"Make Yourself a Dang Quesadilla"

Most people who know Caleb also know that he is a very picky eater. He has been this way since infancy. For most of Caleb's first year, I pumped breastmilk and fed it to him in a bottle. When he was about 4 months old we were on a car trip and he was refusing his bottle. I smelled the milk and it was fine- not spoiled at all. Perplexed, I pulled his next bottle out of the cooler to give it a try. This second bottle was very cold, and normally we heated up the milk before serving it to Caleb. Go figure- Caleb excitedly drank the cold bottle! And for the rest of his first year, Caleb drank cold bottles of milk.

When Caleb started solids, he ate only small amounts of baby food at a time. When he was old enough for finger foods he would eat bread, cereal, minestrone soup (strained), fruit pieces, and grilled cheese... and not much else. I can honestly say that NEVER in his life has he liked to eat typical toddler staples such as macaroni and cheese, spaghetti, or hot dogs. In fact, he's never even tried half a serving of them- he just flat out refuses.

Fast forward to age 4.5. For a long time now, Caleb's lunches and dinners consist of either peanut butter and jelly (sometimes he eats a sandwich at each meal), chicken (don't worry, not fast food), or a bowl of cereal. Caleb eats reasonably healthy things throughout the day, he's just VERY PICKY. I've gotten in the habit of making him a sandwich whenever he doesn't like the main course the rest of the family is eating, and then putting a tiny sample of the other food options on his plate. Like two black beans in one corner of the plate, two peas in another corner, and heaven forbid that they touch the sandwich on the plate. It's been frustrating to watch Caleb making virtually no progress with trying new things, especially when he refuses to eat any vegetables. The last thing I want is to turn meal time into a power struggle. But the PB&J thing is getting old...

So yesterday I decided that I am finally ready and willing to allow Caleb to go hungry if he doesn't want to eat what I'm serving for dinner. A few hours before dinner time I gave him a talk about how I wasn't going to make him PB&J for every dinner anymore, how tonight we are having quesadillas for dinner and he will be served the same thing as everyone else in the family, how he can choose not to eat the meal, blah blah blah. I expected Caleb to protest and burst into tears upon receiving the news. Instead he said, "Ok. I'm going to eat quesadillas."

What in the world??!!!?! I was shocked, but happy. Of course, I still braced myself for dinner time, since I was sure things would go downhill when we actually sat down to eat.

At dinner, we served Caleb his quesadilla-- made with cheese, beans, chicken, and veggies, just like mommy & daddy's. He took one bite, then took two more bites as fast as he could. He said, "Mmmm, I LIKE quesadillas! I want to eat them every day!"

Matt and I tried to contain our surprise and elation! Caleb ate a small portion of quesadilla, but still said he liked it even by the end of the meal.

What happened to my child? And what is going to happen at dinner time tonight??