William 3.5

Tonight Will refused to eat his dinner and stayed at the table until it was bedtime (this is the first time this has ever happened. And we were eating pizza, which he usually likes, so it was weird). Then he requested that instead of finishing dinner, he go straight to bed. So I obliged. I wasn't mad and I didn't act mad. But it was definitely a concise bedtime routine. While I was getting him into his pjs, he asked me, "mom, you are mad?" and I said, "no, I'm not mad." Then he said, "you are a little irritated?" And I chuckled and said, "yeah, I am a little irritated." And he said, "oh." And then went to bed peacefully. I just thought the whole exchange was a little funny and shows how perceptive kids are!

In general though, he has been doing much better at eating his dinner (hes pretty much always been a fantastic breakfast and lunch eater thank goodness). He likes to tell me before I serve dinner every night, "mom, I don't like vegetables!" And I tell him that I know, but that he has to eat them anyway. The way dinners with him used to work, was that I would serve him some dinner, and I would allow him to eat whatever he wanted and never forced him to eat anything. I had read in multiple places, that that was the best way to help a picky eater. We tried it for 6 months, and it turned out that what Will wanted to eat each night, was exactly nothing (except for the occasional bite of fruit or pasta). When he stopped gaining and started losing weight, and never learned to try any new food, I decided that that approach was not for us. So for the past 4 months or so, what I have been doing is serving a small portion of vegetables (like one big bite for him), a little of whatever we are eating, and if we are eating something I know he wont even try (like burritos or hamburger), I make him an alternative main dish. My goal is to eventually get him to eat the exact things we are eating each night, so that I don't have to make him a separate dish, and so that he learns to expand his palate. So far though this method has been working very well. He was resistant at first, but I explained that he couldn't get down from his seat until he had eaten most of his food, and now hes learned to just do it, so that he can get down and play. The best part is that he is back to gaining weight, and I see him becoming more and more willing to try new foods every day. Thankfully, Nora always eats what we are eating, so I only have to pull these shenanigans with one kid!

Even though he is back to gaining weight again, he is still a slim little guy. His waist is so skinny but his legs are long, so all of the pants that fit him length-wise, are too wide in the waist. So he is always pulling his pants back up his hips. The funniest thing to see is when he runs (and this is often), he has to hang onto the waist of his pants with one hand, to keep his pants from falling down. I haven't yet hit on a good solution to this problem (safety pins don't really work), apart from trying to only buy pants that have those build-in waist adjusters. That is my goal for next year, that he have only those type of pants. In the mean time I am going to enjoy the hilarity of watching him run like that. I am a mean mom.

When I was a kid I was an excellent finder of lost objects. I took pride in being able to spot just about anything and would spend good chunks of time looking for rocks, I-spy books and lost items around the house. I kind of expected that Will would be the same way, as he has a similar attention to detail in certain situations. But as it turns out, this kid is the worst looker ever. In typical male fashion, he will walk into a room and proclaim, "I can't find it." Meanwhile I walk in behind him and spot the lost object in about 2 seconds. When I ask him where something is, his favorite thing to tell me is, "I don't think so!" Which means 'I don't know," and it drives me up a wall. Hes got the eyes and the necessary skills to find stuff, he just refuses to even try. As I said before, typical guy!

One new thing this month, is that he has been really interested in telling us the time on our digital clocks. He loves to go into the master bedroom, or Nora's bedroom, look at the clock and proclaim the time proudly. Sometimes he gets it right and says, "Mom, its 4:12!" And other times he will get the numbers backwards and say, "Mom its 12:4!" Then as we are playing, he will keep running to check the clock and give me minute by minute updates on the time. "Mom, now its 4:13!" Its pretty cute.




In closing, William has been full of cute and funny phrases lately. Here are a few:

When I was taking the Christmas tree down: "mom, that makes me so sad!"

When he was eating a doughnut and I asked him if her was done and he replied, "no, not quite yet!"

When Nora was about to throw her toy out of the stroller, he said, "no, no baby! We don't throw our toys out of the stroller!"

When snow flurries fell a few weeks ago: "mom! I think its winter!"

Will: "Mom, can I have some M&Ms?"
Me: "Umm, no buddy, but you can have some of my chips and hummus."
Will: "Oh that sounds like a lovely idea!"

Me: "Will did you have fun at the community center?"
Will: "Ummmm . . . unfortunately not!"

I told him that he was almost 3.5 the other day and he responded, "yeah, but I'm a little bit 4!"

It was bedtime and Will was tucked into bed and we were trying to herd Nora into her room, but instead she wandered into Will's room. Will looks over at her and says, "no no baby, I'm trying to go to sleep here!"

Will and Nora were playing together in the toy room and giggling while I was making breakfast in the kitchen. Suddenly Will comes running in and says, "Mom, Nowa and me are best friends!"

A local grocery store does this promotion where they allow each kid to have a free piece of fruit with every purchase. Will was eating the apple he'd selected and then he told me, "mom, the grocery store gave me this apple 'cause I'm so cute!"