Eating struggles & How to get it done

Hello Friends,

Well I write today as a frustrated mama bear.  No worries, Baby Z is happy and healthy.  And super stubborn! I just don't know what to do.

He is not a good eater when there is a lot going on so when we were out of town this weekend, I was not surprised when he didn't do well with the bottle. With 6 other kids and 5 adults in a small space, he just couldn't be bothered to sit still and drink.  He did fairly well with cereal, fruit and veggies at lunch and dinner so I wasn't too worried. He was just a bit low on liquid.  This brings us to coming home Sunday night.  He refused to eat his dinner for Husband (I had run to get  a pizza) so we chalked it up to tired baby, tossed him in bed and he took a nap. Woke up took a bath, refused more food, nursed and went to sleep.

 Monday he ate AWESOME for the sitter.  Big bottles and gobbled up his lunch of cereal and fruit.  Then I put him in the highchair for dinner and when approached with the spoon, closed his lips tight ,arched his body away and looked at the wall.  I tried several times to coerce him into eating and it ended with him crying.  So I put him in his crib and he falls asleep. Again attribute it to tired baby and will try again later.  He woke up at 8:30 and again had no interest in eating, just playing.  Gave him a few ounces out of a bottle and nursed him to sleep (night time nursing is slowly fading away).

Tuesday, rinse repeat.  Although I lost my temper, not at him of course, but I did lose it.  I cleaned him up (carrots ended up everywhere when I tried to let him do it himself), put him in his crib for a nap and crawled onto my own bed angry, sad, frustrated, worried.  Is he getting enough nutrition?  He is super happy and beyond active.   Am I doing the right thing?  Is he just not hungry? I'm doing my best and to provide food for him and he refuses.

He is such a light weight.  We go tonight for his 9 month appointment and I'm not sure he is much over 16 lbs.  So far he has yet to double his birth weight - should have done that by 6 months.   We will see what the Dr has to say.  He is a great pediatrician, I just feel like sometimes, he is educating me on being a better parent in a sort of condescending way.  So as much as I need to go for advice, I'm prepping for being "taught."

This is all compounded with my current frustration with how to get it all done....How on earth do we get what needs doing with J and Z in the 2 hours we are home after work before J needs to be in bed?  In the door, got through his backpack, try to prep for the morning, make J's dinner, feed Z (when he wants to eat....), possibly make our dinner (this is often pushed back till 9 after everyone else is taken care of and in bed), is there school work?  can he get some reading or math drills in?, bedtime routines and tuck in.  Lord help us if its a bath night or we need to run to the store on the way home.  My house is a mess, and not as clean as it should be, I'm exhausted and feel like I'm on a gerbil wheel.  What happens when J has real homework next year?  How do people do it?  And make it look effortless? The answer people give me is you just do it.  When?  and How?  This doesn't even begin to address that J cannot be in after school activities because it ends before I'm done with work at 5 and I have no child care for him unless he goes on the day care van right after school.....Chess club ends at 4:30, Soccer starts at 5. Baseball starts at 5.

J is tap dancing again this year and we are going to try Tae Kwon Do through our rec dept starting tomorrow.  That now chews up 2 nights after pick up so the routine listed above just got bumped an hour to an hour and a half later.....I'm at a loss.  I guess if I dont have to feed Z an evening meal, it just got easier right......?