The food struggle, part 6,789

I am so tired of the eating issues that come with autism. SO. TIRED.

JT now only eats chips, crackers, and other 'crunchy' carbohydrates.

Luckily, he drinks Ovaltine, so at least we're getting vitamins in somehow.

JT's food struggles involve cutting out (and when we're lucky, re-introducing) foods that he has eaten (and enjoyed).

This list is not long to begin with. His only meats he'll eat are hot dogs and chicken (on his best days... although recently I came across a toddler pic of him eating ribs, that made me sad). He will not eat anything cold anymore, not even ice cream (he only eats that in cones, even on his best food days). He eats ZERO fruits and vegetables, aside from the french fry that occasionally he'll relent to (again, on a good day).

We had a patch where he only ate popcorn for over a month when he was in preschool.

It's just so hard to try and feed a child who wants nothing. And of course, I worry that he's not eating enough or getting what he needs. His doctor says he's healthy, and he's happy, and that should make me happy and relieve some of my anxiety (and it does a little).

But now we're heading back to supplementing with the infant vitamins again (because he won't take gummies or chewies, I have to sneak it in his chocolate milk), and it makes me sad.

Full Moon.

So, the full moon is coming up in 2 days.

How did I know, you ask? Because, my kids have gone absolutely crazy.

It started on the 12th, with JT becoming a super stimmy kid - doing things that he hasn't done in over 3 years - head shaking, crazy stimming. Audrey has been an emotional basketcase - just so easy to upset and so hard to calm down.

This month, though, the full moon crazy has brought some awesomeness!

JT is eating! Real food!

A month ago, he was down to popcorn. That's it. He drank chocolate milk, and I'd sneak the multivitamin infant drops into the chocolate milk (and mix in 1/2 a bottle of Ensure when I could get away with it).

In the last 3 days, he has started eating almost all of his favorites again!
Chicken nuggets.
Hot dogs.
Cheez Its.
Cheetos.
Pudding.
Pizza.

To a 'regular' parent, this list would probably bring reactions such as "You let your kid eat THAT?!?!?!' To the parent of a sensory-crazed, beyond picky eater, this brings tears to my eyes - tears of sheer joy and happiness. My baby is eating!!!

There are few things that a full moon is good for. Filling up emergency rooms, inducing labor, and making people crazy (the term 'lunatic' is related to the moon) aren't exactly 'good'. But if it's going to make my kid hyperactive (beyond his normal extreme) - I'll take it if it comes with this benefit!