This year, Joe has been starting to actually tell us when he’s hungry. He’s 5 years old.
I know. It sounds ridiculous.
Last night, he came downstairs after we had put him to bed, rubbed his belly and said, “I’m hungry. My stomach is growling.” I thought it was a ploy to stay out of bed. Aaron had a look on his face that said, ‘aww, he said he’s hungry!’ but I just bought it and gave him his snack that he hadn’t eaten previously in the day.
After he scurried back up the stairs, Aaron turned to me and said, “At least he tells us when he’s hungry now.” Right. Up until maybe this year, he never vocalized that he was indeed hungry. Maybe that’s why snacks were optional at our house. I didn’t know he was hungry!
A few months ago, at his 5-yr well-child visit, they told us he wasn’t growing. I said, “not growing?” With that, the doctor whips out the developmental chart with dots he’s marked on since he was an infant and peed on the medical assistant. The dots went up gradually, but the final mark had taken a sharp downturn. He wasn’t even on the chart. They start to quiz me on his eating. They ask again if he eats three square meals a day. It’s like they’re about to pull out the cell phone and dial child protective services. Last time I checked, he wasn’t all skin and bones. He has me for a mom and a slender dad at that. How can our kid be “big”?! We’re just hoping he grows to be above 5 feet tall! …continue reading
