Sunny Day (in both senses of the word)

Today Kelvin my almost 4 year old (his birthday is a month from Thursday) was so agreeable, so sweet, with a really sunny, radiant disposition that I just had to write about it to record these childhood moments that pass so quickly.

I talk a bit about my motherhood in this blog (it's in its name after all!) but not enough. I wish I could be disciplined enough and write a monthly newsletter, like the "star blogger" Heather Armstrong (from dooce) does for her daughter Leta (I wasn't going to link since she's "famous enough", but thought this was just stupid "blog jealousy" :) - go chedk her out if you already haven't, she was fired because of her blog, 5 years ago. Interesting story... )

Anyway, this morning I went to my third La Leche League meeting, and I actually became a member. The boys behaved well (last time I went in November was a DISASTER), but I was surprised when Kelvin said in his sweetest voice on our drive back home - "Mama, I loved that meeting, that nice conversation..." I was surprised because lately he's been anxious to come back home when we go out. On Sunday we had a dinner with folks from my husband's department at UPenn, it was in celebration of the Chinese New Year, and we enjoyed the dragons and fireworks in the streets of Chinatown afterwards (I had never seen that - we were told it brings good luck to the businesses, so they do it in front of every restaurant and store), but towards the end of the meal Kelvin was already super anxious to come back home (well... maybe it was because he was eager for the train ride back - he loves trains. Oh, yeah, in 1 1/2 year here in Philly, with hubby taking the train everyday for work, this was the very first time I took the train to go to the city!).

Actually, after the LLL meeting, Kelvin asked to eat at the natural food market where the meeting is held, and we had some samosas (Indian pastries), chickpea(garbanzo) stew, rice and chili. In the car he also said, "I loved that food that we ate there, thank you mama because we ate there! I looove chickpeas, and also rice and beans..."

I haven't written about this yet, but sometimes I feel frustrated because Kelvin doesn't eat any vegetables. He used to eat ANYTHING until he was almost 2, but then he became quite picky - he eats well (I mean, big portions) and he eats rice and beans or lentils, and pasta (all the time if we let him), but no green salads or veggies. I guess I didn't write about this because I didn't really stress out, I looked at it as a phase. He did eat fruit, and cereal, and lots of soymilk, regular milk and cheese, and he loves eggs...

So... having said that, tonight I made Pasta and Fagioli (beans) soup with carrots, cubed zuchinni, chopped brocoli, and, of course, navy beans and pasta. Kelvin had just eaten quite a bit of rice and beans just a couple of hours earlier, but he wanted to eat the soup. When he tasted some of it from his brother's spoon he said "Oh, I love chickpeas!" I thought to myself, do I tell him these are white beans, and not chickpeas? Will he still eat them? But I told him, and he responded that he liked those too. Then he sat and ate with gusto. When he ate soup he'd usually set the veggies apart and complain about any specks of parsley or other green seasonings. Not today! He kept saying, "Oh, I adore zuchinni, see? I'm eathing all of these! I adore broccoli! Mama, this soup's delicious, thank you so much for making it for me! I adore everything you cook!" As I sat there, almost open-mouthed, I thought... "Well, I deserve it, the day everything looks so perfect is the day it's going to end, since my parents arrive tomorrow, and I won't enjoy as much time with the boys from now on as I enter dissertation mode..." And I even asked, "But sweetie, I'm so happy that you love what I cook, but tomorrow your grandma's coming, and she'll be ccooking for you most of the time." "No problem" he answered, "I'll love her food too!"

I'm keeping my fingers crossed, hoping this sunny streak continues. But we never know. 4 year-olds are very unpredictable!! Well, as long as he keeps on eating his veggies though, I'll be happy, even if he's grumpy! ;)