I actually believe any kid can become a healthy veggie-eating child...if you can start EARLY. I know this because I have a young boy (who is otherwise one of the most difficult and yet so lovable kids on the planet) that loves broccoli and asparagus and reaches for them over fries or chicken nuggets. So if I can do it, so can anyone else. The thing to know is, eating habits are totally learned with repetition. And if you start early, set your goals high and stick to your guns, AND also lead by example, the odds for success are really high. We at Happy Family spend a lot of time educating parents on the introduction of solid foods to babies for this reason. Each taste literally helps to build a blueprint for accepted and preferred foods that can last a lifetime. The idea of course is to start off on real whole foods (organic preferred) and to build from single ingredients to more complex mixes. Our starting solid guide can be found here. We as a company also take it one step further and source our ingredients from vetted organic farms that meet our highest standards of safety, compliance and best practices because we want every ingredient to be perfect for baby.

I almost see the introduction of variety of tastes and textures likened to a liberal arts education for the palette. The exposure to many different experiences broadens one's horizon's and makes for a more open-minded individual. And that's part of what we as parents really want to see in our kids because being open-minded also means being more flexible, which in turn means having a child who can roll with different unexpected situations (aka LIFE), adapt and be happy regardless. Not only does this mean a lot less whining, it means a lot more happiness. I have a somewhat atypical (or typically atypical) family myself, since my son has autism. We have a new baby girl on the way too which is exciting, by the way. But for my family, happiness doesn't necessarily always equate to sunshine and rainbows and picture perfect memories. It's more about feeling whole and content when we are together, being healthy and that everyone at their core, is happy.

So as a company called Happy Family when we depict that happiness means, we are keeping it real. You can see our latest campaign This Is Happy that celebrates all forms of happiness, and we encourage families to view the video and share what happiness means to them using #ThisIsHappy. I submitted my entry for #ThisIsHappy on our Happy Family Facebook page -- hearing our second baby's first heartbeat after trying to conceive for a few years!