EDIT – Just a couple of days left in this contest! You can win a cute little Cheerios book – c’mon, tell us your favourite milestone!
*The following contest is open to Canadians only.*
“Milestones.”
Once you become a parent, the word is loaded with meaning. It can invoke joy, paranoia, and downright depression depending on how your child fares against the perception of when the milestone “should” be met. With Ryder, I spent too much time stressing over what he should be doing, quite contrary to his pediatrician’s advice:
“Don’t worry about it. Take a group of 5 years olds. Nobody cares when they took their first step or said their first word. On the contrary, it would be nice if they’d sit down and shut up. The point is, all kids catch up eventually, and at their own pace.”
I love that man.
Now that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy Ryder’s milestones – and one memory that always makes me feel warm and fuzzy is that of Ryder discovering his first finger food: Cheerios. At around 7 months, I had been trying for weeks to get him to pick up and taste the delicious little O’s. He would push them around on his tray, lick one, put it in his mouth, and then gag. Sigh.
Of course, Ryder has always had a problem with new textures, so I just kept offering him the Cheerios, hoping that one day he would get the hang of it. And after a few days, he did! Since then, he has enjoyed Cheerios EVERY SINGLE DAY. It’s his favourite breakfast, snack, and before bed munchies. I love that there’s only 1 gram of sugar per serving; they provide at least 10% of the Daily Value of 14 essential vitamins and minerals, including iron and folic acid; and have no artificial colors or flavors.
Plus, they’re the perfect finger food! Cheerios are easily managed by little fingers and help develop motor skills because the O’s are easy to pick up, firm and resist crumbling. And they happen to be YUM!
Here’s Ryder at 7 months old enjoying his Cheerios!
If you have a Cheerios milestone to share, you could have your child featured on a special edition Cheerios Box and WIN $10,000 towards an RESP from TD Canada Trust!
Simply provide a photo of your child’s Cheerios milestone, and write a short description of how Cheerios has played a special part in the early years of your child.
For full contest details, and to submit your entry, please visit the Cheerios Website. Contest closes December 15th.
Good news! I’m also hosting a mini-Cheerios giveaway!
One lucky Listen to Lena! reader will receive a Cheerios playbook, perfect for learning and fun! To enter, simply leave a comment sharing a story about one of your child’s milestones.
Blog followers – treat yourself to an extra entry! Remember, you must leave a separate comment announcing your follower status. I’ll draw for a winner at the end of October. Good luck everybody!
I am participating in the Cheerios Milestones program by Mom Central on behalf of General Mills. I received a gift card as a thank you. The opinions on this blog are my own.
have you tried chocolate cheerios (US only, i think)….amazing. what will they think of next!
Cheerios – good idea!!I just gave my new baby her first spoon feed this weekend! Fun! Anna
He had such a nice round face, man has he leaned out…
My favourite milestone is when my princess rolled over, she had spent weeks trying to do it and when she did her face was priceless!!!!
hmmm we are working on the milestones now, as my little prince is 3 monthes old (1 month corrected, he was a preemie). My favorite part so far is the smiles.. they are priceless!Katie
I follow your blogKatie
I'd say a big Cheerios milestone for us was the first time more Cheerios went in their mouths than were flung on the floor or at each other. homejunk at shaw dot ca
I'm a blog follower (both with RSS and GFC)homejunk at shaw dot ca
My favourite Cheerios moment was watching my 5-year old eat them as a baby. He looked up at me and had them stuck to various parts of his face, even his eyelids! It was very cute!
I follow Listen to Lena!
My favourite milestone my son has reached so far is his talking in sentences (not sure if this is a milestone or not!) He cracks us up every day now. Just this week when he was mad he had to go to bed he stood at the gate and asked "My mommy love me?" and when I made him come with me in the car instead of with his dad he said "My daddy needs me." Too funny!
my favourite milestone is when my little girl smiled for the first time
Favorite recent milestone of my nephews was when he realized crawling can make him get from destination a to b faster. The expression if realization on his face was priceless.Lilvirk10@hotmail.com
walking is a big one for us..but I have to say..for months we have told the girls we love them….and finally they said it back!