Okay, so last month I was battling Gianna during breakfast, lunch and dinner. This month, we tried it another way: We cooked together. (I’m actually a bit sad to see the chicken nugget dinosaurs go—they make a great midnight snack and are delicious with hummus.)

We started one afternoon with the Playful Life cooking set. It comes with an adorable mini apron tool belt that Gianna wore for most of the day, and child-sized cooking tools such as a whisk, wooden spoon, spatula, baking pan and measuring cups and a sand timer. All in a cute see-through knapsack (which she also wore around the apartment) Since she is only two, I decided to ditch the recipe cards that came with the set and do my own thing. (The set is actually for ages three to five and had some good suggestions such as golden chicken nuggets made with corn flakes and an easy pita pizza). But for our first recipe, I came up with yogurt topped with bananas and homemade granola (see recipe) and apple spoon “dippers.”   

It went like this: Fage Total yogurt managed to get into the bowl. The banana got half eaten along the way, the granola mostly wound up on the floor and the apple made it into the yogurt but served more as a “magic wand” than a spoon. In other words, I watched yogurt splatter all over my rug.

Also on the downside, taking the extra time to wash out those Dora and Pooh brand yogurt cups last month so I could replace them with plain yogurt may not have been the best idea. After a week, she caught on and yogurt became known as “Eww Gross.” Thankfully, my neighbor’s one-year old devoured it like candy. Ignorance is bliss.

Next month, we will be trying new sippy cups and different beverage tactics to finally get her off the bottle. Gianna doesn’t know it yet, but she will soon be drinking her veggies. Carrot and beet juice here we come! –Nicole Denis