BALANCED DIET

Justice has always been a test subject for the whole "can not live on bread alone" statement. He subsists almost entirely on sandwiches. His preferred lunch, his preferred snack - even if he doesn't request one at breakfast (he is sold on Milo cereal at the moment) he will ask if we can make French toast... He lives on Daddy bread...

Now in the back of our minds Will and I have both had "does he eat right?" concerns... Justice abhors green leafy anything on his plate, he has never eaten red meat - he only likes select fruit (mangoes, bananas, apples - sometimes, seasonally rock melon (AKA cantaloupe) and watermelon) and he will eat carrots. Carrots cut into strings.

The worst part is Justice isn't one of those bratty "I don't like it" kids. If you lay down the law he will always try it, and he will even eat something if you do the food Nazi thing to him - but if its food he dislikes he is just as happy to go without - and he won't then complain about being hungry (so I get no openings to say "well, if you ate such and such...")

Well, we have somehow fallen into the habit of convenience and making him the foods we know will get eaten since he is a little underweight (more by the guidelines than anything you would think to look at him) and we want to be sure when he is at school he is getting enough energy in for all that he burns off.

Anyway, he has been a continuous billboard of bruises. I know - he is just an active boy who plays really hard. But bruises, combined with growing up with my sister's illness, and knowing Justice's diet... In the end I took him into the doctor even though I knew she would request blood work and they would *GASP* stick my baby with a needle! (He was SO brave and was rewarded by the technician with a Hot Wheels car at the end!)

Last night we were up on and off all night with a pukey - icky - mess up several rounds of sheets - ickiness. As I knew the blood results would be in anyway, I took him into the doctor. I knew a bug had just run through preschool - not to mention he went to a birthday party yesterday and who knows what he ate there! Still, I combined the check him out with the blood results...

He's fine. No, weirder than fine - his is the best childhood blood work she's seen on a Dr. requested draw. He is BEAUTIFUL! Perfect on every thing tested. Even iron. Yup - the kid has never eaten red meat or a leafy vegetable and he is PERFECT.

I had blood drawn the same day. I am taking multivitamins, eating red meat and salads and - surprise! - dangerously anemic. Oh, and hydrokylemic. No iron. No potassium.

So, my new eating plan? I am going to live on chocolate milk, Milo cereal and peanut butter and nutella sandwiches. It is working out a treat for my slightly underweight but AMAZINGLY healthy son!!! The only explanation? There really is magic in the Daddy bread!