My picky stubborn headstrong child

Yes this would be Trevor.  I'm sure I have blogged about his strange eating habits before.  He has got to be one of the pickiest, stubborn children I know.  I know people say yeah their child doesn't eat very well.  Let me just say Trevor is AWFUL!!!  The main problem with his eating habits is that he won't try ANYTHING!!  We discussed this with Dr. Hardman back in August and she said the same thing most people say - "he will eat when he gets hungry".  So we went with that.

Our rule is breakfast stays on the table until it is eaten.  He really doesn't like to stay seated, but he will come back to the kitchen within 15 minutes of getting up from the table and will say he is hungry, so we point him back to the table to finish breakfast.  No snacks in between unless the meal prior was eaten.  Breakfast and lunch are very similar.  He will usually eat both of those meals over time.

Dinner is where we struggle.  We would love to have a family meal, but how in the world can that happen when there is a child who doesn't want to eat, doesn't want to even try the food and then ends up playing and distracting Brody.  Trevor sometimes ends up in his room during dinner so we can have a peaceful meal.  He normally gets milk with Carnation Instant breakfast "In It" mixed in before bedtime just so he wouldn't get up in the middle of the night starving.  This had to change or he would never eat dinner.

A couple of months ago, I was beginning to get so frustrated at dinner because he just would not eat - he would not even take a bite of anything and I refused to make him something different.  Bring in my creative husband.  He came up with this great idea.  Each week Trevor is supposed to take a bite of the meal (and the number of bites increases each week).  If he doesn't take a bite then he gets nothing else to eat that night and no milk.

We are up to 7 bites at each meal.  There have been A LOT of nights that he goes to bed with NOTHING to eat.  Take for example 2 nights ago we had baked enchiladas with black beans, chicken and corn.  He has eaten corn and black beans before but he would not take a bite.  He said he will just go to bed and wake up in the morning and eat a pop tart.  What??  So stubborn

However, last night we had Beef Stroganoff so I fixed him a bowl of noodles with the sauce (no meat) and just knew he would eat it.  He sat at the table not happy at all and not eating, so I said ok let's go get a bath and go to bed - it was 6:30.  He wasn't happy about that but not enough to eat so he got a bath.   I gave him another chance to eat before putting him in bed AND he actually ate the entire bowl of noodles about 15 bites.  I wish I had a picture of his face trying to eat the first couple of bites - you would have thought I was feeding him brussel sprouts.

We rejoice in the small steps and I am so very thankful for Jason's idea because at least Trevor knows the rules and will hopefully over time eat dinner with us!!  Thank goodness he is healthy and look at this cute little guy.

A little randomness

In between our normal routine, here's a few little extras going on around our house lately.

We are still season ticket holders to the Jaguars even though they STINK!!  Thank goodness our seats are next to Adam and Stephanie so Stephanie and I can chat when things get real boring.  The weather has been pretty warm for every game.  However, a couple of weeks ago had our first night game on a Thursday night and the weather was perfect.

I was asked to make a cake for a baby shower for Julie's (who we teach with) daughter.  

 In Brody's class they have behavior markers.  Everyday they start at green and if they are bad they move to yellow, orange and then red (parents called).  When they are good, they move up to blue, pink and purple.  Brody has been on yellow a few times so I told him when he moves up he will get a surprise.  Well, I had already picked out a few Star Wars books that I thought he would love.

One day Brody got in the car and was so excited and said something really good happened at school.  I couldn't wait - and neither could he.  He quickly opened his folder and showed me the date in his calendar was colored blue.  I was so excited.  He then wanted to know if he would get his surprise - he didn't forget :)  When I showed him the book - he wasn't that excited.  I felt terrible so I told him the next time we go to the store I would let him pick something out.  Here's the excited child

My little reader

As a first time mom of a kindergartener I have had to learn a lot because it has been a long time since I was there and lots has changed.  One of these changes is something called AR or Accelerated Reader.  This is where the kids read books and take a test to see how well they comprehended the book - I kind of wish they had something like that when I was younger, because maybe I would comprehend better.

Anyway, there are different levels of books and each book is worth so many points.  Each kid has an amount of points they must obtain for each 9 weeks.  This doesn't really start until Dec for kindergarteners or until they know 100 sight words, but the librarian noticed that Brody was reading well above his level and he already knew all of the sight words for kindergarten.  She went ahead and assigned him with a green and pink dot which is the 2nd and 3rd level books.  When he checked out his book from the library, he read it that night and we decided to go the next day to take the test in the library.  I don't think he knew exactly what was going on, but he quickly caught on when he answered all 5 questions correctly and everyone made a big deal out of it.

Taking his first test.  For most of the books the computer reads the question and the answers to the student.  Well, when Brody took his second test he had chosen a book that wasn't an audible test but I was so proud when the proctor came out and told me that Brody read each question and answer by himself and complemented him on his test taking skills - I was a proud mama!!

 Brody was so excited to start reading a different book everyday and taking a test.  He loves to read and is doing great at it.  There are times when he reads things and Jason and I just look at each other in amazement.

At the beginning of the year, Mrs. Maddox, the librarian, sent something out to the classes asking for the students to bring a picture of where they love to read and they may see it around the school.

Brody's first book fair was a couple of weeks ago and the school would like for the parents to go with the child to help pick out books.  Brody was excited and 4 books later we were done.  He couldn't wait to read them and this is what I saw that afternoon - reading his new book to his brother - warms my heart.

Singing in church

Couple of weeks ago, Brody sang with the children's choir in big church.  He wasn't too excited to sing but I knew that would change once he got there.  This is about the 3rd or 4th time he has sung so he is getting used to it.  He loves Mrs. Stacy and Mrs. Michelle, the choir teachers and they do a great job with all of these little ones.

It's amazing as the kids get up in front of everyone it is like they all of a sudden go mute and don't want to sing very loud, but they are still so cute as they are singing praises to our Lord.

I was really trying to get a picture of Brody's friend, Baylie - in the red shirt in the back, but she was standing on the opposite side from me and the camera focused on Allie in the front.  I guess I need to learn how to use my camera a little better.

At least my boy is singing - he might not be all in with the hand motions but neither of the boys are.

Halloween Night

For the past several years, we have been driving out to Rhonda's for trick or treating.  She lives in a gated subdivision and so many people really get into Halloween out there by decorating their homes and sitting in the driveway to pass out candy.  The boys were so excited

Before we left I tried to get a few pictures.

Can't you tell he was so excited :)

This year I thought it would be cute to dress up as Izzy from the show Jake and the Neverland Pirates.  It was really easy to dress up - I only had to buy the purple jeans.  The boys thought I was cool!!

They couldn't wait to go up to their first house.

They were so cute walking up to the front door.  They knew the drill - look for houses with lights on, say trick or treat, hold out your bag and say THANK YOU!!!

We walked around the neighborhood for about an hour and had about 10 pounds of candy by the time we got back.

Look at this stash, loot or whatever you want to call it but YUMMY!!!

Since we hadn't eaten dinner yet, no candy yet.  You would think that would entice Trevor to eat - nope so no candy for him the entire time.  The thing is he didn't really care - he just wanted to count it all out and see everything he received.

The boys had such a good time and thankfully Brody only ate about 5 pieces that night and sad to say that Trevor didn't eat anything because he didn't eat dinner.

Storybook Character Parade and Party

On Halloween, Brody's school put on a Storybook Character parade.  He was so excited to be a part of this even though I'm not sure he knew exactly what was involved.  Brody jumped out of the bed so quick that morning and was so ready to put on his costume.

The kids were to bring a book that was about their character and then they walked around the whole school so everyone could see their costumes.  The kids were all dressed so cute.  

Brody's great teacher - Mrs. Proffit all dressed up.  I love that he has a teacher that gets into things like this.

Our parents decided to just stay at the classroom and watch the parade as it came back by.  

 Tyler as Peter Pan walking by.

Baylie as Cave Girl

 I had planned to be at the school most of the day because I was heading up the Halloween party later that morning, so thankfully mom was willing to keep Trevor for me that day.  I actually was able to help out with a few crafts in the classroom before I headed up to pick up the pizza.  It was a lot of fun and I am very thankful to have the opportunity to help out.  It's amazing how God works!!

For some reason, Brody didn't do so well with me leaving even though I was just going to get pizza and come right back.  He was so clingy, but don't worry we had a talk and hopefully it won't happen again or he knows I won't be back in the classroom.

We have some great parents and were so willing to help bring treats for the party.  We had some cute treats.

I attempted my first time at cake pops.  I thought it was a great time to make them - try them on some 5 and 6 year olds.

Oreo balls "Eye balls"

Some of Brody's buddies

Mrs. Proffit had bought little pumpkins for all of the kids.  The kids dug some of the stuff out and put potting soil inside.  We are hoping for some little pumpkins soon.

Then we had a huge pumpkin that we cut and Mrs. Proffit told a story about Halloween safety and how not to eat too much candy or what happened to Jack will happen to you.

Trunk or Treat

This is the second year our church has put on a Trunk or Treat so the boys were all excited to go up to it again.  This year's costume of choice - or the costume talked into by me was Jake and Cubby from The Neverland Pirates.  I really enjoy the boys dressing up as similar things you know like Batman and Robin, a tennis player and tennis ball (my all time favorite).  I assume one day I might not win - actually I didn't win 2 years ago - Buzz and a golfer (just because we had the golfer costume already).

Anyway, I tried to do as much as I could for the costume myself but since I wasn't a sewer I had to rely on Mrs. Chris from our church to sew their vests and Brody's boot covers.  She is so talented!

This year the first thing they saw was the huge bounce slide and it was really the only thing they wanted to do.

We did get them to go around to the trunks first to get some candy!!  Thankfully we got there at the beginning because there were a lot of people there.  There were lots of antique cars and several games for the kids to play.

As we made it around to the different trunks we ran into lots of the friends and buddies.

Brody and sweet Molly

Good buddies - Trevor and Tucker

Trevor and Leah, Molly's sister

One of his teachers in children's church, Mr. Rick

Brody's buddy - Tyler dressed up as Peter Pan

Mrs. Angie - Trevor's Sunday School teacher last year

Our 12th grade Bible Fellowship Group had a trunk.  We did a tailgate party complete with a grill and corn hole

 Sweet friends - Cave girl Baylie and Rapunzel Ava

Finally time for the bouncy house.  These boys and Ava had a blast.  We looked up at the top of the slide once and Trevor did a flip from the top and his good friend sweet Ava followed right behind him. Yeah, we couldn't believe Ava did that.

These kids had so much fun and must have slid for an hour.  Needless to say they went to sleep pretty easily that night.