This is just how it is

I actually sat at the computer for about 5 minutes trying to title this post. This is an indication of how much I over-think things.

Anyway, today I took Chickie to see a nutritionist. I was referred to her by my goddess LC, the one who's saved my life and boobs and sanity umpteen times. I had initially called her during the big hunger strike of a couple weeks back (the one with 5 days of no eating or pooping) to ask, "So, my child eats 3 bites of food a day. What should those bites be?"

So, just like your car stops making the funny noise right when you take it to the mechanic, dear Chickie's hunger strike has been on temporary strike for the past few days leading up to this appt. I brought my diligently organized logs of his food intake, and of course, she was like, "Well, it looks like he's eating fine now." I said, "Yes, he'll have a few days of good eating every couple months, and then who knows..."

She said basically what I've known for months now-- he doesn't eat when he's teething. She said she knew a pair of twins who ate in fits and starts until they were 3 and all their teeth were in (FUN), so at least this kind of behavior is not totally unprecedented. She surprised me when she said that she thinks his diet is great-- I was waiting for her to tell me that he needs more of this and less of that, but she actually felt like he gets a great variety of healthy foods. What a relief! Here I was fretting about how all he really wants are goldfish or cheddar bunnies or other salty, crunchy crackers, but she was like, "That's just kids. Besides, those things are fortified with iron and B vitamins." Hmmm, good to know. I heart fortified bunnies.

So, this is our rollercoaster ride to ride out. She was pretty informative and encouraging and repeated the messages that I've heard before-- he's not dumb, he won't starve, offer foods at least 15-20 times before even thinking about writing them off, let him have control at meal times but not so much control that he's f-ing with us, etc. I think I may need to put all this stuff on post-its and put them around the house. I had that when i was pregnant and constantly paranoid about 80 things-- I still have "I am a big, beautiful goddess" at the top of my computer screen, and, let me tell you, the IT guys at work LOVED that (I had to take the computer in to get my work email fixed yesterday). Good times.

She weighed him and measured him, and it turns out that he's in the 10th percentile for both, but she was like, "He's totally healthy. Look at him-- he's running around, he's playing with toys, and he's chatting up a storm!" It's true. So what if he's small?? Dan didn't go through puberty til college, after all...

I think the best part of the visit, though, was chatting with another mom in the waiting room before the appointment. Her child was older, maybe closer to 3, and she had a tupperware of mini pretzel and cream-cheese sandwiches (yeah, 2 mini pretzels glued together by a gob of cream cheese. YUM) that her child was munching on. Apparently, this is the only thing her child will eat, and I know this because within about 10 seconds, we had shared the gory details of exactly what our children will eat and when, as well as the frequency and consistency of their poops. It's amazing how parents with similar concerns will just cut to the chase instead of bullshitting around.

And one more thing-- the nutritionist recommended some book called something like "How to Make Your Child Eat But Not Too Much" that actually has a chapter called, "Is your toddler jerking you around?" No joke. Of course he is-- he's a freaking toddler! My child doesn't want HIS lunch-- he wants to take everyone else's lunch (the daycare teacher told me that he was practically obsessed with taking another kid's pizza yesterday).

So, I guess this is just how it is. My child is small. My child doesn't eat a lot. My child is willful and assertive. And really, there isn't a whole hell of a lot I can do about it, so I guess I should just breathe and let it go. Oh, and I should keep introducing foods again and again and again. I'm gonna head out soon to buy some frozen blueberry waffles and pizza pockets and that sort of thing and see where we get.