Dinnertime

So after a round of illnesses...time to write again.
Tonight marked the first night of a recommitment to dinnertime for us. Since things have gotten a little off schedule and well, really, just crazy since Nathan was born, we have gotten away from sitting down every night and eating dinner together. It became a fend for yourself, grab what you can, put together anything the kids will eat time of day. Now that things are getting to be a little more routine (an extremely hectic routine) we decided that we need to make it a priority again to sit down and eat our meal in the evening as a family. Mostly to build the routine, but also in large part because we have the pickiest eater on earth (no, not John....although he is a very close second to Noah). The new rule: at least TRY a bite of whatever we are eating for dinner. We will still keep up the fruit and yogurt during bathtime, but it has become ridiculous to make 50 different meals and snacks for everyone every night.
So tonight was lasagna and salad. Claire being the model eater that she is completely ate up the new dinnertime layout. She ate diced tomatoes from the salads and chopped up lasagna in a bowl with a spoon. The bigger the bites she could scoop up, the better. She was happy to have us all sitting with her and eating as well...company!
Nathan thought this new idea was OK. While he was abnormally happy to sit in his bouncer seat on the table with us (instead of the constant desire to be held), we quickly figured out his happiness was only due to him filling his diaper....always a dinnertime bonus.
Noah was the least biggest fan of eating dinner as a family. After crying on the kitchen rug for about 10 minutes (naked of course...) because he wanted to eat an orange instead, John was able to coax Noah up to the table (on his lap). He attempted to get away with just a tiny tongue touch on the lasagna. After a glance our way to see that that wasn't cutting it, he took the plunge. A whole bite of lasagna in his mouth. No chewing. No swallowing. Really barely more than 2 seconds of contact with saliva, but in our minds a small dinnertime success. Noah "tried" what we were having for dinner, and we didn't give in to getting out 20 other things just so that he would eat something.
So the rest of dinner also included Naked Noah peeing off of his chair, then taking him to the bathroom (no success) and then having Claire take her turn on the potty since she always has to do everything the Noah does. Claire had several spoonfuls of lasagna that went overboard during a few failed attempts at getting them to her mouth.
All in all, a good first try at family dinnertime again. With 3 kids, surely they will always be eventful. That's the thing about our house....never a dull moment!