A quick eating update.

Well, I think we had beginner's luck. Tuesday was difficult with multiple time-outs, lots of crying and a very short nap. One thing I must watch out for in this whole thing is teething. He simply won't eat b/c he's getting those molars and it's really painful for him. So Tuesday morning was diffiult due to that, I think.

For St Pat's, we got out, going to a brew pub for dinner. First, Amos and I went to a nearby park and played for awhile. So by the time we got there for dinner, he was hungry and loved dipping his pizza in my salad dressing. He ate so well, and was pretty worn out!
Yesterday, I tried to stay on top of the teething/eating thing. Things got better and he ate better in the morning and afternoon. But then, we tried to give him an early dinner before community group and he didn't eat very well. I went up an hour later, to him screaming and melting down from the teething+hungry combo. I caved and spoon fed him some yogurt and then gave him some french bread slices. Oh well--I comforted myself with a few realizations: that was one time in many; we won't always do that, and, because I wanted to also take part in the discussion, I needed to help Amos be ok for the night. It's hard because letting him go hungry right is not really helpful, right now. He can crash really hard from low blood sugar and, I don't think he gets the hunger and food association. I get that actually--I hate when I'm in the middle of something and I have to stop and eat to feel better. I just want it to magically go away! I want to be realistic in what we expect from him. I know he's smart but some things are still a bit abstract for his brain, yet.
The third realization is that I really need to make eating for him about obedience. I can say that because I know that he's hungry when he sits down at a meal, every time. I can hear his stomach growling, and when the rewards don't work--when he would rather get down and play than eat for an eventual reward--that it then has to become about listening to my words, something that is always applicable and that is at this age, difficult but good to practice. So, that's what it's becoming about and I feel like we're on a good path. Amos is a really good kid, don't get me wrong. But it is for his own good that he needs to eat and needs to practice listening to Nathan and I so that he can get better at both.
Today has been a good day. He got medicine this morning after he was chewing on a few fingers on both sides of his mouth (yes, it's quite a sight!) and a few minutes later, he was eating his breakfast like a champ. We snacked while we read books and then he ate lunch a bit slower, since it was almost nap time. But I ate with him and he did eat his carrots and asked for some of my cucumber. It was really great to see him eating a veggie he wouldn't normally eat. He ate most of his hotdog and then got to get down, as I could see, he was ready for bed. But we're still on the "listen to my words" eating path and I think that it helped. He did get to watch Wall-E after breakfast since he ate so well and he really enjoyed it.
Anyway, I feel like this transition has been somewhat like the sleeping transition last year--we made him go to sleep on his own and sleep the whole night in his bed. He exerted his will and was very sad the first few nights, but after he saw what the new expectations were and that we were not going to budge, he relented and started sleeping well on his own. I hope we're on our way to eating well.
I think we are...more updates to come!