because Steven ate bell pepper last night with his dinner. Charlton and I watched with bated breath as his dipped it in his ranch and ate the first piece. When he didn't spit it out and actually smiled and said, "mmm," I did a little dance in my chair. He ate all different colors- red, yellow, green- but green was his favorite. Couldn't see that one coming! I know that it probably doesn't seem like a big deal to you but like every mom, I'm on a quest to get him to eat more veggies, and although he has tried them a few times, he always always spit them out after one bite. I had some leftover sliced bell pepper from a party platter I made so I've been putting them out during dinner because I figured what do I have to lose. "They" say that if you keep veggies out and keep offering them, eventually your kids will eat it- so in this instance "they" were right even though I had little faith that he would. Oh ye of little faith, I know.
Steven discovered a few months ago that he likes eating raw carrots when he can dip them in ranch dressing (he didn't like ranch for a while), and boy, does he love ranch. So, I'm hoping that he'll eat anything as long as he can dip it- next up cucumbers (yes, I've tried this one unsuccessfully too). Drum roll please...Steven now will eat a total of 4 vegetables (not including corn and other potatoes): carrots, peas, sweet potatoes, and now bell peppers. I wonder if I can count the last one as three because of the different colors. Never-the-less, I am a very happy mom right now.
Anyone have good ideas for introducing a vegetable I didn't mention? My favorite is how I get him to eat sweet potatoes. It's not original- I got it out of a baby/toddler cookbook. You slice a peeled sweet potato into 1/4 inch slices and bake them tossed in a little Extra Virgin Olive Oil at 425 degrees for 20 minutes. We call them french fries and Steven loves them. I just stick leftover fries in the microwave for 15 seconds to heat through and then place on foil under the oven broiler for a few minutes to crisp them.
Relief is finally in sight! The three week period of illness is hopefully coming to an end and we are feeling much better. I'll admit that I started the ball rolling because I've been sick that whole time- I just keep catching something else before I'm over the last thing. Charlton was the most recent casualty last week and got Bronchitis mid-week that lasted the entire weekend. Because I have been feeling less than healthy, I never posted these pictures of Steven playing with his big firetruck that Lindsay and Kyle gave him for Christmas. He loves trucks and cars, and one that is big enough to ride on (not that he doesn't try with the smaller ones) is too awesome for 2 year old words so I'm posting it for him. 
The last several weeks have not been very fun for any of us and so when I felt close to 100% this morning, I decided that it was time for Steven to have a fun day with Mommy lest he forget how wonderful I am. It was kind of gloomy outside so rather than promise him outdoor adventures and then get rained out, we went to an inflatable bouncy house. We had a blast (sorry no pictures-- I was having too much of a good time for that) and it felt good to get out of the house for a little fun.
and if you haven't seen Cars yet, you're missing out! It is Steven's favorite movie by far; he even says the lines in the movie now when we watch it which is cute and scary at the same time! It makes me glad we restrict what he watches.
I posted these pictures-- last week, 17 months, and 5 months-- old to show what he is and was doing every year around Valentine's Day. He's so big!
Our Valentine's Day has been interesting so far. Thankfully, Charlton and I decided to beat the rush and go out for dinner and a movie last night. We dropped Steven (who we thought was perfectly healthy) off at my parents' house and then had a wonderful evening together-- I'd say one of our best Valentine dates. 
We picked Steven up from Mammaw and Pappaw's at 10:30 and put him straight in his bed-- maybe 5 minutes. Every thing's normal and then he let out this cough that sounded like a barking dog just like that. We pretty much knew from that first cough that he wasn't just clearing his throat. So after a night of not much sleep and lots of coughing, I took him to the ped. office this morning. He has a type of Bronchitis. The doctor gave us a prescription and said that he would be over it in two days; although, today and tonight would be hard. Hopefully, he'll take a long nap since he didn't sleep much last night. We wish everyone a healthy Valentine's Day-- especially you, Kristi. =)
How many adoring family members does it take to help Steven fly a kite...6. Lindsay and Kyle came into town and we celebrated my mom's birthday with her last weekend. It was her idea to fly a kite on Saturday morning and it was a great one! Steven had seen a kite at our neighborhood park last spring but we have never gotten around to getting one ourselves. Mammaw got one and was ready when we had beautiful, windy, 70 degree weather last weekend. Charlton and Kyle were responsible for the actual kite flying. 
And we ran into our buddy, Jackson, too.
