A breakthrough

Tonight for supper we had left over roast beef, potatos and carrots.  Asa loves potatos.  I am sure they had lots of potatos in the orphanage.  Cheap and plentiful the world over.  He also will tolerate carrots.  He is not a big fan of foods he has not seen.  He likes meat okay.  Tonight he ate all of his potatos and a bite or two of meat and then got up from the table. 

We are still trying to get across the idea of "all done".  We are not sure he is getting it.  I am making a point of showing him that the plate gets put away when he leaves the table.  We do not graze.  We sit and eat and if you are truly finished, you may go play.  But we do not eat a bite, go play, come back and take a bite, and go play. 

Tonight he was fine with his plate disappearing.  But when the peanut M&Ms came out, boy he was hungry again.  So, I brought his plate back out.  And he looked at, pushed it away and pointed at the M&Ms.  "No.  You need to eat your meat first."  He looked at us, shook his head no and pointed at the M&Ms.  "No.  Eat this first."  Then the tears started.  We knew then that he understood exactly what we wanted him to do.

Last week, this same situation would have resulted in a huge temper tantrum.  Screaming, hitting, kicking, drool and snot everywhere.  And the tantrum would have lasted an hour or more.  I was honestly expecting the same as soon as the M&Ms came out. 

But tonight, the tears started and after a few seconds he dried them up, pulled his plate over and started eating.  And even smiled at us as he ate.  And he ate and ate.  And then he saw Ezra finish his meat and get M&Ms, and he started eating faster.  And he ate every single bite of his roast beef!

Oh, those M&Ms were good!  And seeing our boy let down a wall was so good.  And seeing our boy make the connection that Mommy and Daddy are in charge was so good!