one for the parenthood score board and the shortest trip to Tucson ever.

Lincoln's been on a roller-coaster with his eating habits: when he's up he eats anything and everything, and when he's down, he will only eat bread, applesauce, and now blueberries. It's a battle every time I try to get him to eat something else, a battle that he always wins.

I tell ya, I'm catching on to Lincoln's sneakiness and manipulations. Yes, for a one year old he's become quite the feisty one. What I've noticed is that he only wants what Ryan and I are eating, not what's on his own plate.....LITERALLY. We could all be eating the same thing, and he could have his own serving on his own tray, but if it's in OUR plates, he wants OURS instead. So we end up giving him our chunk of food and I end up eating the tiny scraps off his tray for myself. 

One night it hit me though. What if, just what if, I pretend to make myself a big bowl of veggies all for myself!!!! and I'd sit on the floor and eat them right of the bowl with my fingers and pretend like I don't want to share. I'll tell you what happened. He came over to me and sat next to me peering into the bowl, then peering up at me like, "Aren't you going to share?" And this is where your acting skills as a parent comes in. At first, you need to act reluctant because it's SOOOO DELICIOUS you want it all for yourself, but then after he bats his eyes at you, you have a change of heart and allow him to grab some. He takes a bite.....and then another. Worked like a charm.

It was Lincoln and I, sitting on the kitchen floor, eating a bowl of veggies straight out of the bowl, hovering over them and taking turns eating our carrots, peas, and corn. This was the first time he was eating something more than bread. I attribute my success to Lincoln's natural greediness to take whatever I have, but mostly to my amazing acting skills. And because of my success, this was the first time I started keeping score: 1 Point for Mom! :)

And as far as the shortest trip to Tucson ever? We drove 1.5 hours on Saturday down to Sabino Canyon, but Lincoln was really on one. He had a crappy nap beforehand, which made him extremely irritable. We sat to have a little lunch and if we didn't have the blueberries right in his lap he would scream. We stayed 1.5 hours and then drove 1.5 hours back home. It was rough. I think the only time he was being cute was when we gave him the map and let him lead the way on the trail. That was short lived though because he biffed it TWICE and did two face-plants onto concrete. That was the cherry on top of our disastrous Saturday day trip. Making memories right?