Grant's War

Before I get to the crux of today's post, I want to hit you with some figures as yesterday was the 14th day of our $400 challenge.

We have spent $206.60 as we fill our once empty pantry and refrigerator with the basis of our meals for the next two weeks.  We have consumed $131.17 worth of food, about $9.37 per day. 

Scott has lost 8.4 lbs.  Changing our eating habits wasn't supposed to lead to this much weight loss so we decided that he needs to get more food.  The boys' weight remains unchanged, but Connor has been eating a lot more than usual and Grant has been eating less than he normally does. 

Ahh Grant, my good eater.  Hungry, Hungry Hippo, where have you gone?  One of Grant's nicknames is "Eater X" after a competitive major league eater, but the past few days he's been really frustrated at dinnertime and I think it's because he's missing his favorite foods.  Connor is willing to accept homemade mac and cheese, but Grant is looking for the unrealistic orange color.  Connor really likes chicken thighs, but Grant wants chicken nuggets.

Feeding toddlers can be tricky.  Grant wants to eat many of the same foods that we do, but choking is still a major hazard.  I want to cut everything he eats into tiny pieces, but when he sees that our food isn't cut up into non-choking pieces too, he isn't happy.  I'm not willing to cut my sandwich into 1cm squares.  I don't prefer my apple slices without skin and in fingernail-sized pieces.  I do not like 1/8 of a grape. 

Grant's speech is limited so his main method of communicating is a high and loud screech.  Seriously, he should be able to communicate with dolphins.  When he's in the playroom, it's pretty easy to figure out what he wants.  Screech at a book means "Let's read this book." Screech at the ball popper means "I've shoved a non-fitting toy into the ball popper, fix it."  But a screech at the dinner table is difficult to interpret.  Does he need more milk?  Does he want more peas?  Does he see our neighbor's dog?  Does he want something else?  I've sat with him trying sign language for countless hours, without success.  We've been working on saying "more" over and over but to no avail, he would rather scream.  His speech therapist says that some kids are just born stubborn.  Grant's more than "stubborn," he's immovable, unwavering, unstoppable.

I know I could just stay the course with him and assume when he's hungry enough, he'll eat. But I don't think my eardrums or sanity can wait him out.  And I don't want to be cruel, meal times are supposed to be fun for our family.  And when Grant screams throughout the entire meal, no one is having fun.

After noting Scott's weight loss, we decided that in addition to Scott eating more, we needed to make sure that Grant gets at least one food at dinnertime that he is comfortable with.  If he tries and refuses the meal that we are eating, he can then have either chicken nuggets, a yogurt, cheese, bread or a banana.  Chicken nuggets aren't the healthiest thing I can offer, but just like we're not eliminating some of Scott and my favorite foods, we should remember to serve foods that Connor and Grant love.  I may be raising the white flag, but I'm willing to lose this battle in order to win our war.

Here's what we ate today.

Breakfast
- SKC&G Oatmeal with Brown Sugar
- C&G Milk
Total $0.52

Snack
- S Banana
- C&G Crackers, Cheese and Milk
Total $0.55

Lunch
- SKC&G Grilled Cheese (bread, cheese, margarine) with Mayo and Ketchup
- S&K Orange & Tea
- C&G Blueberries & Milk
Total $3.11

Dinner
- SK&C Baked Potatoes (with broccoli, sour cream, margarine, cheese, and bacon)
- C&G Chicken nuggets (with ranch) and Milk
Total $4.10

Dessert
- SKC&G Cookies
- C&G Milk
Total $0.50

Total Spend $8.77

Tomorrow, A Corny Story