On Birds and Piglets

J continues to hate all things food. He eats better, but he still doesn't eat enough. As my mom says, "He doesn't eat enough to keep a bird alive". I've never encountered a kid quite so fussy! Foods he enjoys are:

Meats and Substitutes:
Hot dogs (no condiments, no bun)
Hamburger patties (no condiments, no bun)
Hamburger soup
Chicken (plain roast chicken only ... any other preparation is unacceptable)
Ham (note: he hates bacon. He eats ham, but under protest)
Peanut butter and strawberry jam (he prefers to eat these off the bread and leave the bread behind)
Eggs (scrambled or hard boiled only, and with nothing mixed in)

Breads and Cereals:
Garlic bread (french bread, crust only)
Garlic bread topped with mozzarella cheese (french bread, crust only)
Maccaroni and cheese (melted cheez whiz topping - he detests Kraft Dinner)
Pancakes (but only at my mom's house)
French fries, without ketchup
French fries, with ketchup (only if the ketchup is in a squeeze bottle)
Tater tots
Hashbrowns (the "McDonald's" variety)
Potato chips (plain)
Doritos (Nacho Cheese flavoured)
Cheerios (if they're dry)
Shreddies (if they're moistened with chocolate milk and fed to him one at a time)
Granola bars (the Trail Mix kind with the nuts. He breaks them apart and separates grains, fruits, and nuts into separate piles. He prefers to eat only the nuts)

Fruits and Vegetables:
Carrots (raw or cooked)
Corn (in small portions only)
Cucumber slices
Most fruits (exceptions include pineapple and blueberries)

Dairy:
Milk (plain, unflavoured, and cold)
Hot chocolate
Yogurt (Danino brand; white only ... if there is coloured fruit mixed in, he won't eat it)
Cheese strings (Black Diamond brand)
Cheese slices (Cracker Barrel pre-sliced cheese - he hates processed cheese slices)
Pudding (chocolate, pre-made Jell-o brand, at room temperature)

Sweets:
Chocolate icing (he won't eat anything it's on - he just licks off the icing)
M&M's
Gummies (the "real fruit" variety)
Chocolate chips (unflavoured)

He still doesn't eat enough of even the foods that he enjoys. And he takes forever to eat anything!!

His height is increasing slowly. His weight is not improving. But at least he's not actively losing weight any longer. He's a slow grower, but is somewhere along the 5th percentile for both height and weight. If he'd eat better, this would improve. But he won't.

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By contrast, N is a piglet. He eats almost constantly. I've had to go on medication to increase milk supply, as I can't keep up with his appetite. Even with the medication, I'm hard pressed to keep up with him. At 8 weeks of age, N weighs 10.5 pounds and is 23 inches long. He is in the 25th percentile for weight and the 50th for height.

N will be bigger than his big brother if J doesn't start eating more food.