8th percentile????

Nathan had his 18 month check up on Saturday morning. He hadn't gotten much bigger. He's in the 8th percentile for weight, 40th for height and 5th for head circumference.

Now if you look down a couple posts you'll see him eating one of his favorite foods, fettacine.

The pediatrician said his percentiles and said that he was very healthy and developmentally doing great and that he may just be small, but they'd like to see some more weight on him if we could encourage him to eat a little more.

Really? How? We do not limit our children's food at all, but we also never force them to eat or to finish what's on their plate. Carson is in the 50th percentile for weight and barely eats anything at all.

Here's a typical breakfast (quantity wise, the foods are mixed up) for Nathan:

2 Nutrigrain bars, 1 yoplait yogurt, 2 kiwis, a handful of grapes, a cup of whole milk, and some puffs (to try and finish them off).

Here's a typical lunch:

6 Tyson chicken nuggets, 1/2 a can of carrots, a banana, 1/2 cup of goldfish crackers

Here's a couple of dinners for him:

More spaghetti than I can eat. He ate about 2 cups of spaghetti shells with meat sauce and a piece of garlic toast.

He's also eaten a cup+ of taco meat, a handful of cheddar cheese, a tortilla shell, green beans.

He also eats 2 snacks a day.

Seriously? How could he possibly be encouraged to eat more? I am not sure how the boy is so small. Apparently it's just who he is. He's just a little boy.