nemesis turned friend

nemesis: a bitter enemy, especially one who seems unbeatable

This was Avery's nemesis for about a week. I even hesitate to praise this accomplishment too soon for fear that last night was a fluke, but something worked last night. I overwhelmed with genuine happiness last night, real happiness. I think I teared up too. Supper time has been a challenge lately. Avery learned the art of nodding her head to say yes, and the adverse, shake for no. We see the nod mostly throughout the whole day, we see the shake at the dinner table. In comes Mr. Broccoli. Her facial expression are priceless when she bits in them, and then promptly spits it out.

Ken and I felt defeated. Is she going to be that kid who will only eat blueberries the rest of her life? Ken had a brilliant idea. Involve her in the process of making the broccoli, and make sure that she's good and hungry when that steaming bowl shows up in front of her. So, the process of involvement. Ken held her, I washed the broccoli, and then took it apart to make pieces. Then I handed her each one to put in the pot to steam. She loved doing that. And then the darn-dest thing happened, before she put this big piece in, she snuck a bite and then tossed it with the rest. Hilarious! We watched it steam and had plenty of "wows" come from her mouth. We only saw this leading somewhere positive. Then it was ready. We ALL sat down together with big plates of broccoli, we each had and forks, and started to grub.

She inhaled it. No joke, we were amazed.

And to parents, do you ever have conversations with your spouse about something you want to say to the kid but you don't know if they are on the same page, so you'll cover your mouth or speak like a mime? We do that, like a side bar with no side.

We agree, in our cryptic language, "let's praise this when she's all finished." But the girl kept eating, and eating, and eating. The main course was meatloaf that I didn't think she'd be down with because she's kinda like a vegetarian, but she pointed to my piece and did her "give me some" hand signal with a heavy nod. And then ate a whole bunch of meatloaf! What was this day?

That night as I sang to her and we cuddled, I felt so proud. I know it sounds silly but I was proud that she worked it out. She tried something that she didn't like, and kept giving it a go. I hope she approaches difficult things this way, and I hope Ken keeps coming up with new and clever ways to get her on board!