Candy has created a monster.

Halloween 2009, the year our sweet boy turned into a freaking candy eating crack rat. Wow. Who knew. Last year he couldn't be bothered with actually eating the candy--he just enjoyed an opportunity to take something from a stranger and put it in his bag (this year we upgraded him from bag to pumpkin--maybe that was the beginning of the problem). LAST year when we tried to entice him to pick something out of his stash (we thought it would be cute to see what candy he liked, what he disliked), he just played with the wrappers and we ended up eating it. I went on the South Beach Diet about a week later...coincidence?

"Want go home and eat Halloween stuff?"

This is his new mantra. I took him to the playground today, as it was sunny and apparently there are 'big changes ahead' weatherwise for us in Tacoma. Usually this occupies him totally--running around, slides, pushing swings (he doesn't like to actually get on them), etc...but today he ran up to me in between each fun and seemingly token activity to beg to go home and...eat candy. He has lost love for his favorite of all time, Morningstar Farms Veggie Sausages. This is huge. This is all he has eaten for the past year, basically. It seems he's figured out that they contain zero percent chocolate. Luckily I also love the Veggie Sausages. Luckily because there are about six boxes of them in our freezer (Fred Meyer was having a sale). I TRY to avoid the 'if you eat your dinner you can pick something out of your pumpkin'--I don't want him to get the idea that this will always be the case, right? Last night, though, I was weak. I was tired. It just...came out. Today when I set his lunch before him he piped up with 'If I eat this can I pick something out of my pumpkin?' Fast learner.


On the bright side, the first thing he did this morning was swipe a Granny Smith apple off the counter. He walked around the house and ate the whole thing--so proud to exhibit the fact that he is a big boy and no longer needs the apple either peeled or cut. And he still likes his mac and cheese. Just not as much. See before and after shot below. That's my boy!