Catcher In The Rye
The weather has been absolutely beautiful here in Florida. It has been in the 70's, breezy and bright blue. The weather is addicting. When I am inside I am sick with a longing to be outside in the fresh air and sunshine.
Eli and I spent most of our day outside today. We started off as usual, outside on the trail near our house on our morning walk. When we came home it was too pretty to go inside. Instead I brought Eli's big green bouncy ball outside to the backyard. There, we played until it was time for lunch.
We threw the ball back and forth together, laughing. We ran and chased each other in the grass. Eli pulled the leaves off of a nearby bush and then proceeded to try to put them back on the bush again, sadly to no avail. Eli was %100 boy and as dirty as can be. He was picking up mud and throwing it into the sky. He was running then plopping down right in a big pile of dirt and giggling- we both were giggling with delight.
I took Eli's green ball and threw it- gently- towards Eli. He reached out his strong arms and plop, the ball went right between them. We tried it again. The same result. We tried it yet again, and guess what?!? Eli caught the ball!!! I squealed with excitement. He was so proud of himself too. He threw the ball back to me and I threw it back to him, success! He caught the ball again. We can play catch together now! We did play catch together for quite a while today. We both loved every second of it too.
As far as rye is concerned- Eli would have nothing to do with rye bread right now. He is on a bit of an eating strike as of late. Perhaps it is because he doesn't like guacamole, or chili, or mashed potatoes or pumpkin? Or maybe it is a more understandable reason...he is cutting his bottom molars. Ouch! They are white and just barely visible through his gums.
Even though I know he is not hungry because his mouth hurts- it is still so hard to trust that he will eat when he is hungry. I do my part and keep trying to offer him good healthy food- we will just keep being persistent. I know he will have an appetite again.
His eating strike it complicated. He is very happy and content. He does not fight me when it comes to mealtime. He simply just doesn't want to swallow. I will give him a bite of food and he'll hold it in his mouth for ten minutes or more until finally swallowing it. Mealtime has been taking us so long and even then he isn't actually eating much at all. Three bites in thirty minutes isn't seemingly sufficient.
Eli is obviously very healthy and happy. This strike has only lasted a few days- but as a mom, and you moms know what I mean, these few days feel like forever! It is so hard not to worry too much about it. I know he is fine, I bet by tomorrow he'll have a great appetite again. I will just keep trying my best to get him to eat and to make sure what he does eat is as nutritious as possible.
I recently heard that %95 of kids do not get any green vegetables in there day and an alarming %75 don't even get veggies at all unless it is a french fry. That is crazy!!! I try to give Eli something green at least every day and vegetables- they are a regular part of lunch and dinner. I was surprised by this statistic. I guess some children are picky eaters but with vegetables it doesn't seem like it should be much of an option. Cheese and sour cream goes a long way- just about any vegetable can taste yummy if it is doctored up a bit.
Don't worry... I am not going to start and 'Veggies for Children' campaigns, although I don't want vegetable to be an optional food in my home. Wow- I can't believe I even just said that- I sound like my mom! Oh well, I guess what they say is true...
posted by Kellie # 8:27 PM
