Trio

5:45 pm: we arrive at Uncle Lyman and Auntie M’s for dinner; there are yummy hors d’oeuvres—baked oysters, veggies, chips, salsa, dips. Cole eats a few chips, but is more interested in running around and causing trouble.

6:45 pm: we have a delicious dinner of pork loin and mushrooms, asparagus, and mashed potatoes. Cole has a few bites of pork, but is soon on his way running around, again.

7:15 pm: we have dessert—a choice of cookies, ice cream, or chocolate cake. Cole opts out on the entire selection. More running around ensues.

7:45 pm: I give the kids the heads up that we are leaving in five minutes.

7:50 pm: Cole decides that dinner is too good to pass up and starts eating several helpings of pork.

8:20 pm: Cole finishes and we finally depart for home.

We are probably too accommodating when it comes to Cole’s eating habits. If he didn’t eat with us at the appropriate time, the kitchen should have ‘closed’ and he should have had the chance to learn that he needs to eat at dinner time or be hungry later. For us, however, it’s difficult to impose that lesson on Cole, when he really could use to gain a few additional pounds. It’s definitely something that we need to learn to manage better in the future. But for tonight, it was so great to see him eat so much…