Dinner time.

I wanted to write about this last night, but the evening turned into night, and then into bedtime before I knew it!

So, dinnertime. It has been fun - and LONG - lately. K. is sometimes fussy and will sometimes eat anything and everything. Last night was great. It was about an hour - which really isn't a long time, but can seem so when you are saying the same things over and over... "Take a bite." "Mommy will clap." "Great job with that big bite!" You get the idea. In addition, we have been teaching K. to use a "big boy" cup, so it's been quite a process. He takes a bite, he gets a sip. He did very well last night and did not dribble ONCE! Yay! Good job drinking! That was also added to my phrases last night!

But we had a great time! Not only was he eating and drinking well, we had SO MUCH fun doing it! He ate ALL of his chicken and pasta with rosemary sauce. What 20 month old likes rosemary sauce??!!!? My boy! :) I was so proud. We are committed to not just feeding K. "kid food." We have it - the Chef Boyardee's, mac and cheese, etc. When he is a liittle fussy, or we are short on time, we can throw that in the micro or cook a few chicken strips and know all will be ok. We also have him eat with us and eat - or at least TRY - whatever we are having. He's already tried -and LOVED!!!- calamari! I think that it is wonderful that he will try anything.

I can see, though, how some parents can just give in and give their child whatever s/he wants. It is a lot of work - esp. after coming home from work. Or even just after a long day! But I really feel like the "hard" work that we are doing now (I know! It is probably nothing compared to what will be happening when he is 16!), will pay off and make things a little easier later on... Let's hope, anyway!

Tomorrow, after work, we are going to visit a rest home in town. I am going to see if they are looking forwar volunteers. I really want volunteering to be a part of K.'s life, so I think that we will start now. And he doesn't really have any older folks in his life. His ocal grandparents are YOUNG - only 50 - so, I would like that "elder connection" for him. I will let you know how that goes. Most older folks love babies, and I am sure that he would love the attention, so it should be good for all parties involved!

On that note, I am signing off! I am going to head to bed and catch some sleep before the sun is out again!