a sandwich. In fact, at school he pulls the cheese off and eats it first; then he eats the bread. However, every now and then he'll surprise us in a major way. Last week he ate celery with pimento cheese and yesterday he ate an entire half of an egg salad sandwich. I about fell on the ground when his teacher told me that. Never underestimate the power of two-year-old peer pressure to make a kid eat!

The biggest change is that he consumes LARGER quantities of the foods he loves. We stopped counting his calories back in March because we found it to be very stressful and not all that helpful. We have a good idea of what he needs each day and lately he seems to be getting it! The anxiety is starting to wane and we are very encouraged. We can actually dine in a restaurant and just order off the kids' menu for him. It sounds simple, but that is such a great feeling.

Given this recent progress I was about as excited for his 30 month check up this week as I was for the sonogram I had at 19 weeks pregnant. We got checked in and Nurse Maria asked, "are there any issues you'd like to specifically address?" My reply was simple, "If that scale says at least 30 lbs, we have no issues because it means he's gaining weight again." Maria coaxed BBZ onto the scale and flashed me a grin that said we were in the clear. Here are the glorious stats:

Age: 2 years, 7 months
Weight: 30.86 lbs (60%)
Height: 37 inches (73%)
BMI: 15.85 (37%, healthy weight)

So basically, he's tall and skinny, but healthy and gaining weight again. We'll keep on keepin on...

I wouldn't do justice to my pride if I didn't also mention that after a robust five minute conversation with BBZ during which he told the doctor all about his friends at school and pointed out his colors, numbers, letters, animals and shapes - including his favorite, the octagon - our pediatrician looked at us and laughed and said, "you two are in trouble. This kid is smart." Apparently, he's even smart enough to know he needs to eat!

In The Trees

Being a one-car family (or in our case a one-old-paid-for-covered-in-cracker-crumbs-SUV family) actually has advantages that out-weigh the disadvantages. Saving money and a little piece of the planet is nice, but my favorite advantage is that we log some quality family time while making the rounds each day.

Daddy and Mommy go to work, and BBZ goes to daycare - or "school" as we prefer to call it. Since my job requires me to have a car during the day, I am the elected morning driver who safely delivers her men to their destinations. During our travels, we have discussions about everything we see, what we hear, and where we are going.

Every morning we drop Daddy Zog off on campus and about eight hours later we collect him again. The hours of his day are spent in an office, library, or classroom as he reads, writes or teaches. All pretty routine stuff for a PhD student.

However, a few months ago, as we were slowing down at our drop off spot - see photo above - BBZ shouted, "Daddy go to work in the trees!" Hmm. Okay. Sure Buddy, if you say so. But it wasn't a one time observation. Since then, it has become apparent that BBZ fully believes that his Daddy works "in the trees." If you ask him what his Daddy does, the reply will be, "My Daddy works in the trees. Yep, in the trees." It's hilarious! Yes, Daddy Zog's campus is covered in many large, beautiful trees; however, Daddy Zog has never climbed them, manicured them, or studied them. Moreover, BBZ has been to work with his daddy, played in his office and watched him work. And still, the "in the trees" theory persists.

But here is my favorite part: We fully embrace the theory. How precious to be a toddler and have all sorts of wonderful, creative and exciting ideas in your head! Who are we to take that away from him? At this stage, it's not important for him to know what Daddy really does. The daycare director knows where to really find us and that is all that matters. I wish I could climb into my small son's brain and attempt to follow the logic that led him to the conclusion that his Daddy works in the trees. Unfortunately, I'll never know how his little mind brought him to this, but I'm certainly not about to ruin the fun - his and ours - with the truth. Someday he'll know that his daddy is "a doctor, but not the kind who helps people." Someday we'll drive onto campus and his sweet observation won't occur. Someday he won't have any interest at all in where his Daddy works. But until that day, we'll let him enjoy thinking his Daddy is special enough to work in the trees.

Elmo's Green Thumb

BBZ enjoyed his first live performance show this morning with Sitti and Mommy. We took him to See Elmo's Green Thumb. Unfortunately, Daddy was on his way home from a conference and wasn't able to join us. My sweet baby was the perfect audience member, sitting in his seat like a good boy, clapping when they said "clap," waving when they said, "wave" and otherwise staring in a comotose state trying to take it all in. The photo above pretty much sums up the concentration he maintained through the enitre 90 minute show. He loved every second of it and spent the rest of the day asking, "where are my friends?" We just kept telling him they had to rest so they could do the show again for other little boys and girls.

Photos are here.

Photos of May

We had quite a busy month here in Zogland, and it was a month of many firsts for BBZ. First time holding a newborn baby, first time planting things in the earth, first time successfully posing for a photo for mommy, first time getting a boo boo that required a band-aid (a fate that, according to BBZ, also befell poor Grover later that day, thus requiring him to need a matching band-aid. See above photo.) All in all, a great month! Click here for photos.