life is crazy + meals are messy.
toddlers.
twin toddlers.
am i right?!

bows c/o: missmagpieoriginals

twice the baby = twice this mess and this mama was starting to get desperate.
while i absolutely love meal time, sitting down as a family and enjoying good food… i don’t love seeing an entire meal i just prepared being flown across the kitchen and onto the floor for the dogs to eat.
clean up in aisle 4.

the girls have started to get  i n d e p e n d e n t  and literally will yell at you when you try to stick a spoon in their face because they want to do it themselves.  they’re eating pretty much everything we do with the exception of a piece of chicken or steak, which does make meal planning easier.

i don’t have very picky eaters {although they do have their favorites}, but i always try to provide healthy options.  i typically try not to stress about how much they’re eating because i know i am offering healthy choices and they are able to make the choice whether to eat or not.

piper is the first to dive in and will try pretty much anything i put in front of her, however lila takes some time to explore.  she doesn’t love textures that will get her hands messy and is slow to warm up with new tastes.
my rule of thumb is that they need to at least taste something once per meal, but then if they’re not interested, they don’t have to eat it.  i also try to present a food (especially if they don’t like it) multiple times at different meals to give their little tastebuds a chance to change their minds.

if you saw my post on friday, you saw a sneak peek of these cute little mats.
let me formally introduce you to {hands-down} the greatest kitchen companion you have ever seen in motherhood.

i was first introduced to ezpz when i was gifted these adorable happy mats at my baby shower.  goodness that seems like forever ago!! i kept the mats handy because although i knew it would be awhile before the girls were eating off of them, i frequently pulled them out when our big cousins came to eat.

while i absolutely LOVE this 100% silicone all-in-one placemat + plate, there was only one downside.  the happy mat is designed to suction straight to the table {no more throwing plates or bowls, hallelujah!}, but was too big to fit on the girls’ high chair.

i quickly went to ezpz to search for a smaller product that would fit on the highchair and literally jumped for joy when i saw they now had a mini mat!! it has all the same great features as the happy mat including suctioning to the table, 100% silicone and designed for infants, toddlers + travel.

when i first started making baby food, i measured out e v e r y t h i n g.  while i still like to know i’m providing appropriate portions, there are two little ones who make it well known they are hungry…now.  one of the biggest perks to the mini mat + happy mat is that each compartment has portion sizes catered specifically to infants and toddlers.

lately the girls have been super interested in utensils and are so proud of themselves when they discover they have somehow managed to get a fork into their mouths…and i’ll be honest, i’m pretty pumped for it too, typically cheering! we’ve been playing around with various types, and have been happy with them, but until we got these mats, they were never able to use the utensils independently.
lila has officially mastered the stab/scoop + making it to the mouth and piper’s not too far behind. it’s nice to know i’m not only serving healthy meals but also practicing fine motor skills with a mat that promotes self-feeding.

bows: suttersisters

other things i love?
it’s dishwasher safe.
microwave safe.
oven safe (up to 350 degrees)
i can stack 3-4 (for future babes, right?) at a time saving multiple trips back and forth to the kitchen
easy to store on high chair or in the cabinets

you absolutely can’t go wrong with an item from ezpz. as i discovered, these make amazing baby shower, first birthday or christmas gifts for the littles in your life! and if you’re a mama…seriously, it’s a game changer.

a huge thank you to ezpz for providing the mini mats for this post.  as always,opinions are 100% my own.

xoxo,

lindsey