Lions and Tigers and Bears Oh My Gosh!

The title of this post is M's favorite misquote from "The Wizard of Oz." J always tries to correct her but she continues to say this to my great delight. It cracks me up every time! She has always been my scrawniest child and I'm always trying to get her to eat more but I have made a break through recently that gives me hope! She kept eating less and less of her sandwiches at lunch. We have P&J every day at her request. I couldn't figure out why she wouldn't eat it all (one piece of bread folded over) but I think I know now. She didn't want to get messy! It is a bit messy to hold the sandwich if jam is dripping out or if Mom happened to get a little crazy with the peanut butter while she was spreading it. :) So I tried something new. I cut up the half-sandwich in small little rectangles that are bite-size and she gobbles up every one. She picks each piece up gingerly and plops it in her mouth and loves it. Now J is requesting the special "rectangle sandwiches." Whatever it takes to get them to eat! At lunch today, another great feat was managed. I got M to eat a grape! Those of you who don't know M well might think, "Big deal! Who doesn't like yummy grapes?" Well, this kid has wanted to stick a grape in her mouth so badly her whole life but it was always followed by a quick spit out. Normally if a kid doesn't like something, they'll remember and not try it again. With grapes, that has never happened for M. She always thinks she'll like it and then spits it out as fast as possible. Well, today I figured I would try yet again to get her to eat a grape. I told her that grapes were special because they had grape juice inside them! She likes all juice, so she thought that was neat. I showed her how they roll around on the table and she played with hers a bit. All of a sudden she stuck one in her mouth and I knew what to expect. But she didn't! She bit into it and I could see her start to make a funny face from that explosion of juice in her mouth that she wasn't ready for and then she exclaimed, "I LIKE it!" as if she could not believe she could like some new food! :) A lot of my friends say their kids devour blueberries and raspberries and carrots and green peppers (eaten like an apple). To all of you... phbttt! :) Just kidding! But I am so grateful for every healthy food I can get into this kid! Hooray for small victories!!!