Ever wonder how many calories do kids require on a daily basis?  How many fruits and vegetables should they eat everyday?  I try to feed Anthony a pretty wholesome well rounded diet.  Okay maybe except for Valentine's day when we had a chocolate attack together preggo mama wanted a partner in crime that day.   When I ask his pediatrician I never really get a straight answer limit sweets and eat a healthy diet...not really helpful.  All the answers to my questions were answered when I discovered the following website http://www.mypyramid.gov.  It's the food pyramid however specific to your child's age and weight.  You can enter your child's name, age and activity level and it will calculate for you the exact number calories needed per day.  It even provides a tracker for you to keep a daily tally to see how your child is doing on a daily basis.   It breaks down the daily requirements by grains, vegetables, fruits, milk, meat and beans.  We are doing pretty well in all categories except vegetables.  So I am trying everything in my power to have Anthony eat more vegetables.  We went food shopping today at Whole Foods today with the little shopping carts (every store should have one) and the new rule is that he has to pick a vegetable bag it himself and try it.  He picked broccoli.  He was excited to pick it himself and I told him we would cook it together.  My number one piece of advice for any parent is if you want your child to try a variety of foods take them food shopping with you and let them help you in the kitchen.  The easiest way I find to incorporate something new is to add it to something old.  For example Anthony loves ravioli's and macaroni and cheese so I will add a new vegetable to things he already enjoys eating.  We plan to make cheese broccoli ravioli and macaroni and cheese with broccoli.   I will let you know how well this goes over later on in the week so stay tuned and wish us luck!