Gotta Have Some Ice Cream

It isn't much of a secret that Allie isn't a big eater. There are so many other things to do and food takes a back seat for this little girl. But, tonight I was just so proud of her during dinner. She just kept eating. She would reach over to my plate and eat green bean after green bean, then even ate the carrots and the corn, too! She didn't stop there... she ate peaches and chicken, too. And did all this while occasionally gulping down some of her extra calorie fortified milk. I was so excited! I just sat with her until she stopped - which was almost a whole hour after she started. I tried not to change anything or bring attention to it - or she most certainly would have stopped eating. I would occasionally, add more to my plate and she just kept grabbing it... bean by bean, carrot by carrot!

Then, after missing an opportunity to chat with Granma and Grandpa on the Webcam after her bath, she seemed to want to honor Grandpa with dessert! This was so rare. She crawled into the kitchen and I, her always chatting Mom, asked if she wanted Ice Cream (not expecting a "yes" by any stretch). She signed Ice Cream. So, I asked "Do you want Ice Cream?" She signed "Yes" and "Ice Cream". So...she got it! She even ate it with some carmel topping on it (another first, but I had to try as I hear it has LOTS of calories!) Then, we sat there for about 30 minutes as I continued to shovel ice cream in her mouth (okay, she JUST had a bath and I wasn't brave enough for her to feed herself ice cream this late in the evening) and as she watched her movie. In fact, the movie seemed like a big thing tonight. After asking for Ice Cream, when I sat her down to give her some, she kept signing that it was movie time and wouldn't take a bite of the ice cream. I was trying to avoid another DVD, but she wouldn't touch the ice cream and would sign "Time" and point to the TV. You know she won, but as soon as the movie was on... she ate - despite clearly being very sleepy. Oh, well, we will break the DVD habit after she weighs a bit more. Choosing those battles - hopefully wisely - one at a time.

Also, when I picked Allie up at school this evening they were just getting ready for snacks. Allie was signing cracker (which is a pretty common request), so I put her at the table and expected her to really want to come with me instead, but she sat there and ate her crackers and seemed to know that I wasn't leaving without her. She didn't throw a single part of it, either. My little girl is just growing up so quickly at times!

I must say that I think Tim put it best. As he was putting the very tired and very full baby into bed he said "I think she heard I called the doctor today to talk about her eating habits". She must have; but she proved she can eat when she wants to.

Good girl, Allie!