Hosea used to be a very adventurous eater. He's munched sushi with abandon, loves sardines, preferred broccoli over chicken, and generally been up for tring anything. Pineapple? Sure, why not. Are you going to finish that curry? 'Cause if not, HB will take it. This summer, as we were feeding him a fish taco at Wahoo's, another couple remerked on his dining prowess, and we ust shrugged as if it were no big deal that Hosea was essentially a very small garbage disposal. When other parents complained that their kids would only eat pasta or toast or plain rice or whatever, I nodded sympathetically, but felt admittedly a little smug. "Oh," a small voice would say, "good thing you've kept Hosea on such a varied diet so he won't be a picky eater."

Right. Somehow, in the past couple of weeks, HBP has turned, by all accounts, into a Very Picky Eater. At first I thought it was the stomach bug; then I though maybe he was teething. Or tired. Or going through a growth or developmental spurt. Or blah blah etc. Now I just have no idea what's going on, except that there is a small list of things he will reliably eat:
-toast, with butter or cream cheese. Sometimes cashew butter will work, too.
- rice with butter and soy sauce. Never ever ever if it contains any tomato product or anything scented of poultry.
-rice pudding (recipe follows)
-oatmeal
-banana
-biscuits (i.e., rich tea or digestives)
-tuna or sardines with a little mayo
-mash
-*occasionally* black beans, mash, sausages, or other unexpected things, but will usually refuse them the next time they're offered.
-Nutella, crisps, ice cream, pumpkin pie, and any other thing that, for all intents and purposes, I will not allow to be a regular part of his diet.

In that last category I suppose I should include Thanksgiving leftovers. He absolutely devoured the stuffing, mash, craberry sauce, pie, gravy, creamed onions, cornbread, etc. Too bad that stuff is impossible to make on a regular basis.

Any ideas, folks? Is this a stage he's going through? How long should I expect it to last? 'Cause I am getting fed the heck up with my delicious home cooking ending up on the floor.

10 Adults- Matt, Jeni, Rob, Emma, Ellen, Merv, Emily, Russ, Jessica, Tara
4 Kids- Emma, Isaiah,, Micaiah, Hosea

Roasted Turkey and Gravy
Stuffing with cornbread, sourdough, pecans, mushrooms, water chestnuts, etc.
Mash with Roasted Garlic, Double Cream and Rosemary
Fresh Sourdough
Cranberry-Lime Sauce
Creamed Onions
Cornbread Casserole
Sweet Potato Casserole
Green Bean Casserole
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Variety of delicious drinks
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Pumpkin pie
Apple pie
Banana Bread
Cranberry pudding with hard sauce
Fruit Salad

All in all, I'm making a note here: Huge Success!

Tonight's shout-out goes to Jessica from Napa and Tara from Connecticut. Yay! I like you guys!

It's been a helluva week, friends. Or two weeks. Two weeks ago Saturday, Hosea got sick with crazy explosive sadness. That lasted about a week (with a bath every day. sigh), then last Friday he finally started feeling (and pooping) more normal.

Then, on Saturday, he woke up with a cough. By Saturday night, it had turned into a raging fever which no Cal-Pol could conquer, and he slept in the bed with us most of the night since he woke up whimpering every 1/2 hour or so. Sunday we took him in to the urgent care, where the doc said "Yeah, he sure is sick. Hope he feels better; come back if he's moribund". We basically dosed him with every imaginable drug until today, when he seems (finally, hopefully) to be on the mend. Whew.

On top of that, Matt got sick Monday and Tuesday, and I pulled up the rear Wednesday and Thursday. Today, we all just pretty much took a day of rest. Fun times.

(Oh no, he's coughing and whimpering. Better go check on him.)

But, despite all the plague, some good has come of this week too. We've tried a few different recipes, which are always fun. I made Chicken Noodle Soup with some homemade stock, which was delicious and oh so easy. Matt made a lamb curry from this recipe, which was just okay (too rich with not enough flavour payoff). He also roasted a chicken stuffed with apples and onion, which was delicious and beautiful but cooked weirdly (temp said done while thigh leaked red juice).

Tonight we had a dinner party for our across the way neighbours and their adorable 15 month old son. I made this macaroni and cheese (now firmly supplanting the Joy of Cooking recipe I used previously), some green beans, brown'n'serve rolls (to time to make my own, alas) and a salad. Awesome! They brought a victoria sponge for pudding, which was delicious. All in all, good times. Then I did approximately 1,000 dishes, drank a large glass of wine, and am officially pooped.

G'night, all. I'll be a vet tomorrow, I hope.