Boogers on the Wall

I think I am going to start affectionately calling my youngest son my little “sugar baby.” Because that’s all the baby wants – sugar.

He loves it. He obsesses over it. And he scavenges our entire home for it – usually 10 minutes before mealtime.

How did I end up with a baby addicted to sweets? I blame his father.

It’s always been pretty easy to get my youngest to eat. He’s been roly poly from the get go. In his short life he has probably eaten more than both of his older brother combined.

But now that he’s getting a mind of his own, it’s getting harder to convince him to eat real food not “nacks” (snacks).

From the moment he wakes up he’s wandering the house mumbling “nack” and “chaw chaw” (chocolate.) And when you’re thinking of those kind of sweet treats, who’s going to want cereal or toast?

Around Valentine’s Day I had a bowl of gummy and conversation hearts sitting on my kitchen table. I thought they were safely out of reach.  Then to my surprise, each day, sometimes several times a day, I would hear the kitchen chairs rattle as my 18-month-old wriggled his way upward. He’d end up on the top of the table next to the bowl grinning as he had some more “nacks.”

Crazy kid.

Fruit snacks, Reese’s, Kit Kats, M&Ms, Skittles, suckers – you name it he loves it.

When he was about 9 months old I caught him in the living room trying to bust into my Snickers bar. I’m not kidding.

But he also has a sweet tooth for fruit. We’ve started hiding any cantaloupe, pears, apples, etc. during dinner time until he has eat at least a little bit of the main dish. If he spies it before we are ready to give it to him, we have to hear him whine, “apple” over and over.

He’s a kid who knows what he wants but it’s becoming unhealthy.

He’s started searching through the house while I’m getting meals ready looking for some sort of treat. It’s like I can’t get the real food done fast enough. But then again even if it was ready on time, he probably wouldn’t want the real food over the junk.

I don’t understand it. I don’t love candy. So I just don’t get it.

I’m glad he acts hungry – heaven knows my two oldest boys HATED eating at this age. They were both happily starving. But I’ve got to figure out how to get him to crave the good, healthy stuff.

Maybe I’m going to have to whip out my Deceptively Delicious cookbook and find some recipes I can hide nutritious food in. Maybe I’m going to have to purge our house of all chocolate and snacks. Maybe this is just a phase.

But I’m guessing he’s going to stay like his father. Who also loves “nacks” and “chaw chaw.” I don’t know what to do with my little sugar baby.