The Small One

I don't know if it is the 18 month mark or what, but The Small One's vocabulary has exploded. There are so many new words to try out! So what if she doesn't remember all of them? She discovers them again and finds it terribly exciting! It is so very funny to hear the words come out of her mouth in that adorable Disney voice, and with a pronunciation all her own. I must get a video of her saying words so that I can remember how cute her little voice is.
The Small One has also learned another new skill. Spinning! This is very exciting, as for some reason the child likes to get dizzy. Crazy baby. So now, she will spin herself twice, then try to jump. Terribly funny. Especially when she can't jump when she isn't dizzy!
Also, in less than enjoyable news, the child WILL NOT EAT! It maketh me crazy. I am at my wit's end trying to figure out how to get food down her little gullet. Some days, she will eat like a little pigling. For instance, yesterday, while I was at work and Mike was on a job, Memaw and Papa took her to dinner. They had prime rib, mashed potatoes, scones and veggies. The Small One ate everything in sight. Generally, she will eat red meat, the little carnivore, but one cannot live on beef alone. Today, nothing but a cereal straw and countless bottles. I am grateful that she will still take a bottle, even though she is a bit old for it, at least she gets some nutrition. This is how most days go, though. No food. Occasionally, she will eat ice cream. And butter (which makes me want to vomit). So, if any of you out there have any fabulous ideas about how to get a very stubborn toddler to eat, I am all ears. Unless that method is to deny her a bottle based on the fact that if she is hungry, she will eat. This is not true. She has been hungry (and thus, cranky) all day. She still won't eat. I fear she has inherited a problem I have, my younger brother has and my mother has. I do not often feel hunger. I have learned to tell when I need to eat, but I don't feel hungry the way normal people do, same with mom and brother. I think The Small One is the same way. She knows she feels crappy, but doesn't know why, and doesn't want to eat because she feels crappy. (Ask my husband how difficult it is to get me to eat if I have gone too long without doing so.)