How to eat a rice cake w/ almond butter and banana

According to Boo:


1. Pick off banana slices and put on side of plate.
2. Pick off almond butter with fingers and suck off until rice cake is almost clean.
3. Eat rice cake.

Chili

Given the cooler weather I felt that it was time for a nice pot of chili. So I threw everything together this morning and set the crockpot to go. It was a great lunch for the daycare, as I didn't have to mess with it much. I did tweak the recipe a bit. The recipe is one that I found online. Here's a link:

Crock Pot Chili Recipe

I added a few more cans of diced tomatoes, a couple of cans of tomato paste, and some water. I don't like my chili thick. If you like thick chili then I'd leave this recipe alone as far as that goes. I didn't add the jalopenos as I had two toddlers partaking. I especially wasn't sure how the dc kiddo would do with spice, so I kept the "kick factor" down a bit. I added 1/2 teaspoon less tabasco. I think if I was making this just for the family, I'd add the jalopeno, the amount of tabasco in the recipe, and a bit more chili powder. But anyways, it turned out absolutely delicious!

If I'd been thinking about it I would've taken pictures. Both boys decided that their chili did not belong in the bowl, but on the table. What a mess!

Sitting at the Big Boy Table

For at least 2, maybe 3 weeks Boo has been eating many meals at a small table instead of the highchair. I'm in the process of building a home daycare business and we have one full-time dc kid right now who's a few months older than Boo. Boo is now 15 months old. So I decided to try them on the table as previously Boo was in a highchair and the dc kiddo was in a booster seat. Well, he does wonderfully at the table. He definitely needs reminders to sit at the table, but I think he does wonderful. For dinner he's often in the highchair simply because we're eating at the big table as a family. But I think it's great that he's gotten so much practice eating at a real table. He also does really well with an open cup. Yes, there are still times when he chooses to dump his drink all over himself rather than drink it. But overall, he does really well. I know I'm boasting here. I can't help it. I get so proud of all the little things that he learns to do!

He is a bit pickier now that he's a big toddler, but he still does really great overall. There are some days where he looks at a food and I can just hear his brain saying, "Really? This is for lunch. You've got to be kidding me."