Day 7 of Operation IFO...... A Breakthrough!!!

I know I promised I would not write another post about Operation IFO (Increase Food Options) but we have had a breakthrough. Already!!!

I am OVER. THE. MOON!!!!!  I am almost shaking and giddy with excitement! I am not sure if the moon and stars have aligned or, as my friend Marj posted yesterday on FB...

a sign of the apocalypse…all I know is today at lunch G and I witnessed a phenomenon in Riley World.

Today was Day 7 of Operation IFO (Increase Food Options). For at least one meal a day I have been trying to reintroduce Riley to a food item that he used to “eat”. Just as a reminder to those with young kidlets…Riley is 19. When he was younger we lived in survival mode (at times) and most definitely on a day-to-day basis. The thought of taking on his food challenges was not even on the radar back then. 

For the most part things have been going relatively well.

Today we were going to be out at lunch so what better opportunity to try eating out. In preparation the conversation went like this:

Me:       I have to go to work for a while.

R:         I’ll just stay home.

Me:       You and dad can go for a walk and then we can go for lunch together.

R:         I’LL BE WHINING!!

Me:       We can go to Pizza Hut for lunch OR we can come home and I can make you pizza for lunch.

R:         Just go to Pizza Hut. (muttering away to himself)

And away we went.

We arrive at Pizza Hut early so we were the only ones there. Perfect. We ordered our food and Riley watched his iTouch and ate his Cheerios while we waited. I warned Riley that the pizza would be hot so he would have to wait a bit before he could eat it. Grumbling/muttering ensued. G and I resumed our no eye contact/no verbal interaction stance.

The pizza arrived.

I put half the pizza (2 small personal sized pieces) onto his plate. I cut the quartered pieces in half (to cool quicker) and in hopes that he would eat them as is. 

Now when Riley was younger he used to pick off the bottom “crust” and only eat the soft, bready part and some of the cheese. When he was finished it was pretty hard to tell whether or not he had actually eaten anything since there were so many remnants left over. Oish. 

G and I held our breath as Riley picked up the first piece.

He inspected the first piece and picked at a few brown bits. Not surprising.

He bit into the topping (cheese) of the pizza.  Oh nooooo. Reeeelax. It’s only his 1^st piece.

He ate a bit of crust.  This is good. Very, VERY good! (all the while making sure not to make any eye contact with R)

He finished his first eighth!!!  YES!!!

When he was on his last piece, without saying a word I put another piece on his plate. I was waiting for the fallout. Nothing happened. What’s going on?!?!? I did not dare look so I glanced over at G. He had the “OMG! WTH is going on!” look in his eyes too. We sat in silence. Eating. Like regular people. Only not talking or having any interaction of any kind. That’s OK. That will come.

I put the last piece of pizza on R’s plate. This was what was left.

I was pretty sure the gates opened up and music started to play.  :D