Suppertime used to be easier than this. Curly used to try everything and eat most if not all that was on his tray (and sometimes ask for more). He was happy to eat what we were eating. But, things have changed (as toddlers do). Now suppertime is a bit of a challenge and it seems we are constantly having to change things in order to… appease him. Ever since his pediatrician appt when we learned that he hadn’t gained weight in two months (oh noez!), we decided that we couldn’t keep offering him only what we were eating if he didn’t want it.
For instance, Nutella would make a delicious beef stew with carrots and potatoes, served with a side of multigrain bread to sop up the leftover liquid. In the past, this would be a huge hit- Curly would eat the chunks of beef and potatoes, the carrots could be a hit or miss, and he always loves his carbs. More recently he didn’t want any of it, except for the bread. Bread and a yogurt smoothie…eh, not such a good dinner. So we started giving him a stick of cheese with every dinner (has not yet been rejected) and something else so that if he didn’t want what we were eating, at least he would eat SOMEthing.
Two nights ago Nutella (our wonderful chef) put together a Thanksgiving-esque meal of turkey breast, pear stuffing and cranberry (ok, so the cranberry was from a can, but I love that stuff). We thought Curly would LURVE it. He didn’t even want to TRY it and acted extremely put upon that we would even suggest he do so. So Nutella and I ate our meal while Curly had a tantrum. And let me tell you how nice it is to come home from a long day at work only to have your child scream at you during dinner. Finally, Nutella practically begged him to try just one piece of turkey, and after he did he ate a few more pieces and then signed “Done.” Sigh.
And last night (leftovers)….he ate all his turkey, asked for more, and then DEMANDED CRANBERRY. And even before he was finished eating it, would sign MORE cranberry, MORE MORE MORE! After two more helpings, it was starting to look like he would eat the entire can of cranberry and we had to put a stop to it. We apologized to him, moved it out of sight, and continued eating. Commence tantrum.
I know this is most likely a phase…part of the Terrible Twos…but boy is it tedious.
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