Game day!

Well, this morning was the first Special Needs Baseball game day! We drove around a bit until we found it (I’d never been to that complex before), picked up Owen’s shirt, and then it was a waiting game before all the registration stuff ended and volunteers got everything ready. And speaking of volunteers, there were a TON of them—a church group and a biker group along with friends and family—enough for a few on each base, ones to run with each batter, ones to have fun in the outfield, and many to just stand and cheer! (They told me later that there usually aren’t that many until later in the season.)

I had only brought my telephoto lens so I had to make Owen stand about 10 feet away to get a shot. Yes, he’s wearing it over his regular shirt—that was his choice. And I could kick myself for not taking more to have one with better lighting. Oh well. And yes, he had to go potty at that moment—that’s where we headed next. 🙂

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Katie wasn’t really enjoying being strapped into the stroller, but since I wanted to take pics, I didn’t really have any other options. (In the future I likely won’t be taking as many pics so I can let her wander.) But she wasn’t really that bad (it could have been much worse) and she enjoyed everyone stopping to talk to her or wave at her. And I tried to keep her placated with milk, snacks, and toys.

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He found a ball right away!

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Lining up to be divided into teams. He was on the Crushers and they were in the outfield first. They even had a parent sing the national anthem!

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Owen’s buddy in the outfield.

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There was a lot of this in the outfield.

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Bowling?

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I think he was going for the fumble recovery. 🙂

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Waiting for his turn at bat.

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Picking a bat!

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On second base!

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Third base!

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Running for home!

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Back in the outfield.

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I’m not sure why, but there was spinning.

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Back up to bat!

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He started running the wrong way, so the volunteers helped direct him! This is one of my favorite pics—even though it’s definitely not the best pic—because it shows how awesome and supportive the volunteers are!

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Running to second base!

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Coming in to a high-five!

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Game over! High-fiving everyone!

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You can’t really get a good feeling for how crazy it was. There were so many people around, the game being announced play-by-play on loudspeakers, lots of not-playing going on, no scoring, kids running to whatever bases they want, two or more kids running at the same time, some older kids actually hitting the ball and adults in the outfield taking care of those balls, some kids refusing to bat/run, etc. But it was fun and Owen had a good time…so yes, there will be more weeks of this.

Then they announced that lunch would be served at the pavilion, and Owen was hungry…so we went. Thankfully there was just a prayer before eating—which is just fine with me. They had hot dogs and popcorn—and if you can believe it, Owen ate an entire hot dog, bun and all! For the first time ever! WOOHOO! Then he wanted to play on the playground which was very close…so we went. And I finally got to let Katie out of the stroller and she had A BALL!

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As we were leaving, Owen said “That was awesome”…and I’m guessing he meant the baseball, though I guess he could have also been referring to the playground as well. But it was a good day that gave me 428 photos to edit down to 58. 🙂 Next time I won’t take nearly as many!

Owen’s new foods: Week 2

He only had six new foods this week since he was in the hospital for one of the days.

  1. chicken from my sandwich at Costco
  2. guacamole
  3. chicken fingers (samples at Sam’s Club)
  4. chicken nuggets (samples at Sam’s Club)
  5. watermelon
  6. provolone cheese

Funny story.

So we were obviously at Sam’s Club one night this week and they had the samples going. I immediately hoped there would be some stuff I could have Owen try because how perfect is a one-bite sample? Besides, he needed one extra food because he had skipped a day—and that was the only thing standing between him and his Reward toy for the week.

First up was fruit punch Vitamin Water and he flat out refused that. That floored me because it’s pretty much water. And he likes to sip daddy’s drinks…so I told him it was like that. NO. Not happening. Okay, moving on.

Next was fancy chicken fingers (meaning real breading that looked like fried chicken and not pulverized cracker coating). He said no. I explained how he needed TWO foods to catch up to earn his toy. He said no. I said “It’s JUST LIKE the popcorn chicken you like except it’s a different shape.” Okay, he’d try it. And he liked it—IMAGINE THAT. 🙄 I asked if he would eat those if I bought them and of course he said yes. Fine, whatever, we’ll get them and worst case Katie and I will eat them (unlike the Gogurt he HAD TO HAVE and PROMISED to eat and he ate one and now refuses to eat them). In the same aisle, he saw the dinosaur chicken nuggets and expressed interest so I asked if he’d eat those, too, and he said yes. Okay, in the cart they go.

So the next aisle’s sample was…chicken nuggets! Tyson brand vs. whatever generic brand the dinosaurs were. I asked Owen if he wanted to try that. No. SERIOUSLY, KID?! You just ate and liked chicken fingers but you don’t want to try chicken nuggets? He kills me. So I again explained about needing an extra food and this is JUST LIKE THE CHICKEN HE JUST ATE…and he agreed to try it. So he’s nibbling on it as we’re going down the next aisle (where Katie scarfed the full sample of red potato potato salad) and before I realize it, HE ASKED IF HE COULD HAVE ANOTHER ONE! 😯 So we made another pass and grabbed another one! Then we put back the dino nuggets and grabbed the Tyson nuggets! WOOHOO!

I didn’t want to push my luck any farther so that was it for him.

Owen’s first new foods week!

We put “try a new food” on Owen’s chore chart this week. He tried:

  1. avocado
  2. ham and cheese sandwich
  3. cotton candy
  4. popcorn chicken
  5. spaghetti with butter

The two days he missed were the only two “holes” on his chart for the week.

The only one he really truly liked was the popcorn chicken. He came back for more, then asked for it at breakfast the next morning (we had a few as leftovers —a mom had brought them to pool playgroup). He said he liked the spaghetti (it was fun to eat) but he refused a second bite. The others were definite NOs. But he’s so frustratingly finicky that he flat out refused to try chicken fingers—even though I said they tasted exactly like the popcorn chicken.

Deckwarming & Katie’s Third First Birthday

Today was the big day of our Deckwarming party (and Tom’s going away party) as well as a mini celebration of Katie’s first birthday (technically her third first birthday as we already celebrated in Michigan, then she had her actual birthday on the 10th, and then today’s gathering). It was a long, hot, tiring—yet fun—day.

Party-prep is so much work—it never seems like stuff will take that long…but it always does. I was VERY thankful to have hired Virginia to come watch the kids while we did the prep because then I didn’t have to listen to Katie screaming because I wasn’t paying attention to her…and I was actually able to get stuff done! I loved what Virginia posted on Facebook—it’s classic Owen:

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As usual, we had too much food (or maybe just not enough people?!) but then, I’m a Len and we apparently don’t know how to cook for less than 40 people (or are paranoid about not having enough food regardless of the number of people). 🙂 But everything was delicious.

The weather actually held out—it was touch and go for awhile with intermittent thunderstorms pretty much all morning and early afternoon—but it cleared up about 4 and was sunny and gorgeous (though the humidity was right at about 99%).

We had a good blend of old (Mitchells and Trimbles) and new friends (from my mommy group) and the kids had a blast in the playroom and in the pool.

Then it was time for the birthday cake. I had wanted to do something special for Katie so she didn’t fall into that “second kid gets squat compared to the first kid” thing PLUS after Owen’s Lego cake debacle I had decided I was never attempting to bake a cake again…so I asked our friend Ursula to make a cake. She has recently started making and decorating cakes and she’s ABSOLUTELY AMAZING (as opposed to my first attempt—see above Lego debacle post). Here’s the picture I sent her (that I found on Pinterest) along with her version on the right (I asked for the 1 on top instead of the ladybug and only two layers):

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[ Find the original cake here: Ladybug Birthday Cake from PinkCakeBox ]

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Amazing, right?

Also a big thanks to mommy-group friend Jacqueline who helped with my last-minute ice cream request (Doh! How could we have forgotten ice cream on our three trips to town?!) and pre-party kitchen cleanup (she arrived during the last 15-minute rush to get everything done, saw I was a bit overwhelmed, and jumped in to wash the sink full of dishes).

Some of the kids playing dress up:

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Having a blast in the pool:

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Wandering:

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She made such a mess that we had to hose off the deck (thanks, Roger!) and give her a quick bath in the sink with Dawn detergent (I hadn’t planned ahead to have baby soap downstairs). Here she is somewhat cleaned up, back with Virginia again.

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Since Owen was having so much fun in the pool and with the kids, we let him stay up late. This is about 9:30 right before he finally went to bed.

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Thanks to everyone who shared the day with me and Tom!! And you can tell we’re all getting older…everyone had gone home by 10:15!! 🙂

Owen is getting better about trying new foods.

Amazingly Owen has been trying new foods! It’s still been VERY basic stuff…but we’ll take what we can get!

The other night I made a hamburger/tater tot casserole…and he tried both (separately) and liked them! We made hamburgers tonight and he ate maybe 1/3 of one! (We still have to bribe him—he couldn’t have more tater tots until he ate more hamburger.) And he likes things dipped it ketchup…AND yogurt…at the same time. (Barf.)

He tried chicken fingers—but he deemed them too spicy. (And honestly, they are a bit on the spicy side.)

He tried a peach and gave it a no. Even though he loves peach yogurt and eats the peach bits.

He even wanted to try gum (there were gum balls in one of his toys)—so Tom broke off about 1/4 of a piece—and Owen barely touched his tongue to it before saying “No thank you.” We made him actually put it in his mouth and start chewing—which he did…for about three seconds before spitting it out.

What a kid.

Chicken x 2!

Owen tried BBQ chicken the other night. Holy cow. He liked the chicken but didn’t like the sauce, so we rinsed off a bite and he ate it! So TWO bites!

So we ate a quick lunch at Costco today after shopping—Owen had pizza, but Tom and I shared a chicken bake and he tried a piece of the chicken from it! And said he liked it!

Of course I don’t expect him to make a full meal out of it anytime soon…but baby steps.

A big thank you to Daniel Tiger’s Neigjborhood that has an episode where they try new foods. I can never remember the jingle so I make something up and Owen always corrects me by singing it himself!

Here’s the full song (not the best quality since it’s not direct from the show):

Road Trip, Day 1

Amazingly we started off on schedule—and if you want to be technical about it, we were actually seven minutes early. And we didn’t think of anything we forgot…

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The barrette lasted a whole hour—which doesn’t seem like much but her previous record was about three seconds.

Things went pretty well until Katie got a little screechy. But Owen was SO awesome—he’d start talking to her, singing the ABCs, playing peek-a-boo (which usually resulted in giggles), and clapping (at which point she’d clap in return). But then it turned into hunger screeches meaning she wanted her bottle—which sounds easy…but isn’t. She can physically hold the bottle—but can’t understand she has to tip it (she wants it to work like a straw cup). We tried putting her formula in the straw cup…and then she doesn’t really want it. And even though it’s attached to a strap so it can’t end up on the floor…it ends up hanging or upside down…dripping milk. Sigh. At this age, Owen was definitely holding his own bottle—great for road trips.

So I tried giving her a no-spill snack cup…which lasted all of five minutes until she a) figured out how to hold one flap open and tip most of it out and then b) got the entire lid off! Joy.

No-spill snack cup: 0
Katie: 1

So we figured our good little eater would snarf down some mac and cheese for lunch. Nah. Not interested today. REALLY?! Also not really interested in any of our foods, including one of her favorite baby foods. GRRR.

The good thing about lunch is that the owner—after chatting with Tom—comped our meal as a thank you for his service. So a nice shout out to Prissy Polly’s BBQ in Kernersville, NC.

Neither kid napped well. Katie got maybe an hour each before and after lunch and Owen got maybe an hour total with his catnaps.

Then there was a sibling sharing game, played with the lid to the snack container. Owen would hand it to Katie, she’d hand it back, lather rinse repeat. Owen kept saying “We’re sharing! We’re talking turns!” 🙂 He’s such an awesome big brother.

When we finally got to the hotel, Owen helped daddy with the cart (it was too bright for a good picture!).

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And Maggie’s bag…which was about half his size.

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Katie was having a blast crawling/zooming across the bed. Of course as soon as I tried to record her, she stopped.

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Then she learned how to get off the bed. Just like that. (Just like she learned how to slide off the couch.) She’s a smart cookie.

Then it was off to dinner. We ate at the hotel just to make life easy. Katie ate seasoned curly fries, regular fries, and beef brisket (in addition to her cheese slices, green beans, and yogurt). Yes, BBQ beef brisket. Owen? The triple-decker PB&J and yogurt we packed from home.

Then it was FINALLY time for the pool—Owen had been asking most of the day but had really started asking when we got to the hotel. He was VERY excited!

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Catching a ride and kicking it with daddy…

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Watching daddy and Owen in the pool:

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Then I took Katie outside for a stroll since it was REALLY warm in the pool area.

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It took a minute to get a smile.

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Then it was back to the pool, where daddy nommed some Katie toes.

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I love when I get an unexpected shot. 🙂

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Back at the room, we turned our backs for a minute…and this happened.

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Yes, she opened the drawer AND got in by herself. And she was SO proud! Of course, she got out by herself, too.

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Unfortunately, there were a few tiny snafus.

I thought I did really well by packing overnight bags so we didn’t have to haul everyone’s suitcases in…but I apparently forgot obvious stuff like jammies and Katie didn’t have her burp cloth.

I rolled the stroller through something in the hotel (they had some construction areas) and tracked it all over our carpet. It looked like putty, and thankfully it was still wet enough to easily wipe up.

Owen picked a scab and bled all over the white sheets. I had no band-aids…either on me or in our med bag. Tom had to get one from the front desk.

I haven’t had reflux in a month…so of course tonight was the night. And I forgot to take my nightly meds before putting Katie to bed, and I really didn’t want to get up because it took her 25 minutes of SCREAMING to fall asleep and hell if I was going to be the one to wake her up.

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Also, the room next door has a bird and a yapping dog. Luckily it didn’t wake Katie up…but it woke me up about 10:30, and them continued to bark randomly until the owners SLAMMED back into their room around midnight.

Oh, we also got the last non-smoking room and it’s…not great. The bathroom smells, the bathroom counter is chipping, the toilet runs, and the sliding bathroom door (handicap accessible) is off the track so it can’t close. But we got a military discount!

Sausage, noodles, and plums…oh my!

Within the past few days, Owen has tried:

  1. spinach and asiago sausage (and liked it, and had it another meal)
  2. a noodle with marinara and Parmesan (he said he liked it but hasn’t eaten it since)
  3. a plum (he said he liked it but we’ll see if he eats it tomorrow as promised)

And while I was composing this post, he asked for a big grape. Which meant a plum! Yay! I’m really excited about that since its another “P fruit” his GI doc recommended as being great for him!

Oh, and it goes without saying that Katie loves all of the above…plus hamburger as well. She LOVES the noodles…

Wavy Tube Man Ice Cream

After driving by Wavy Tube Man (at the local ice cream place) many, many times, Owen finally got to stop and meet him. Of course, he’s loud…so this was as close as he got. 🙂

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Then he had some ice cream.

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And Katie loved Tom’s shake.

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She LOVES ice cream! (And she ate rolls, green beans, tomatoes, hard boiled eggs, and roasted chicken for dinner so she deserves a little treat!)

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And the poster I created on my phone just playing around:

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Easter Egg Hunt

Today was Owen’s first honest easter egg hunt with a bunch of kids! One of the moms in my mommy group had organized a get-together with some of her neighbors and the mommy group moms. I am SOOO glad we decided to go… It was the first time Tom had seen Owen with more than a handful of kids—and it was amazing.

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This was his slam dunk:

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Tom trying to show Owen how to hit the ball:

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He did, but then that was it and he was off to the next thing:

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The start of the egg race, which was taking place to keep the kids out of the back yard while the older kids were hiding the eggs:

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Slow but steady…

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Race over, no one cared who won!

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Getting ready to go hunt for eggs!

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Rushing in! Half the kids came in each side of the yard. Owen was just thrilled—and it was hilarious because he could see other eggs while he was picking up the ones in front of him, but had a hard time actually getting the ones in front of him because he was so enamored with seeing all the other eggs that he wasn’t close to yet!

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He even braved the bouncy house (which he DOES NOT like to play in) because there were a handful of eggs inside!

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His successful haul!

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The entire gaggle of kids! I think the youngest was 2 and the oldest was 6.

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A family shot, taken by a friend. (Then I took their family shot—she’s like me and rarely is in the photos!)

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Owen torturing the girls on the trampoline with a fake snake! They were all screaming and he was just laughing and having a great time.

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Swinging the snake around. All I could think of was my mom telling me how her brother did that to her WITH REAL SNAKES when they were kids…

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Then he got all sneaky and shoved the snake through the opening in the side of the net. He was so proud of himself! What a stinker!

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Then, right as we were getting ready to leave, they were handing out popsicles. Owen didn’t want one, but then asked a little girl if he could have a bite of hers. The mom was standing there (and knows about Owen’s food issues) so told her daughter it was okay. So Owen took a bite! He didn’t love it, but at least he tried it!

Owen is blowing my mind!

So we’re sitting at dinner and I jokingly hold up a cooked baby carrot to him and ask if he wants to try it.

“Yes.”

Then grabs it and takes a bite. He seemed to like it but then didn’t want to finish it.

Oh. My. Gawd.

Is he starting to be…normal?

Then he tried the rice! He claimed it was too hot (it wasn’t, but I had mentioned it was hot at first so I think he just locked in to that) but said he liked it…but then refused another bite.

Still…I’m thrilled. We’ve had more new food tastes this week than the past two years.

YAY OWEN!!

New food #4!

I’m still shaking my head in disbelief—and excitement!

Tom brought home teriyaki (steak and chicken, fried rice, and fried onions/zucchini) for lunch and I asked Owen twice if he wanted to try the chicken (it was super tender with a really yummy sauce) but he said no. Okay, fine, that’s honestly what I expected.

So as I’m finishing my last bite, he looks over and says “What’s that?” I told him it was the last forkful of rice.

“I try it?”

Wait, what? HE ASKED TO TRY IT?

So I scraped up a few remaining pieces of rice and he ate it…and loved it…and wanted more! I was done, but managed to scrape a few more odds and ends of rice for another mini bite—and he wanted more! I felt bad I didn’t have any more…but who would have thought he’d ASK to try rice?

Grannie said she was making rice for dinner so he could have more then. I kept my fingers crossed that he’d still be interested by then.

OWEN ATE A BANANA!!!!

Owen shocked the hell out of me and asked for AND ATE a banana today. Just. like. that.

I was on the computer in the office and he was out playing his Sesame Street Xbox game and I saw that Cookie Monster was eating a banana. Owen came in to me to tell me he needed a banana. I was sure he just meant to play with it (to mimic what Cookie Monster was doing) and I said no, he didn’t need a banana.

A few minutes later: “Mom…I NEED A BANANA!” I asked if he was going to play with it or eat it—completely expecting him to say play with it—but he said EAT IT! So I said “Are you really going to eat it?” He said yes.

So we went downstairs, I started peeling it for him, handed it to him, and he took a bite like it was the most normal thing in the world and he’s been eating bananas forever. EXCEPT HE’S NEVER EATEN A BANANA IN HIS LIFE (aside from mashed when he was a baby) AND YOU KNOW HOW HE IS ABOUT TRYING NEW FOODS.

I was floored. FLOORED I TELL YOU! And perfectly giddy in my excitement—if we’re being honest.

He only ate about half of it BUT HE ATE IT! Without any coercion! Now to find videos of Cookie Monster eating some veggies!!

*As a sidenote, I really hope he continues to like them because that should help with the poop issues we’re STILL having…