Traffic Light Veggies

Levi doesn't eat much.  I first posted about this 15 months ago, when we started requiring a certain number of bites before he was allowed to drink his milk.  He still loves his milk, and we still require food before drink, but it's not always a big enough motivator anymore.  My darling firstborn inherited all of the stubbornness of both his parents, and there was much to be had from both sides.  We've more or less settled on a two-bite rule -- "you're two years old, so you need to eat two bites of the offending food" -- but many an evening has seen him still in his high chair at bedtime, not throwing a tantrum or complaining, simply refusing silently to take a bite.  

It's gotten worse in the last two weeks, as people from church have been bringing meals (thanks to Silas's birth) and we're seeing more unfamiliar foods.  One meal last week came with a big bowl of zucchini, summer squash, and tomatoes -- all foods, incidentally, that I personally won't eat.  (Yeah.  Stubborn.  And picky.)  Levi hasn't noticed when Mommy doesn't eat something, though, so I'm living in the food hypocrisy as long as possible.  

Anyway, we were talking about the colors of the veggies -- "would you like a green bite or a yellow bite?" -- when my husband had a flash of inspiration.  He speared one piece of each veggie (red, yellow, green) on the same fork and held it up for Levi to see: "Hey, look!  It's a traffic light!  Do you want to eat a traffic light?"  

Super happy about eating a traffic light.

Eight traffic lights later, Levi had eaten more uncommon-to-our-house vegetables than he had in weeks.  All of those parenting magazines that tell you to make smiley faces out of your toddler's food . . . they might just be right!

Owen didn't actually need encouragement -- he eats almost everything -- but he got in on the fun, too.