What Is That Kid Eating?????

Everytime I take Varen out I also hear two things. No matter where we go or what we're doing people comment on how cute he is, and how chubby he is. While most of the comments are made in good humor and the stranger had no intentions of offending me or giving my child a weight complex, lol people are quick say things like "what are you feeding that boy???"

I've learned to smile and laugh the comments off, in the early months as Varen gained rapidly I worried if I was overfeeding him or he had some type of medical condition. After asking the peditrician multiple times there is nothing wrong with Varen's weight or the amount that I am feeding him. Infact he had his 9 month well baby check up yesterday and his peditrican told me that as long as he's breastfed, he can be as wide as he wants to be,because breastfed babies gain good fats and lean out as they start walking. She also jokingly said that I make MILKSHAKES not breastmilk. lol

But since everyone keeps asking and or assuming I'll tell you what Varen eats to dispel the myths that I must be giving him fried chicken, burgers and fries, corn bread and kool aid.
Varen eats what we eat, I delayed starting solids so that I could pretty much skip baby food. I wanted him to have a seasoned pallet and be exposed to textures early on. So does he eat salty sugary foods like we do? Nope. Because Varen eats what we eat I have had to change my cooking style a bit to accommodate him, so I cook with less salt and more herbs and spices and less sugar. If the meal can not or should not be altered I cook his portion separate before seasoning it or make him something different. Varen has helped us to eat healthier. :)

Do I make baby food? No not really. I don't blend things up and pretty much if I can't cut it, shred it, or mush it into small soft pcs I wont give it to him. It may look a lil different than what is on our plates but he has the same meal, so much the same that if I want to encourage him to take a bite, I can take a bite and not want to vomit in my mouth. :)

So what did Varen have for dinner tonight?

Ok we had Chicken Quesadillas, so Varen had 1 tbsp of shredded chicken breast, 2 tbsp of fresh avocado, and 2 tbsp of Mott's Natural no sugar added apple sauce with about 1/4 of a banana mashed/mixed into it. His sippy cup has water in it, (he only takes a few sips) and after dinner he was given a few goldfish crackers. (He only ate about 3 of them, I used them mainly for pincher grasp practice)

So as you can see the boy eats healthy, is not eating adult size portions. He has a variety of different foods that he eats and while I will say that I am guilty of giving him an OREO or a few french fries, those foods are not a part of his regular diet and will never be.

So this is a pic of Varen at 8 months and I know he looks like a 2 yr old toddler but I promise it's the angle in which it was taken and the fact that he is sitting at the edge of the couch and I'm taking the picture from the floor. Anyway I still love this pic because he is absolutely adorable rolls and all.

So what's he eating? Super Breast Milk and a healthy variety of foods.