I can serve her a plate of her favorite things and she just picks at it. So frustrating.

There were times when Matilda seemed to have the same metabolism as Spanish Moss and could subsist on air and moisture skimmed from the top of the humidity index.

But now she's hitting a growth spurt, so she's actively chowing down. Plus, getting her a thermos instead of packing sandwiches in her lunch has made a big difference because she loves chicken soup and rice and beans and pad thai in her lunch, and never ate her sandwiches. (This is very sad for me as you might imagine.)

Emmett had a narrow but consistent food range for a long time until he hit his growth spurt and then he was basically Nibbler from Futurama.

How is Emmett? Still baseballing?

I have proof in the form of my cousin's son that a child can grow to be 6'3" on a diet of meat and bread.

How is Emmett? Still baseballing?

Nope. He did do a 5 hour tryout at his college this summer and was one of 2 out of 40 offered a walk-in invite, but he declined. We'll see if he misses it this spring, but he's pretty happy with the college life as is.

He has, however, continued to work out 6 days a week so he's a very buff 6'1 195 lbs right now.

My method of getting my 4 year-old to eat a wider variety of foods is to wait until she turns six. At least, that's what worked for Dylan.

Actually with her it's not that she's a picky eater it's that she despises eating meals. She'll eat almost anything as long as it's a snack. (Unfortunately, she is also smart enough that if I put a plate of food in front of her that matches everyone else's dinner, I can't just call hers a snack and get away with it.)

I hope you get (good) news on your mom soon, Callaluna.

Will's bonus mom is recovering from surgery very well. Still a long road ahead, but she's in great shape. I probably won't see her until she's home from the hospital, as they don't want folks with respiratory symptoms there and I seem to have them constantly.

Today she had full fat, cream top yogurt, small bowl of oatmeal, bowl of sweet potato pudding with vanilla protein powder, hot chocolate, milk, water, mashed cauliflower, fried cakes of mac and cheese, an apple slice and half an avocado.

Dang. I would like to have eaten that for food today!

Hope you hear something soon, Callaluna, and sending ~ma her way.

Good to hear, Kiba.

I learned that kids don't eat when they're hungry while babysitting my 8ish year old nephew. At lunch time, I asked if he was hungry. And he wasn't. So I asked an hour later, and he wasn't. And then a couple hours later (I forgot; we were playing) he said he had a headache, and I said "Oh, my god, I didn't FEED YOU!" And so I did. And my sister confirmed that, yes, you just have to feed them. Though she was not mad that I gave him the agency... just, you know, not really a good plan for him quite yet.

My mom has been transferred to a larger hospital and admitted. She's seen the surgeon, and they've decided to wait 24 hours to see if the blockage can be cleared with the pump. I can't imagine that's pleasant for her, since the tube for the pump goes down her throat. I still haven't been able to speak with her directly. Hopefully tomorrow. I suppose I should get some sleep, so goodnight!

Health~ma to your mom, Callaluna!

Y'all have no idea how reassuring it is to me to see that I'm not the only one whose child is/was slow to outgrow a finicky stage. Annabel at 10 is still picky, though at least she's now more willing to at least take a bite or two of a new thing. And now that she's in massive growth spurt mode, she seems to naturally be choosing more protein. Sure, much of it is still lunch meat, peanut butter, and yogurt, but I'm hoping her new taste for things like orange chicken and chicken-fried steak will be a gateway to somewhat less fried and sugary dishes.