have we turned a corner?

k hit her stubborn streak about a year ago.  with everything.  the worst power struggle we have had (and no i'm not going to talk about potty training anymore) has been over food.  she was the best eater up until she was about 2 years old and i was the proud mom who thought she had the perfect child.  i thought i had done everything right, didn't stress over things, and had this perfect baby who would sail through life being perfect.

not.so.much.

a reality check for me and for k.  for me because the independent streak hit and my rose colored glasses came off.  i am now living in the world of "i can teach and discipline and raise, but in all reality you are going to do what you want."  a bit early, sure, but not abnormal.  i keep telling myself this phase is a phase and we will all get a break for a few years until it comes around again.  a reality check for k because she discovered a bit of independence.  she had new boundaries and had to push them.  enter: food.  she started to get very picky and wouldn't touch real food.  we hadn't given her too much kid-food, but she resisted just about anything and everything we were eating.

i have gone through it all.  the power struggle at the dinner table, the "this is what we are having so this is what you are having," the "you have to have 3 bites and then you can have ____," the "i give up, eat whatever you want," the "here are your options, you can pick whatever you want out of these 3 or 4 things but you have to eat one of them," etc.  i just felt like i tried everything!  very frustrating, to say the least.

about 2 weeks ago, the clouds parted.  k asked for a hamburger.  a what?

(this girl doesn't like french fries, chicken nuggets, or hamburgers... it sounds like we only eat out and fast food at that.  not the case.  but she not only wouldn't eat what we were having at the dinner table, she also wouldn't even eat the normal things kids want instead.  she was living on things like yogurt, rice crispies, applesauce, peanut butter, and ramen noodles.  very nutritious.  so, you can imagine my surprise when she wanted that hamburger.)

so, back to that hamburger.  she ate it up!  and then she just started eating things like roast beef,  hot dogs (pigs in a blanket), potatoes and gravy and more vegetables!  who knew she just had to realize she could allow that savory flavor to open up her palate?  i hope i'm not jinxing her taste buds by putting this out there (you know how when you say it out loud it's over?).  it has been a glorious couple of weeks when it comes to little k's diet!!!