No More Regular Chicken

       Meet Brody (that's not his real name, but go with me....).  He's my middle child.  Brody doesn't get talked about a lot here on the blog b/c the baby seems to take up 99.9% of the spotlight and his older sister takes up the other 0.1% (only b/c she lets me take her picture).  Brody doesn't want the spotlight- most of the time, he runs from me when the camera is out.  In fact, the only reason I have the above picture is because he had just lost his 2 front teeth.  Pretty cute, isn't he?

       For a long time, Brody was my baby boy- he and I have a pretty special bond.  Matt says I baby him too much, but I know that time will be gone soon enough, so if the kid will still let me smother him in kisses, I'll do it!  With the addition of Bubba,  I don't get enough Brody time.  And I am noticing that he is become ever-so independent.       

      He does his homework on his own.  Has chores around the house.  Loves to build anything - legos, paper, random trash he finds at the store...it all becomes a creation.   He loves anything cammo - and he especially loves learning about the past wars.  Over Spring Break, we went to the Pacific War Museum in Fredricksburg, TX - And while I thought most of it was way above his head, He loved it!

He loves catching frogs....

And is learning how to mow.....already???

      But the one thing this kiddo has not yet mastered.....eating.  He loves his staples - chicken nuggets, fish sticks, grilled cheese, and peanut butter sandwiches.  Broccoli? Definitely not.  Strawberries?  Nope.  Grilled chicken?  Never.  Mashed potatoes?  Hates um.  Pizza?  Absolutely not.  Our friends use to laugh at us, as Brody thought "regular chicken" was the nuggets.  Blech.

      Matt & I look back and shake our heads- why did we introduce him to chicken nuggets?  When did he have his first fish stick (b/c we certainly don't eat them)?  And what happened to the baby who would eat anything? Every night was a struggle to come up with something he would eat.  I was seriously cooking a separate meal for him each night.

      This had to change.  So, in January we took a stand.   It started with 2-3 pieces of whatever meat we were having that night.  He had to eat them before he would get his Chicken/fish crap.  You would have thought we were asking him to swallow acid.  It would sometimes take the kid 30 mins to eat just 3 bites.

       We would bargain and plead with him..... one night he lost his chance to race his car in the PineWood Derby b/c he wouldn't eat ONE bite of spaghetti.  He was seriously that stubborn. (Momma gave in and let him go... bad parenting 101!).  If he ate all his bites, he would get dessert....if he ate all his bites, he could have a friend over.... so on.....  It would take him all night, but he would do it.

        Well, I got sick of the bargaining.  After Spring Break, we went cold turkey.  Now Brody gets a plate full of everything....and I mean everything.... we are eating.  And we are cooking NO MORE regular chicken for him.  He's hungry....so he eats it.  Pork chops, grilled chicken, spaghetti, tacos, broccoli, asparagus, peas, mashed potatoes...he is eating it all........

           We still have the whining.  We still have the faces.  We still go through 2 glasses of milk ("to swallow it down!") each meal.  And yes, it still may take him an hour some nights.  But my boy is eating!!!

            I'm not this mean all the time.  Believe me, the kid still gets his fair share of nuggets.  And he still eats the same boring pb sandwich every day for lunch.  But, the way I see it,  it is a step in the right direction. 

       Of course, now he likes the carrots, but I know that as soon as I get Brody converted, this one will be asking for the regular chicken. Oh boy.