all foods are not created equal

So as of late, we've been having issues (to say the least) with Annabelle's general consumption of food. Of course, we're not too worried as she's very "healthy" (30 pounds healthy, and the average size of a three year old, according to the charts), and she possesses the communication skills to tell us when she's legitimately hungry ("Hun-gee? Eat?") Only when she first started solids (the jar kinds) did she eat like a champ; when we moved on to regular solids, her eating skills diminished. She still drinks milk a plenty, and water like it's going out of style, plus the occasional cup of juice (I keep her to a cup or two a day so as to encourage the water consumption and avoid the extra sugar, which she easily obtains by scouting around for lock-o all day). It's just food in general she has no basic interest in.

One theory is this: the poor girl got her four front teeth by the time she turned a year old. Then nothing. She's been grinding food with her four front teeth for six months. It would get old, no? The other theory: she just doesn't love eating. The only problem? It messes with her sleep. Sometimes she'll wake in the middle night to inform me in the most dramatic hysterics (sometimes complete with throw up, it happens when she cries too hard - super, right?) that she's HUN-GEE. Can't we be hun-gee during the day? 

Anyhow, we're just being patient and providing her ample meal time options. She eats sometimes; sometimes she chooses to abstain. I refuse to make food a negative experience for her as it's seriously one of the best things in life (when not pregnant - when pregnant, it's simply a necessity). I think she'll work it out on her own. Especially because two teeth just popped through - one in the front and one in the back (random?). 

Easy Mac has been a favorite of our girl for a very long time. "Mac Mac" was among the first words in her vocabulary. Recently Jess realized that if you bought the Easy Mac in a box (the pouch version as opposed to the cup version), you could save a couple dimes each time. It may sound stupid, but when bought en masse, it could save you some dollars in the end. During all of this not eating, she wouldn't even eat her Easy Mac. Then yesterday I had a thought. I purchased some of the cup version, just to see. She slurped it down in two minutes flat.

I guess the bright side is that she knows what really matters in her diet: water, chocolate, and the correct version of Easy Mac. I think she'll be just fine. :)