Dinner challenges and more.

Last night Levi and I had the night alone together again. It's just been the two of us all week. Isaac has been working every night. Boy am I going to miss my buddy and I's nights alone together when that ever changes. Though, I must admit, it does call for it's challenges.

The neat thing about our time together is that while I have my moments of sheer uncensored frustration, I am constantly learning. He is constantly teaching me. My son, at two, teaching me.

I won't paint roses for you here of pretty pictures, which would be nice. Instead, I'll tell you that it is all I can do sometimes to get him fed, changed, and into bed before I plop down in utter exhaustion.

TGFMS (thank God for my sisters). We have a constant running chat log on our iPhones that's been ongoing for nearly a year. Need to vent? Type it in. Need confirmation? Put in your request. A laugh? You will find one somewhere lodged in between the 43 messages missed between bath time and story time. Hellooooo personal therapy sesh!

I have a real hard time with dinner time. For one, dinner never seems to get prepared and eaten AT dinner time. And two, I struggle hard with understanding his eating habits. One day, literally half my fridge will be eaten and the next, he merely nibbles. Not to mention the only thing he wants for dinner sometimes is keena (slang for chicken)!

I have realized I beat myself up WAY too much when he doesn't want to eat what I fix. Last night I made al fresco chicken links, sweet potates, and brussel sprouts. I went straight for a bypass on the sprouts because clearly that wasn't happening, but I thought he'd like the links and potatoes. Nope. In fact, he didn't even want to eat at all. Not even green beans that I threw in earlier, which he loves.

I was attempting to feed him dinner on the couch in a special tray while he watched Elmo, but he wasn't eating and he was whining about wanting to watch "the train" (Thomas), so I said forget it and put him in his high chair away from the TV to eat with me without interruptions. Maybe that would help? WRONG!

This only exacerbated the meltdown and we quickly went to time out.

Five minutes later I got him out and decided to just play with him. Perhaps he wasn't hungry? Perhaps indeed.

He just wanted me to play ball with him. "Sit there. No, there mama. There."

"Ok."

We played catch, fall, chase, tickle, and on...until (I think) he worked up a good enough appetite to finally sit down and eat.

While we played, he taught me a lesson. During our time together he did the most precious thing I think I've felt from him to date (aside from the head on the shoulder with a "mama" whisper)...

He said "This is fun!" And ran into my arms and gave me a huge hug.

Heart still melting here.

How silly I am when I stress over the little things like a simple lack of appetite one evening. Or a simple distaste for what I have prepared. I know his taste buds are growing and adapting and changing constantly. It's truly hard to pick out what is a deliberate disregard and a dislike, but we're learning.

And I'm certainly learning that I need to be more open to what the situation needs and how I can be more loving toward him in the process. I think he just needed me, and needed me present.

Every night mostly brings a new challenge, but I'm thankful for the ones that teach me about myself through him.

And with that, I wish you a good weekend. :)