Stranger Things Have Happened...

Ian has never been a very adventurous eater. Actually, that's putting it nicely. He's extremely picky! But, in the last month or so he's surprised me by not only his willingness to try a couple of new things, but his initiative has astounded me!

For example, a few weeks ago in school he was reading a book about a little boy that was a picky eater that refused to try peas because he thought they were yucky. Then he went to his friend's garden where he was offered fresh peas and through the prompting of his little friend he tried them and found out he liked them. After reading that book in school and as homework Ian declared that he was going to try peas. Now mind you - I HATE peas! As a kid when I was forced to eat them I would put a few in my mouth take a drink of Kool-Aid and swallow them whole. They're kinda like pills - only easier to go down. So, I opened the freezer and found the ubiquitous bag of peas, that are in there mainly to act as an ice pack when someone has a boo-boo. When I opened the bag of peas they were so freezer burned and the bag was so full of ice that I immediately knew that we couldn't eat them. Ian was devastated! Devastated over not being able to eat peas??!! Who are you and what have you done with my kid! So, the next day I went to the store and got a can of peas. I couldn't even believe that I was purchasing the vile things for consumption. Well, somewhere along the line Ian decided that he wanted to have fresh peas and so thankfully the can of peas are still in the cupboard. After a few days we finally got around to taking Ian to the store to try to find fresh peas. In the meantime every day I had to hear Ian whining and complaining about not being able to try fresh peas. Again, who are you??!! The closest thing we could find were sugar snap peas. He tried one and didn't like it. But, I was so incredibly impressed that he was that interested in trying something new!

Flash forward to today. Late this morning we had to go out and run a couple of errands. I figured while we were out we would go out for lunch. My first thought was to go to Qdoba which is a small chain Mexican restaurant. We've eaten there once or twice before with the kids, but I knew that it wasn't their first choice. Obviously, McD's would be their 1st choice and since I had some coupons in my purse I decided it would just be easier to go to the golden arches. Then, completely out of the blue Ian announces that he wants to eat with chopsticks. I told him he could choose between McD's and Chinese and he chose Chinese. Woooo-hoooo!!! Kid, you just made your mother's day! I love, love, love Chinese food, but rarely get to eat it because my husband doesn't care for it. Luckily, we were in the vicinity of Pei Wei (my absolute favorite Chinese establishment). Now, granted he basically just ate lo mein and rice while Jenna ate the chicken, but it's a major improvement. Next thing you know he'll be asking for broccoli!