And now you want us to go away for 4 days?

My dad's birthday was last week. My grandmother's is this week. So, naturally, my mom and I decided it'd be a great idea to take the babies to Missouri for a little birthday surprise. The tickets were bought before we recognized the corn welling up inside my little monkey. And then the world of our food turned upside down. On the heels of this upheaval, we needed to try to figure out how to get through 2 3-hour plane rides and a 4-day trip to a place with no Whole Foods or local farms, in the middle of a cold, cold winter.

So, we baked.

We made some bread, cheese crackers, graham crackers, and oatmeal cupcakes. (I call these latter treats "muffins" because I can't get over how it sounds to give a cupcake for breakfast.) I packed tons of these, cut the graham crackers into cute little shapes (airplanes for the flight and hearts for Valentine's Day were a favorite), and included some peanut butter and applesauce pouches (with no citric acid or ascorbic acid), and supposed I'd get anything else at the store when we arrived.

Turns out that all I was really able to get at the store was fresh fruit, apple juice, and eggs. All of those are actually of questionable corniness, but I did the best I could with what I had.

Little Girl did great. For all the times she doesn't listen, doesn't understand, and just plain acts out... well, fortunately she doesn't do that when it comes to corn. I'm sure it's because this has been our mantra for nearly 18 months now, but when we tell her that she can't have something because it has corn and will make her tummy hurt, she says "OK" and walks away. At one point during a party, I gave it to her straight: "Little Girl, there's a lot of food here and a lot of it would make your tummy hurt - you need to ask Mama before you eat anything." And that's just what she did.

It makes me sad that, at 2 1/2 years old, she should have to deal with this. Little kids hear "No" enough; she shouldn't have to live in a constant state of deprivation where she can't eat ANYTHING the people around her are eating. It will be better once we have a routine of cooking and pre-making things so that she can have more of a variety - because heaven knows she was sick and tired of cheese crackers and graham crackers by the end of the last 4 days. But for now, it seems like everyone else is eating something much yummier than what she can have.

My sadness, though, is tempered with pride that my little girl can be so mature and understanding of her issue. For all the times she can be difficult, when it counts, she makes it just a little bit easier.