"Feed me, Seymore"
Yes, I'm still pregnant.

yesterday, Ally barely ate any breakfast. By the time lunch rolled around, she was getting kinda cranky. I got out some fish sticks, a breakfast bar, applesauce, and a cup of OJ for her. These things she likes. I didn't expect any problems. I was wrong. She decided to thorw a fit. Rob picked her up, and hse just held onto him for a while. She begged and pleaded for something else to eat, but we held firm. She kept pushing the food away from her. Finally, I pushed it all away, and told her that she didn't have to eat any of it. but she wasn't getting anything else to eat either. Then I walked away. After a minute of whining to no one in particular, she asked me to open the package of the breakfast bar for her. I hadn't opened it yet, because sometimes that sets off a fit of it's own, because she didn't want it open / she wanted to do it / somebody close the damn thing back up already! So I did. In about 15 minutes, she had eaten 4 fish sticks, the breakfast bar, half the applesauce, and most of her juice. This is a kid that usually takes 10 minutes to eat a piece of cheese. I was amazed. I won. (and she went back to the table 15 minutes later and ate 2 more fish sticks)

For supper, we weren't that worried, because she'd had one decent sized meal. So we ordered a pizza and cheesy-bread sticks. She actually asked for a bite of the breadstick that I was eating. Then she threw a fit that she had pizza on her plate. So she put it on a paper towel next to her plate for a while. Then... She asked me to feed her.

Now, I just read an article in a magazine about making your children more independent and teaching them to do things for themselves. If you don't start it soon, it might be harder to get them to do things for themselves when they get a little older. It said you should start making the kid help clean up, and stuff when ever they are able. You know, just small tasks here and there. Letting them put their shoes on, letting them wash their hands by themselves, and such. including feed themselves when it's obvious they can. Like pizza. It's obvious that Ally is able to pick up a piece of pizza and put it in her own mouth to bite. She's 2 years and 5 months old. So what did I do?

I picked up that piece of pizza and fed her. She ate with relish. She was happy that I was helping her, and she ate most of a whole piece. She asked me for more bites when she wanted them. Occasionally, I put her pizza down, and ate my own. If she wanted a piece then, she asked, and I told her that I was eating my piece, she'd have to pick it up herself. And you know what? she did. She still asked me for bites later, and I still gave some to her, but it was about 50-50. Experts be damned. I don't care. pizza is a big step. It has sauce on it. If she can start to like sauce, pasta isn't far behind. Whoo-hoo.

Then, she saw a commercial on TV (yes, the TV was on while we were eating. shut up) for cookies, and asked me if she could have some if she ate her pizza. Of course, I told her yes, and she ate some more. We had to go to the store and buy some cookies because I didn't have any, but it was worth it. Mostly because I wanted some too. She even told me I could have 2 - 1 for her baby sister. Mmmm...Chocolate chips.