I'll Have What They're Having

As you may have heard, the more children you have the sooner they get to do things. It's not necessarily designed that way, it's just that you become a little more relaxed or less diligent, and the subsequent kids pay attention. They know what they are missing out on. That's really the key, the first kid doesn't know what they are missing. This is especially true with food.

For example, Andy didn't try french fries until he was almost three. In fact, every time I saw my friend Lisa she would ask me if he had had french fries yet. She couldn't believe he had never had them. That was because a) her son, who is Andy's age, had already had them because he had seen his sister eat them, and b) her kids were super picky eaters and that was about all she could get them to eat. Sarah, of course, had french fries at a much earlier age, and to this day Andy will always pick fruit over fries and Sarah will always pick the fries. Maybe it's the kid, but maybe it's the good eating habits he learned and she didn't get enforced enough.

Which leads me to the third kid. No, I have not given her french fries yet, but she is a fan of Chick-fil-A breaded chicken. Who isn't, that stuff rocks! Although I'm trying to feed her healthy food and keep as much junk food away from her, she's on to me and she is one smart cookie. If the kids and I are out somewhere and we purchase something to eat, she's all over it. She wants it. I bought an Icee at Target the other day and she was yelling at me to give her some. Now, when Andy was that age, he wouldn't care that I had a drink or expect some of it, because he didn't know what it was and knew that mom and dad ate different food from him. End of story. Not Amanda. Man, if somebody is eating something, she thinks she should get some of it.

The problem is, usually she does. Of course we don't give her any of the foods she's not supposed to have, like peanut butter or strawberries, we're not crazy. But when the doctor said she could have ice cream, only because we asked - he wasn't really giving that as a meal choice, we started giving her ice cream. Her latest love is ice pops. She loves them and if she sees us with one she will make a huge stink until she gets one. The crazy part is that she can hold them and eat them better than Sarah. Sarah will spill all over and Amanda will eat the entire thing without spilling a drop.

So maybe we're more relaxed or more experience or we just don't care that much about tooth decay, but there has to be at least one benefit of being the youngest. It's the reward she gets for being tackled, picked up, pushed down and rolled on when she's just trying to get around. It's the benefit of getting to do a few things earlier than the older kids. Coming from the youngest of four, it's the small victories that keep you going.