Tasty Treats

The only time we stop at a fast food restaurant is when we're on the road for 3 or more hours in a day. Usually that doesn't happen very often aside from trips to Maryland. It's been happening a lot more frequently this year due to having to drive so far to take Ian to see various specialists. During the last few months I've tried a few new items that I've really like, so I thought I'd mention them here in case any of you were interested in tasting them yourself. I've had Wendy's Berry Almond Chicken salad three times thus far. I would have had it again two days ago except it's rather expensive. It's very good. I just wish it wasn't quite so pricey. I think Wendy's has forgotten they aren't a sit down restaurant. My absolute favorite salad is one that Panera makes for a limited time each year. Wendy's isn't quite as good as Panera's, but it's definitely my second favorite. The last two times I was at Wendy's I tried two of their new shakes. Both of them were outstanding - the Carmel Frosty Shake and the Wild Berry Frosty Shake. I don't want to know how many calories are in them. Don't get a large. The regular is plenty big enough. They were both extremely delicous.

I don't care for Arby's, but Paul likes to go there now and then. Once with him I tried their new Jamocha Oreo shake. It was very good. I have to say these shakes are rather fancy (the new ones at Wendy's and this one at Arby's ) in terms of their visual appeal. Can you tell I like ice cream, lol? I used to eat ice cream all the time. I rarely eat it at home any more, but I do love to have some when we go out to eat as a treat. At McDonald's I tried their new frozen strawberry lemonade. I am sure that has FAR fewer calories than the shakes I had at the other places. It was refreshing. I've also had their Rolo McFlurry twice. I think it's the best McFlurry they've ever had. My favorite used to be the Reese's PB cup one. The next time I'm at McD's I want to try their new Mango Pineapple real fruit smoothie. That sounds tasty to me!

Tonight we had dinner at Red Lobster. We hadn't been there since January, and it's Paul's favorite restaurant. It seems no matter what time of day we show up, there is always a wait. We arrived at 4:15, which we thought would be before the dinner crowd. Wrong. Nadia does really well at sit down restaurants now, but Ian is a handful. He just wants to run. Most of the time Paul and I have to take turns taking him somewhere. Only one of us can be sitting and eatinng. Paul got the $15 special that included soup, salad, biscuits, an entree (he got tilapia), and a dessert. Nadia and I shared his dessert (brownie sundae). Nadia had macaroni and cheese, and I had maple glazed chicken. Nadia and I didn't finish our meals so we can enjoy them again tomorrow as well as some extra biscuits. The three of us all like the biscuits!

After dinner we ran a few errands. At Target I bought Ian 3 more sippy cups. Yesterday I meant to write about the sippy cup issue in my "picking my battles" post. Originally there were 2 kinds of sippy cups Ian would drink from. Now we are down to one. Yesterday I tried to get him to drink from the one he used to accept. He chose to just go without instead. After he had been up for 3 hours I finally just gave in and gave him the sippy cup he wanted. His diaper was dry for the first 4 hours he was awake, which is why I decided not to fight that battle. I decided it's not worth trying to get him to be more flexible with what he uses to drink his milk, so I bought 3 more of the kind he likes. We have bigger fish to fry even though the sippy cup he likes is annoying because if he tips it over the EleCare spills all over the place.

This morning Ian didn't wake up until (drumroll, please) - 7:20am. What makes this a REALLY big deal is that for the first time ever it was the first time he woke up. The other times he slept until 7:00 or later he had been up fussing at some point earlier than that. He was quiet from 8:00pm to 7:20am. Way to go, Ian! The nap didn't go well today though. He cried for 25 minutes, slept for 25 minutes, and then cried for 1 hour. I got him at that point. He never took any other naps today. He had started to fall asleep on the way to the pool this morning, but I managed to keep him awake. A 25 minute nap is way too short. We shall see what Karen says on Tuesday.

Ian is crying over both the raspberry and cherry almond yogurt. I'm used to him crying when I feed him, but it bothers me more when I've paid $2 for a small container of yogurt. I really was hoping he'd like the yogurt. I'm hoping Patty calls on Monday to schedule Ian's next endoscopy. I really want to know if there is a medical reason why he keeps crying when I feed him.