The Hunger Games

Rudolpho is a pretty good eater, but has not yet developed an appreciation for American food and is surviving primarily on fruits and veggies.  This isn't all bad, of course, but I would love to be able to make something for him that gets more than a tentative sniff, a wrinkled nose, and a sigh of disappointment.

 

We had been told in China that he didn't like spicy food.  This is great, because neither do I!  Last week, however, I served spaghetti.  he declined the sauce, but asked if he could look in the fridge.  He returned with these two items and a mischevious glint in his eyes.

He proceeded to douse his noodles in hot sauce, topped it off with black pepper, and after topping off his water glass,completley devoured that bowl of noodles. Oops.  I guess their definition of spicy and mine are just a tad different?

 

We are also having difficulty with finding suitable breakfast food.  He isn't a fan of cold cereal, only eats eggs occasionally, and doesn't do most of the traditional carb-heavy American breakfast foods.  He does like his fruits and veggies though!  Earlier this week he was asking for TV for breakfast.  We don't do TV in the mornings here, so I repeatedly told him no.  He kept his cool, but sighed, pulled me over to the fruit bowl and pointed.  Oh, kiwi!  Yep, you can have that. 

 

I attempted to make ammends the next day by serving his beloved kiwi and cucumber (along with some nutty protein) in a more amiable style..

 

Tonight I took my first stab at preparing authentic Chinese food by attempting chicken lo mein.  When I set the serving bowl on the table, I still got a tentative sniff, but that was followed by bright eyes and a smile.  Dr. Jiggles wasn't a fan, but Rudolfo and I cleaned our plates.  It's requires more prep time than I prefer for everyday dishes, but it was worth it to see him rubbing his full belly at the end of the meal. 

 

Last, but not least, Rudolfo met an uncle and one of his cousins today.  We had been talking about this part of the family all morning (Cousin is one of Sweet One's very favorite people in the whole wide world).  Rudolfo seemed interested.  We were at Dr. Jiggles's baseball game when we saw them approaching.  Sweet One took off running toward them.  Rudolfo followed in spontaneous excitement.  Half way there he spotted his towering uncle, did an immediate about face, and ran back toward me smiling and shaking his head like, "no way!".   While he was definitely intrigued by the new pair, he kept his distance for a while.  Some playtime at the nearby park loosened him up a bit, and Uncle got a high five at departure time.