Fat Actress

well, like renee and charlize before him, henry is in the business of needing to pack on the pounds.

i took him in to the peds office this week because he has another respiratory virus with some wheezing (=nebulizer treatments again, considered "pre-asthma" at this point AND getting 3 teeth right now, poor fella) and he isn't gaining as much weight as he should.

the pediatrician isn't very concerned- he's in constant motion, burning calories at a high rate. he eats fairly well, but obviously not enough/the right stuff to catch up with all that activity. so we talked about ways to get more fat into his diet. she was very encouraging about the dairy-free vegetarian thing. i was ready to scrap all of our health platforms and get the kid a cheeseburger asap, but she didn't think it was necessary.

i did, however, go directly to trader joe's and buy chips and guac, cookies, and chocolate covered bananas. we've started making him these super high fat, high protein smoothies that he happily slurps down, and are giving him fried eggs, coconut everything and avocados constantly. we're avoiding nuts for now, at least until he's 18 months for the potential allergy. i made a healthy, fatty vegan alfredo sauce tonight with pasta that he liked.

covered in chocolate and chip dust #getinmybelly

but in truth, all he wants is fruit. all the time. we have to eliminate all sightings of oranges and bananas in the room before he'll eat anything else. and if there's even the merest mention of a blueberry? forget it. i've taken to dipping strawberries in sunflower seed butter. and 'buttering' (coconut oil) anything and everything. he's going to grow up thinking all foods are slippery and must be wrestled into submission. we're being creative to get in the needed fat and protein and everything. but i am glad he likes fruit.

the gall of us asking him to eat not fruit.

from what i've read about vegetarian, dairy-free diets, kids on them can (and should, often do) get huge from this plant-based, whole-food diet. i just think we haven't been focusing enough on the fat. so now we're gonna fluff him up like a Christmas goose! or, you know, Christmas tofu-goose. here is a great blog post from a vegan mom on the subject. 

this is the kind of thing we eat regularly- dinosaur kale wraps w/ quinoa and beans plus lots of veggies and a sesame sauce. henry can totally eat this kind of thing, we just have to roll it in cake mix and deep fry it first. :)