Breakfast

Caleb and Ethan are so funny first thing in the morning. Caleb wakes up ravenously hungry (since he rarely eats any dinner). He sits in his chair and eagerly requests cereal, oatmeal, some fruit and a cup of milk. I fix his giant breakfast and put it all in front of him. Ethan asks for all the same things that Caleb is getting. But since I know that Ethan doesn't wake up with much of an appetite, I fix him much smaller portions. Usually, Caleb gobbles down everything I fix while Ethan arranges his bowls and cup in a neat little cluster and talks happily about how yummy everything looks, without taking a bite. Ethan is often sitting in front of his untouched food when Caleb finishes his feast and heads downstairs to play. Now Ethan's dilemma is this: desert the food that he has been given (which goes against his very nature), or miss out on minutes playing with his brother downstairs. Usually, he solves the problem like this: "Mommy, I going downstairs to play with Bubba. You NOT take my food away, okay? I eat it in a little bit, okay?" He is always hungry about an hour later, and from then on he out-eats his brother all day long :)