Wednesday, June 10, 2009

SPAGHETTI and PEE PEE!!!

Just wanted to say that Grady peed on the potty tonight! He's obsessed with sitting on the toilet and stuffing toilet paper between his legs. Tonight he happened to pee too! This is the second time he's actually peed on the potty! Taylor gave him a big hug and he seemed happy with that!
NOW, the big news (to us anyway).....
Taylor ate about 10 bites of spaghetti tonight!! She's never been willing to even try it! We're starting a new "take at least one bite" tough love approach and tonight it worked! WHEW! I wasn't looking forward to the "tough" part of "tough love" because Taylor's no fun in that mode!! :)
So, our ped. told us that Taylor is old enough for sure to "take at least one bite". If she won't then she doens't eat, then when the next meal comes she takes a bite of the original food before eating the next meal, then if she doesn't she doesn't eat and it goes to the next meal and so on. He said that she's stubborn but missing a few meals won't hurt her and when she's hungry enough she'll gladly take that one bite. SOOOOOO, now that school's out and we're at home for a few weeks, I told her that we'd start it tonight. I gave her plenty of time to get used to the idea but let her know that if she didn't eat the spaghetti (or take a bite) for supper then she'd go to bed with no supper or snack and we'd try again at breakfast. Again, not expecting her to eat the whole serving just a bite. Also, starting with something I know she'll like if she'd just try it (she loves pizza sauce). So, I asked her if she wanted sauce or not (I always ate mine with just butter and parm. cheese) and she said, "Put lots of sauce on it!" I put it in front of her. She said, "I'm so so scared!" She gagged on the first bite but the next one she chewed and swallowed and then went ahead and slurped the noodles up and licked the sauce and ate a total of 10 bites with no prodding from me!!!! (Grady, on the other hand, who had eaten three smokie links and three small pancakes, and half a banana at lunch had already finished his bowl of spaghetti--about double/triple Taylor's serving--and he was happy to finish what she didn't eat!) Taylor then ate her apples, cheese, and pudding. We called 5 people to let them know about her eating spaghetti and she was so proud!!
This may not mean much to some of you but when you have a child who refuses to eat any veggies and a lot of other stuff, getting her to eat one bite would have been a victory but 10 bites was HUGE!!! I plan on continuing with this "plan". It's not like I'm going to stuff a brussel sprout in her mouth (although, I am a fan of some good baby brussel sprouts!). We'll start with simple things (mashed potatoes, cheese potatoes, peanut butter and jelly, green beans, corn, etc) that I think she will/could like.
Oh, and I was on a mission to find a Barney, Baby Bop, and BJ stuffed animal today so I went to 4 Goodwill stores. I FOUND ALL THREE CHARACTERS!!! Woohoo!! I had bought Grady a Barney off of Amazon for like $11 but then Taylor was all sad that she didn't get one so I told her if I could find them CHEAP I'd get some more. Couldn't believe my luck to find all three ($1.99 each!!!)
I also got a small container with sponge and shells for $2.99 at Goodwill. I then bought Taylor her first "pets". She likes the hermit crabs at Juana's house (daycare) so I got her and Grady two hermit crabs. They were out of food at Uncle Bills (who knew that I'd go to 3 other places looking for the crabs and only be able to find them at Uncle Bills!) So Ryan will get hermit crab food tomorrow. The container is actually a little small for two crabs but for now it will work. Taylor was thrilled. She wanted to hug them goodnight! Watch out for that claw/pincher!!
So, all in all a very good day! Tomorrow I take the kids to the dentist for the first time!!!!

2 comments:

Michelle said...

I have always used the one bite rule...it works! I love how shocked they are that they actually like the food. Yay for peeing in the potty!! Sounds like you had a busy day!!

Joanna said...

Your family sounds so adorable!
I latched on to your description of your new hermit crabs though - I have 10 myself!
Unfortunately, with just a small container and a sponge they will not live long. :(
They really need regulated temp, humidity, sand or eco earth (it's a cocofiber substrate, cheap at the pet store) and a glass tank (10 gal. minimum). Plastic won't hold the heat or humidity. They need both fresh dechlorinated water and ocean salt water (made form a mix for salt water aquariums) and a wide variety of food (preservatives in commercial foods build up toxicity and kill them over time).
You can find out more about how to keep your little guys alive with this document: http://www.freewebs.com/crabotanicals/CrabotanicalsCaresheet.doc
I like http://www.hermitcrabparadise.com
Hope your little crabbies make it! :)