Really?!

And we're still leaping along. Both kids had colds - thats a hard struggle. Chicken soup for all! And applesauce and Popsicles. James is back to himself finally (after a cold, horrible allergies and another cold - sick for a month! With a horrid cough.)

Why do I find it odd that so many parents seem to be feeding their kids healthier than themselves? I mean your kid is watching you eat! And on top of that - so many families dont eat together at all. It's just weird to me. And I really don't think 1 yogurt covered pretzel with lunch is enough to be considered a "Treat" for a 4 year old but that's just me - a confirmed junk food junkie - I guess. (and I'm not talking about large pretzels I'm talking about the kind that are twisty and come in big bags.)
So enough with my tangent - (feed your kids how you want, just stop trying to make me feel inferior because my kids eat *Gasp* Ice cream instead of frozen yogurt or whatever!)

James weighed in at 29 1/2 lbs the other day! GO James!!He also needs bigger shoes. Again. (good thing Daddy got the next size up hockey skate too!) And Kaylee is moving up to 18 month and 24 month stuff (for length obviously not weight) We see the endo in December. Hoping for an "all clear" but not getting my hopes up too high to be dashed to pieces again.

Oh our favorite season is upon us! Thanksgiving & Christmas. We'll be baking up a storm. And making candy. Oh and the ideas i have for lunches (time permitting) so excited!! And the store bought goodies too....mmmmmmmmmmm.

I shall make a separate post for Caramel apple nut cakes. They are so good. Hard to make some times, but still oh so good & fattening too!

Halloween!

We've been having a fun fall! I've been making a bunch of fun Halloween sandwiches (just sandwiches cut with a cookie cutter) Butter, cheese and pickles is the current favorite. James' own creation. If he likes it who am I to complain. Here's a ghost with grape bugs and eyeballs:

Acorns (a treat)



Spider (cheese, pretzels, raisins)


We're still plugging along. Kaylee hasn't been weighed recently. I tried to get her in to see the Developmental specialist but they make it impossible - shouldn't be that hard for existing patients to be seen! I mean really?! I have to call 3 months in advance and the appointments fill up that fast and really you can't schedule into the next month? You want me to call every day until you have the new calendar available? Really!? Anyway..... She sees the Ped Endocrinologist in December.
James weighed in at 28 1/2 lbs when he was seen for his cough last week. I just don't understand. Would my kids not weigh anything if I didn't go to all the extra effort to boost calories like I do??!? I guess I'm getting myself into one of my frustrated moods. Kaylee has decided it's grand fun to drop her food on the floor. She eats a few bites and then it's game on. I really want to force her to cut back on the toddler milk, but I know she gets all her calories that way.
On a bright note: She's learned to bite things! Cereal bars, cookies, chips, muffins, lots of things! And she loves that danonino yogurt. She grabs them out of the fridge and says "ogurt pleeeeasseee!" How can I refuse even though i know it's going to mean an extra bath?! She loves feeding herself yogurt.


A tip to increase calories for this post: I add cool whip to chocolate pudding. I am lazy and I buy the store brand (Hunts I think has the most calories per serving) and I add cool whip. You can make a cute ghost with it using sprinkle or chocolate chip eyes.

New Schedule

James is now in preschool 3 days a week. That's caused us to have a slightly new schedule. This has led to Kaylee falling in love with her snack cup! She seems to be eating more. She'll have a snack while waiting to get J from school and still sit down and eat lunch with us.
And the "fun" lunches have been cut back. The good thing is that J seems to come home hungry (even though they give them a snack) He now likes peanut butter and banana sandwiches and bread and cheese and pickle sandwiches. A monkey (use your imagination!) A pig and a bear with some bear friends. Halloween is coming - I have lots of ideas! (we'll see if I can get into the groove of this new schedule and find the time)


As for calorie options: Kaylee had raviolis (gerber toddler ones) and we added butter to the top.
James has started eating hot dogs (cut into bite size pieces) inside a hotdog bun with ketchup and mustard. He will eat 2 buns, 1 hot dog for lunch this way. *But be sure the ketchup is on the bottom! haha*
We've been snacking on cubed cheese (colby jack). They like it with crackers or veggie sticks or just about anything! And apples with peanut butter or caramel dip. Fried apples are good and you can top pancakes with them but the kids aren't really fans. I bought some mini muffins at the store (little debbie maybe?) and they both like those in the morning (So do I) I must get myself a mini muffin pan asap!! The fall baking season is about to start!

Still fun!

Kaylee's still small, but doing well! James starts preschool this week! Where is all this time going? His school is nut free, but thank goodness he doesn't eat lunch there. His favorite right now is peanut butter sandwiches. Almost every day he asks for a PBand J with no jelly. Who am I to say no?! I am not sure what I'll feed him when he has to take a lunch and it's a nut free school....Guess I'll start doing my research and testing now!
Still doing the fun lunches - he eats it up. And when I do bento style lunches (small portions of several different foods) he loves that too. I may just have to purchase an actual bento box set. Here's some of our fun foods:

A strawberry mouse with a banana tail, and some blueberry "bugs" with banana wings and antennae.
Buttered bread with marshmallow teeth, marshmallow and chocolate chip eyes. He ate this with a bowl of soup.
A raspberry and blueberry flower with pretzel stick stem. Strawberry and cracker butterflies with blueberry eyes.
Dog Pb&J Minus J. Cracker ears, marshmallow eyes, scooby snack crackers and a splitz yogurt.

Grilled cheese fish sandwich with some small cracker buddies.

And just so you don't think Kaylee gets left out: Though the fun in her lunch is dumping the entire plate onto her tray. (she has wagon wheel noodles with butter that I cut up for her, deli chicken - Boarshead everroast mmmm - and some cheese.)

As for the high calorie aspect of these lunches: We add double peanutbutter to his sandwiches, butter to his soup, butter to the noodles, I put butter on both sides of the grilled cheese and double the cheese and then he dips into mustard or ranch or ketchup... We've also had "brinner" alot. Thats breakfast for dinner. Bacon and pancakes or banana pancakes with a side of hashbrowns and eggs. Or french toast. If you want to add extra calories to those just use heavy cream instead of milk. Top with syrup, whipped cream, yogurt or jelly (or ice cream topping) We had fried apples on top of pancakes two weeks ago to get into the fall season. It was so good!
I can't wait to start doing my fall baking!

More fun food!

James still really enjoys "Fun Lunches" here are a few of my latest attempts:

Mouse
Smurf houses/toadstools/mushrooms
Mouse ("warehouse mouse")

Wall-E

I find that he eats more if I do Bento style lunches. (Small servings of a bunch of foods.)

Kaylee had a trip to the ER. She slipped and hit her head. She checked out ok and did wonderfully during the whole thing (CAT scan included!) She weighed in at 17lbs though. She's still gaining slowly but surely. Her new favorite foods are yogurt and cereal bars.

As for high calorie stuff - we still do what we can to add to their foods. Kaylee still gets 27 cal/oz toddler formula. She's finally starting to learn how to use straws so I see a lot of shakes in her future! James loves his peanut butter lately. He's also discovered that apples go well with peanut butter and caramel.

CF

This website has some high calorie recipe ideas for kids. It's meant for kids with CF. James took the sweat test and passed so no CF but we can still use the calories! http://kidshealth.org/kid/recipes/cf_recipes/about_cf_recipes.html


Fun foods: This week we've had a turtle shaped quesadilla, butterfly pastas with leaf shaped cheese, a bear face sandwich, cucumber and pretzel tree, and pumpkin shaped sandwich with pumpkin puzzle cheese and watermelon. And James has eaten his lunch every day with no complaints. EVERYDAY. Looks like i'll be continuing on with the fun lunch stuff. Good thing a Party City just opened in the shopping center up the road! (and I'll post pictures shortly.)




Kaylee lost 2oz at her last weigh in, but grew 1/4 of an inch. And she graduated from Physical Therapy!!! Yeah!! We might start adding Duocal to her diet. I think I can be sneakier than when we tried it with James..... We shall see.

Fun lunches

Just getting started so cut me some slack. Here's our first "fun lunch". A sailboat sandwich with pirates treasure fruit and dip. (and veggie sticks)

James ate the whole thing and more fruits and veggie sticks.

I'm collecting more "tools"and gadgets for more fun lunches. Hopefully more creative than this one~ stay tuned!

Slowly but surely...

Kaylee is up to 16lbs 6oz and 30 1/4 inches. Not huge but she's growing and that's all that matters. James outgrew 2 pairs of shoes this summer and his jeans are SO short. We have alot of shopping to get to this fall!

The other night we had Banana "coins" or banana pancakes for dinner. It was a huge hit! All I did was dip bananas cut into small circles in the pancake batter and then tossed it on the griddle.
Today for lunch I served his sandwich and yogurt with blueberries in a pirate muffin cup with a pirate flag (toothpick/food pick) and James loved it so much. That means I'm going to go ahead and dig out the cookie cutters and start making lunch time fun. It might mean a few extra minutes preparing the meal, but if I don't have to say "eat your food" 1000 times it'll be worth it. I'm also hoping to get him to try new things. If it looks this cool/fun it MUST be good right?! I sure hope so! I'll post pictures as we start doing this - first I have to get everything together and get some meals planned. (I'm sure my husband will appreciate it if I don't go out and spend a mini fortune on this stuff all at once too!) I'm excited though so I hope it rubs off on James - and in turn Kaylee too.

Size 3s!

Finally hit 16lbs and the size 3 diapers are starting to fit! Also realized her size 3 shoes (6-9 months) are getting a little small and went out to get her some size 4s!!! She's walking all over the place non stop so I'm super happy about her gain of 6ounces in 2 weeks. (so is the nutritionist) Especially since she's teething and had a delayed allergic reaction to bug bites on top of the walking.

For foods lately: We've been loving summer. Fruit is a big deal in this house. Of course we dip it in coolwhip or yogurt or caramel or chocolate, blend it into ice cream shakes.....We've also been enjoying freeze dried fruits. And veggies (which Kaylee will eat - James is hit or miss) Corn, zucchini (breaded and fried or steamed) I made some dill ranch cucumber dip to go with some crackers I found at the store (keebler club sticks - perfect for small hands) I haven't convinced either kid to actually eat the dip (James tried a few crackers and said he liked it) but G and I think it's great. You mix 1 16oz container of sour cream with a package of the ranch mix, 1 tsp of dill and half a cucumber (cut up into small pieces)

On a side note: I've noticed more moms being told to fatten up their kids, and this in turn sparking the debate on how to feed your kids (no junk, only "good" fats etc) I don't want to be involved in all that - feed your kids how you feel is best! We've been dealing with this issue for 4 years now with 2 kids and in all the doctors, dietitians and nutritionists we've seen their main focus has always been getting in the calories. We don't eat only "healthy" fats (we eat Mcdonalds regularly). I still hope other moms are able to use some of our ideas and I'm able to help you help your kids.

Sunflowers!

Our favorite snack this week: Sunflower seeds. Yes they're salty if you buy the packaged ones but they're pretty high in calories for how little they are (and how little you have to eat) They've got lots of good vitamins too!
James loves them in a bowl with baby goldfish crackers.
You can also mix them in yogurt, on top of ice cream, in salad.

Kaylee is on a cheese, deli chicken and bread kick - and also avocados. I'm sure her drinking 21-28ounces of 27 calorie toddler formula fills her up so I'm just glad she's still eating. It seems it's working because she's officially a walker now (and so burning more calories) and still gaining weight! Eventually we're going to limit her "milk" and have her eat more "foods" but for now she's just catching up so to speak. Trying to get the calories where she can. I'm also going to talk to our Developmental Pedi and dietician about trying the Duocal with Kaylee (James somehow knew when we put it in his stuff, but I think i'm trickier now!)

A-OK

The endocrinologist is our new favorite person. She's not convinced there's really anything wrong with Kaylee other than her size and she'd much prefer to take a wait and see approach rather than an aggressive testing one. K had a few more tests today (only 2 tubes) just to get a few things pinned down. She sees the Endo in 6 months (unless these results come back really wacky) just to check how she's doing. She said we have her whole life (until she's done growing really) to straighten this out and correct if need be, but that it really doesn't look like theres a real problem. Whew. Just praying nothing comes up strange and it's smooth sailing from here. I could cry! Oh wait I did (when i was alone)


So Kaylee's up to 15lbs 12 oz and 28 1/4 inches (the typical weight of a 5 month old, and height around 7 months) but it's growth (Steady growth at that) and we'll take it! She's still much smaller than even James was, but mommy knows how to sew a stitch in her pants to make them fit so it's ok. And she's starting to take steps!

We've been snacking on cereal alot lately. Not the highest thing for calorie count, but not terrible for us. It's almost summer and we'll eat alot of fruit, and go through alot of whipped cream! Another favorite is chocolate filled crescent rolls. Yum! And calo-rific!!! It's simple. Roll out the tube of crescent rolls, spread some melted butter on them, put in some chocolate chips and roll into crescents. Bake according to directions (add a minute or so until brown) and drizzle top with melted chocolate. I've been thinking of adding some fruits to this too and sometimes we add nuts or almonds. Ok now i'm drooling.

Feeling like home

We moved last week. Just into a bigger apartment. It's familiar, yet totally different.

Still unpacking though. It's feeling more and more like home as we go.
Kaylee cut a tooth on moving day and then got a nasty diaper rash, yet still managed a 5 oz gain in the last 2 weeks! (she also grew in length and her head grew!!!)

Our favorite snacks this week: corn puffs (not very high calorie) and lucky charms.

Dinner tonight: Beef soup (got to get some veggies in the kids - the beef is a bonus too although neither will eat pieces of the beef they still get some in the broth!) We'll up the calories with butter or oil and add noodles and barley.

Schedule

My skinnies have to eat often. About every 2 hours. So with 2 kids, a cat, fish, myself and husband it seems I'm always feeding somebody! We're now running on a decent schedule though so I don't have to feel like a short order cook too much.
We get up at 7 and have breakfast at 7:30 - 8:00 (an example meal: mini pancakes with butter and some cereal)
Around 10 or 10:30 a snack. (Ritz bits or nilla cookies and fruit - i'm going to try the cream cheese and nilla cookies soon!)
Lunch is at 11:30 or 12 (grilled cheese, veggie sticks, fruit cup w/whipped cream)
A snack for J around 2:30 or 3 (no later or dinner could be ruined) Sometimes K wakes up from her nap early enough, some days she just starts on her dinner early. I try to feed her what we're having, but if she's hungry I'll make her a toddler meal (like cheese ravioli with butter on top) and also feed her some of our dinner when we sit down.
Dinner 5:30 or 6ish.
Before bed snack at 7 (yogurt cup or pudding are the current favorites. It used to be shakes)
K always has her toddler milk with meals and snacks. J gets 4-6oz of juice a day and then water or vitamin d milk (sometimes with carnation or hersheys syrup)

I've been told it's ok to limit meal times. Snacks are 15 minutes, meals 30-40 minutes - we are trying to get better at enforcing this as J seems to take FOREVER to eat (as in 1/2 of a sandwich took him 45 minutes the other day) I just have to let go of the idea of them "starving" if they don't eat now. (I should see my own schedule! They eat frequently enough!) And also with J snacks aren't given unless he's eaten at least a good portion of the previous meal and never too close to the next meal. We figure he's old enough to start getting the concept and should develop some more "normal" eating patterns (this is hard with K still eating on a toddler's schedule though). Plus he's starting to want just snacks not meals - though he has done GREAT the last few days!
We're not on a strict schedule by any means - some days no morning snack is given, once in awhile it's late when we have dinner so no before bed snack. It just all depends on the day and every one's appetite.

We also always try to eat as a family. Well it's always me sitting down with the kids - G's schedule means he misses breakfast and lunch or dinner depending if he's days or nights. Yes, my meals are often cold but I'm getting used to it.

Little overwhelmed

All these doctors and therapies and things. Oh. Some days I'm feeling so overwhelmed. SO much to keep straight, so much to worry about/try not to worry about. And we still don't have any answers - not that we were looking. We thought our kids were just small, now the doctors have us worrying and re thinking and thinking "what if we're wrong and there is a problem we've missed?"
James is jealous. Kaylee always has appointments and stuff - and everyone's so good at trying to include him and stuff, but it's plain as day he's a green monster. Kaylee can't make a peep without him shouting to draw attention to himself. But K needs the attention - she needs PT so she can strengthen her legs and walk. We try so hard to give J special attention or things to do during it, but it doesn't seem to be helping. And Mommy needs some quiet time and space! But when I carve out a bit of quiet time that's when I start thinking and worrying!
I try to keep my own jealousy at bay as well. I'm jealous of the parents of "normal" kids who have only one doctor (Not a Pediatrician AND a developmental specialist, a nutritionist/dietitian, a Neurogenetics doctor, and an endocrinologist as well as a physical therapist, and occupational therapist.) Of parents of normal kids who fit into the smallest size swim diapers before they're 1 1/2. Of parents that have never been to Riley Hospital for Children, parents who haven't had to hear their baby scream while having blood drawn.
I'm hanging in here on a skinny little string. Trying to keep my wits about me and hold my head up. Trusting it will all be ok. I just need to be allowed to have my off days here and there.


With that - one of K's favorite meals: Avocado! (it's green!) she loves it with cheese, chicken and tortilla pieces.

Side Note: Kaylee "graduated" from OT this week!

For the love of cheese

Cheese. It's K's go to food. She LOVES it - she even says it!
So we eat Grilled cheese sandwiches (butter both sides of the bread) J likes to dip his in mustard or ranch or ketchup.
We have many shapes of snack cheeses (mostly colby jack, but also mild cheddar and mozzarella)
Cheese and potato cubes
Mac & Cheese with extra butter (and heavy cream or half and half) and toss in some cooked veggies. (yep I make the blue boxed stuff and the microwave stuff. I am NOT a short order cook and this makes me feel like I'm not.)
We're going to buy some ritz bits this week and see how those are.
Cheese melted over veggies would be good - but K's not quite there yet. J will eat cheese and pasta and veggies.

High Calorie Drinks

While we try to avoid letting our kids have a totally liquid diet, we do give shakes as a snack after dinner. They're an excellent way to get extra calories in and they don't have to be totally junk. You can use yogurt or sherbert or milk. Here are some of our favorites:
Oreo Madness:
Milk
Packet of chocolate or vanilla carnation instant breakfast
Crushed up Oreos
Ice cream - vanilla or chocolate
Hershey's syrup or fudge
Blend and enjoy - ok so this one has a lot of "Junk" in it, but it's so good!

Strawberry:
Milk and CIB Strawberry or vanilla
Ice cream - we like vanilla with strawberry chunks
Cut up strawberries

I have so many of these drink recipes it makes my head spin. I will post more in upcoming days!

Well this is fun

So Kaylee's bloodwork from her first visit with the Developmental specialist came back and her lactate pyruviate came back as elevated, not a huge surprised based on the fact that her muscle tone is low. Not dramatically low, but on the lowest end of normal. So we were sent to a Neurogenetics doctor. Scary. He mentioned mitochondrial disease and also possible supplements - it was hard to keep track with a crying baby. Anyway he ordered more blood work and urine tests. Some of that came back. Her lactate is still elevated but he wants to wait for the rest of the results before he decides what to do and what that means for us. One of her hormone levels came back weird too so now we have an appointment with a pediatric endocrinologist. WEEEEE.
Physical therapy is going well. She is a pull up pro and is getting really good at cruising! Occupational therapy is coming to an end already as she no longer gags while eating.


WIth all of that I'm still pushing along struggling to get a picky, willful 4 year old to eat his dinners (smothered in calories) and teaching our sprite thumbalina to try everything.

Our favorite snack this week: Pudding eaten with nilla wafers instead of a spoon. ANd that pudding can be made with heavy cream instead of milk, or with half and half. Or with half one of those things and half milk. It can also be topped with whipped cream or cool whip. Yum.

Lesson 1 - Dip!

Never let them eat things plain. Always dip, cover and smother.
Bread gets buttered (sometimes on both sides if I can get away with it)
Fruit gets dipped in cream cheese, cool whip, yogurt
Veggies are good in ranch, veggie dip, cheese.
Pretzels go good in dip and so do graham crackers (Pudding makes an awesome dip! Go an extra step and top it with whipped cream first.)
Soup gets butter or cream depending on the soup and the kid.
Pasta gets sauce or butter. Sometimes cheese.
Glass of milk? Just add carnation instant breakfast (for older babies)
Jello and coolwhip are great.
Fries are awesome with ranch (and cheese too) But if that's not your style ketchup adds calories too.
Potatoes = butter, sour cream & bacon bits, Cheese if you're feeling like some dairy. If you want mashed potatoes make it with butter and heavy cream or half and half!
Avocados are good but only 1 of my kids likes them
Eggs are wonderful with heavy cream and cheese.

More ideas soon. We're busy here setting up PT and OT appointments - and enjoying some nice weather for the time being!

The Stats

J:
Birth 5lbs 9oz 21.5 inches
1MO 7lb5oz
2MO 10lb4oz 24inches
4MO 11lb10oz 26inches
6MO 14lbs 26.5inches
9MO 16lbs 28inches
12MO 16lbs8oz 29inches
15MO 18lbs 30inches
18MO 18lbs 14oz 32inches
** Here we started seeing the developmental specialist and getting monthly weight checks**
24MO 20lbs 12oz 35inches
3Yr 24lbs 36.5inches
4Yr 27lbs 39inches (last week @ unscheduled Dr visit: 28 1/4 lbs!)

K
Birth 5lbs12oz 20inches
1MO
2MO
4MO 11lbs4oz 25inches6MO 12lb7oz 25 1/4inches
9MO 13lb6oz 26 1/4inches
**Here she started dropping in weight - we began monthly weight checks**
10MO 13lbs
11MO 12lbs 10oz - 11.5MO@specialist 13lbs6oz 27inches
(She started drinking toddler formula from a cup here and gained 1/2a pound in 2 weeks!)
12MO 13lbs 12oz 28inches
13 MO 14lbs 11 oz 28 inches
14 MO 15lbs 28 inches
17MO 16lb 8oz 30.5 inches
3Years 23lbs

First Post

I'm planning on trying to make this blog a food idea blog for parents of other under weight children. I'll probably also include personal struggles and successes and updates on my own kids. If I get really ambitious I'll start including some craft ideas and activities we love!

So here's our story. James was born in 2006 weighing 5lbs 9 ounces and 21.5 inches long. Stretch and string bean certainly applied then - and still does. At around 9 months of age we started really noticing his weight drop off the charts (his height has never been an issue) At 12 months we were sent to a developmental specialist where they tested him for lots of things (all came back normal) It was all stressful and very scary, especially the test for Cystic Fibrosis (sweat test)- but he "passed". So for the last 3 years we've been struggling to include high calorie foods in his diet. The boy LOVES fruit and most veggies. (well get to how to ramp up the calories on that in later posts!)He is currently a happy energetic 4 year old who weighed in at 28pounds and 39 inches. He's your typical preschooler so we're having some power struggles over eating.
In 2009 along came our "squeakuel". She was small even before birth and I was monitored closely for IUGR and put on restricted activity. I had weekly ultrasounds and twice weekly NST (non stress tests) throughout my entire 3rd trimester. She was born weighing 5lbs 12 ounces and 20 inches. We're on the same path with her that we were on with her brother except she's thrown in her own loopholes. She weighs less and has some muscle tone issues that she will be getting therapy for starting very soon. So she still faces some more doctors and tests that her brother didn't have. At 12 months she's finally transitioned from breast milk to toddler formula in a cup. She has NEVER taken a bottle, she flat out refused. She now weighs 13lbs 12 ounces and is 28 inches. With her low muscle tone chewing seems to be a little bit of a challenge for her, but she starts OT soon to work on that.

So that's who we are. Your typical family. Mom, dad, 2 kids and a cat. I'm a stay at home mom and I TRY to be fun and do creative things with the kids. The small, the big and the tiny - this is our life.