Milestone Dinner

We sat down for family dinner last night after a really LONG day.  Kyla has learned the word no and likes to say "no, no mommy".  Hmmm??  We have tried to not use the word "no" a lot, but we know that it comes out occasionally.  Yesterday was a record breaking day with lots of tantrums and battles of will.  The moment Jason walked in the door I was relieved that I finally got to do something besides battling it out with Kyla... make dinner!  I don't like to use the word "battle", however sometimes that is what my day feels like.  It is a constant conversation of "do it my way". 

I made Italian Chicken, couscous, and green beans for dinner. We have begun to transition Kyla to eat what is on the table, rather than making her a whole new meal.  There are times that she gets her own side of pasta or veggie, but I purposely made a dinner where I knew she would eat two out of the three menu items.  Meat is not something Kyla has taken a liking to.  She will eat it mixed into things, but not on its own.  So, I mixed chicken pieces into the couscous and set her plate in front of her.  Her first words were "thank you".  ON HER OWN, no prompting.  Then she started to pick the chicken out of the couscous and asked for more chicken.  She ended up eating half of a chicken breast, 1/2 cup of green beans, and a 1/4 cup of couscous.  She ate like a champ!  After dinner I had forgotten how hard the day was.  I am was excited to see her eat chicken on her own and using her manners that we are teaching her.  Sometimes I feel as if my parenting goes right over her head, or that she doesn't care.  This showed me how much she gets things.  

(I am tempted to cook this meal every night, however I think Jason would appreciate variety.)