Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Gag me with a...finger?

Patience usually comes easy to me but I'm finding myself frustrated. Two things:

1. My kids get a kick out of gagging themselves. They literally put their fingers down their throats and make this awful bulimic like sound. They've been doing it for a few months and show no signs of slowing down. I thought it was just a phase. At first I wouldn't react because I thought they were doing it to get my attention. Then I tried calmly taking their fingers out and giving a disapproving face/tone. They don't care. One starts and the other one copies like it's a game. It is so gross.

2. Mealtime with Maxwell is not fun. He is a super picky eater. I know twins are two separate people but it's hard not to compare his eating with Ella's. These days little peanut literally eats twice what her brother does. The 'finger food' I put on his tray goes immediately onto the floor. So I try putting down small amounts at a time. He does better when I feed him with a spoon, but he only wants to eat things with no texture. We're fine if I feed him yogurt or sweet potatoes. But he can't live on that alone. Right? I've been pretty successful with keeping them on the same schedule with eating and sleeping, but this fixing double meals is driving me crazy.



Any suggestions? Ideas? Witty one liners for the people staring at us in the store when my kids have their fingers down their throats?

7 comments:

Chicago Mom (Heather) said...

I'm glad you keep coming back to my blog! I love new visitors.

I think boys are just pickier eaters and more "difficult". Don't get me wrong - they are wonderful too. But our Henry is much picker than his little sis.

I'm sure Maxwell will grow out of it. Look how much men eat when they are older. :-)

The fact that he's only eating a few things shouldn't be of concern. At least that's what my pediatrican told us.

Sarah R.Conley said...

Mike has a thing with textures even though he is 30! He remembers his mom making him eat things and he would throw up. He says certain textures make him sick.... so anyway, my advice is if Maxwell is avoiding certain textures it could be that it is just who he is.. He may never grow out of it.. He PROBABLY will.. but even if he doesnt ... it really wont be a big deal in 10 years.
on a different note. I had not checked your blog forever.. loved the spring fashion show.

Joanna said...

Hi -
I came across your blog last week and I read through the whole thing. Love your stories!

My daughter is now 20 months old, but she went through the same gagging phase. It IS weird, but she eventually stopped on her own. They will become interested in other things like sticking their fingers in their ears to see how it muffles sounds, etc. :)

Sabrina went through a texture phase, too. I read somewhere that it can take up to 15-20 exposures to a food before the toddler will actually eat it (and like it).

Hang in there! :)

Sue Kasmar said...

Ummmm....Meghan...if I remember correctly NO ONE was a pickier eater than YOU! He will grow out of it. Besides....our sweet Max is not hurting in the weight category! Relax! Love you all!

Meghan Elaine said...

Ha! That's so funny Aunt Sue. We went to Aunt Julie's for Easter...and she said the exact same thing about how picky of an eater I was. Ok, I'll relax...

molly june. said...

ahh! i'm so glad you came over & said hello :) your kids are b-e-a-utiful!! twin power! (sorry, that was lame.) i remember the days of trying to keep mine on a schedule. stressful. your hard work will pay off mama! promise!

i don't even have a witty comment or an ounce of advice on the gagging/eating thing. i blame the crazzzzy pills. :)

rozanny said...

My twin niece and nephew are the same way. She eats twice what he does... and he's way pickier. Same if you compare them to my daughter who's the same age. But they're both healthy and they eat when they really need too.

Your kids are adorable!