Fries with that?

Thank you for the gift ideas. Actually RIGHT after I posted that post I saw a totally cute bag at overstock.com originally $200 on sale for $35!
Can't beat that!

So, this blog went from one that I shared everything to one where I sort of feel the need to NOT share everything.
That stops here, OK?
I realize that for some silly reason, people don't really believe some parents who say their child has issues that may be almost invisible to others. Some blame things on parenting skills or lack there of.
Logan has issues, and they are getting pretty bad.
He's still my sweet, loving, caring, emotional little boy, he's just got some issues that go along with all of those great quirks.

In our house, meal times are awful. Not in the way you think though.
I don't force my children to eat anything they don't want to eat. I don't believe in pressuring your child to try something new until they are ready, and I feel like if you force meal times, you're bound for major food issues.
BUT, what I DID do is decided that I was not going to be the 'short order chef'. I make dinner (usually WAAY more kid friendly then Dave and I would like, but hey, they're young kids)
We eat things like Spaghetti and burgers and pizza with salads. Nothing 'out there'.

When Logan was a baby eating baby food, he ate everything.
When Logan was a toddler, he'd eat up his peas before anything else. He loved fruits and vegetables and would ask for them all day long.
As he got a little older, they were still good as long as they could be dipped in Ketchup. Hey, so he's not gourmet. ;)
Get to about age 4 and everything changed.
He went from loving veggie lasagna and pasta full of good things to never ever touching pasta again. Not just pasta, but anything that had any mixed texture at all.
OK, so we dealt.
We changed our eating habits a bit and grumbled about it under our breath.

Enter 4 1/2 when there were only about 20 things total that he would eat or drink.
OK, kids go through picky stages, right? Just keep offering, he'll try.

Enter almost age 5 when the list had dropped to only about 10 things.
I actually had him help me make a a list:
Mozzarella cheese, waffles, pancakes, corn dogs (but NOT hot dogs), chicken nuggets(only the brand we buy or sometimes McD's. They are NOT something he'll eat anywhere else), ranch dressing, turkey sandwiches (on a bun, not on bread) PBJ (but only at our house because everyone else's bread was different that ours) Fish sticks, fruit snacks (only certain ones), cheesy noodles (certain instant brand), cheesy soup

I mentioned it to his doctor, and I also mentioned it to his neurologist when we met in November. His doctor had no advice. His neurologist, who told us he thinks he has Aspergers told us that he's not doing this to be naughty. He can't help it. Things affect him differently than the rest of the us. Go ahead and cater to his eating needs. He need to grow. He will NOT be one of those kids who fits in the 'they won't starve themselves' profile. If things are not to his liking, he WILL choose to starve himself.

Enter the past 1 1/2 months.
Things are even worse.

Chicken Nuggets-very rarely does he eat these anymore. All because one time he got a plate of 4 nuggets and he started eating one and then realized that the other 3 were a different shade of brown. They looked different from the one he was eating. We showed him the box, and that they all came from the same box. It didn't matter. He's basically done with those unless he's REALLY out of choices.

Cheesy Noodles-nope! All because one day I made them for him and then put them in the freezer for a couple minutes to cool down. I must not have stirred them around too much because there was a cold noodle. That brought on gagging and then deciding that he's completely done with cheese noodles. Great.

Fruit snacks-nope. All because I accidentally bought the gusher kind that has liquid in the middle. Now he's afraid all of them will have liquid in the middle. Gross. (But really, big deal right. They are fruit snacks, glorified candy. The point being, ONE bite of something took the entire thing off the menu)


If we have something that I KNOW he used to like, but decided he doesn't anymore he'll just skip dinner. Not in a typical "Make me something else" type of way, just a "Can I take my dishes over" and then go sit in the living room until we're done. No begging, no "But I'm HUNGRY!!" Just a realization that he's NOT going to eat.

Logan has always been a big boy. We've proudly boasted that our boy was in the 90% in height and weight. (In fact, at about 9 months he was 97% height and over 100% in weight)
He's a tall solid kid.
Wait, he WAS a tall solid kid.
At his 4 year check up, Logan weighed in at 45lbs (95%) and then gradually dropped each appt that he had last year.
95% to 87% to 72% to 50% at age 5.
He's lost even more weight since that appt. I think when I looked on line he was at 46%. They don't like to see you wavering at your % unless you're overweight or underweight to begin with.

Logan has been so tired lately. He'll literally stop playing to rest. We went to the mall and after only 1/4 of a SMALL wing he had to sit down because he was too tired. He is eating only a few bites of food at each meal, and sometimes completely skipping meals. He doesn't drink milk willingly. We have a deal that if he drinks milk ONE time a day (only about 1-2 inches in a cup) that he can have water the rest of the day. He's choosing to not eat his favorites anymore. (Mc D's included...crazy kid!) To Dave and I, who have always seen him as a big strong boy, he looks wilted. He's SKINNY. You can see his bones.

I called his doctor yesterday and the nurse talked to him.
He wants Logan to come in today for another checkup and to also get some lab work done. He thinks Logan might be anemic because of lack of food.
I'm of course going to ask about things like pediasure, and we are going to start religiously give him vitamins. He usually gets a few a week, but the doc wasn't even wanting us to start them at his 5 yr because most children get everything then need from food. Not here.

I'm just worried about him. Man, who knew I'd deal with eating issues with a little boy??