Dinner Strike

Hana is on a dinner strike. It goes something like this. We put her in her high chair and give her a few pieces of food. She'll eat one or two. Then eat a piece and spit it out. Then she demands the fork or spoon to do it herself. Gets a piece on the fork. Wants to feed it to me. Then eats a piece. Then starts throwing food on the floor. Then screams "Get out!!!" meaning, she wants to get out of her chair. And that's it for dinner.

I don't quite know what to make of this, except it seems to be worse when I'm around. Not sure if it's an acting out kind of thing, where she knows it drives me crazy and therefore that is an incentive to do it more. It could also be that she's filled herself up on afternoon snacks and milk and just isn't that hungry, so we're going to try no snacks or milk after 4 pm. Perhaps it's just a general toddler independence thing. Dinner (and food in general) is not something she has a great deal of control over, in terms of what or when she gets to eat, so I can imagine this must be frustrating for someone who thinks she can do it all.

Yesterday we had our first "getting dressed" showdown. She did NOT want me to put her pants on. Wanted to do it herself. Of course, she's not quite coordinated enough for it, so I had to let her but try to help her without her noticing I was helping her, lest she yell "No!" and smack my hand away. Sheesh! :)

I think she is going to be a Halloween fan. We were playing with decorations in our neighbors yard yesterday and there was a skeleton there that laughed a sinister laugh, spoke a few words, and lit up green when you shook his hand. After a brief moment of fear, Hana decided it was absolutely hilarious. Laughed hysterically for several minutes. We are looking forward to trick or treating on Sunday. Free candy for mom and dad!