Meatloaf & Mashed Potatoes

The writing is on the wall.

Jack Rowan Beirne is going to eat us out of house and home.



This picture pretty much sums up dinnertime at the Beirne house


Let's dissect the photo above, as it truly is glimpse into our glamorous life. Notice that Colin's face is covered in chocolate?  I can only ascertain that Pat "snuck" him a Hershey kiss (or three) while cooking. His dinner remains untouched on his dinosaur plate, and he's hysterically laughing because he just made the car alarm go off (again) - have I mentioned our neighbors probably love us?  He did manage to eat the sugar topping off the top of the blueberry muffin.  Does that count for anything since a rogue blueberry might have been consumed? Jack is leaping out of Pat's arms desperate for any morsel of "real" food he can get his chubby little hands on. And I'm snapping the picture, just watching the chaos unfold. 

Jack's first encounter with puffs...he caught on really quick!


It's a fact.  Put Jack into his high chair, and he immediately starts clapping his hands - squealing loudly in anticipation of what lies ahead.  It's no coincidence that he's mastered the sign for "more" and uses it frequently. He's never turned his nose up at a vegetable, fruit, grain, or Oreo, and I'm pretty sure he's eaten his fair share of grass, leaves, and dirt while playing outside.



Embracing nature, and eating leaves


He's known for stealing food from the other babies at school, and spends his days crawling around the room searching for stray cheerios or other "treasures" he can find on the floor.  He's been known to come home with a cheerio or two stuck under his double chin!



Happy because food is on the way!


Our day-care sends home daily sheets that contain details on when they slept, what they ate, etc.  Colin's are pretty predictable.  He ate "some" of lunch, or "a bite" of breakfast.  He's a picky eater (like me). You consider it a "win" if he eats three grapes, and a few ice cubes for dinner.  Almost every night if you ask him what he wants, he yells out "noo-els!" (noodles).  I have no idea where he gets that from (cough, cough)- it's only been my go-to dinner for the last decade.  Noodles, butter, a little garlic salt, Parmesan cheese - pure culinary perfection! Trying new things?  Forget it - Colin is all about the staples.  Hot dogs, noodles, mac & cheese, and of course, ice cream (or any dessert really).
Jack on the other hand eats so much during the day that they generally run out of room on the sheet!

Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes?  All. 
BBQ Chicken? All. 
Pizza?  2 slices.
Cheeseburger + ketchup?  All. 

The most impressivre part? He's able to accomplish this all with only four teeth!

I might have to turn into a crazy coupon clipper to be able to afford Jack's food in the coming years, or even more drastic...Pat might have to give up the beer fridge in the basement to store the extra gallons of milk, and bottles of ketchup we'll soon be going through in record time!


Only a few visible crumbs after eating/devouring his very first oreo