From An Early Age.

Last week my sister posted a status on Facebook about my niece who is eight months older than Ryan.  A girl who is five years old and doesn't always think she's pretty and the consensus from mothers replying was that they also have at least one child with the same issues!

Sadly I have a son who has been in the same boat as of late.  I began noticing a change after he started school in September and it's been getting way worse despite my attempts at reassuring him.

 

{The day he had his tonsils out}

I remember the day he got his tonsils out last April, on surgery day they put him on the scale and it read 38 pounds, he was such a little peanut!  When he came home without those pesky tonsils this boy began eating like it was his job....constantly asking for seconds at dinner and this was new for us so we let him because who wants to tell their child no when he's hungry?

By mid-summer he had gained a little weight, but I wasn't concerned because he was still very active with the boys at daycare and in little league. I remember the day I posted the picture above on my blog my dad sent me an e-mail asking me who this new kid was!  Honestly when we would eat a whole bowl of cereal and toast Jon and I would just look at each other and say "the tonsils must have been hindering him from eating before."

Fast forward to today, Ryan weighs in at 52 pounds which is totally fine by me but last month he had a mini melt down which kind of scared me.  We all went to an indoor water park a couple hours from the house and in the hotel room I handed him shorts and he immediately he asked for a swim shirt.  When I told him that I didn't bring a swim shirt he looked at me with horror in his eyes.  He nearly started crying and said he couldn't go into the water park without a shirt on so I acted all nonchalant and asked why and he never would say.  I was totally apparent though when we got inside and I noticed he was sucking in his stomach for the first few minutes until he started having fun and forgot about it....it was heartbreaking.


Since that day he has been very weird about being without a shirt, this past weekend while he was at my sister's house she wanted to put a tattoo on his chest but he was only comfortable doing it in the bathroom away from the other kids.  Steph said that her son walked in while she was putting the tattoo on him and Ryan sucked in his stomach. 

So now I'm at a point where I don't know if I should ask him directly what he's embarrassed about or do I not draw attention to it and hope it's a phase?  I keep trying to reinforce that I think he's perfect but is there somebody at school who is making jokes?  It's comforting and dis concerning all at the same time to know there are other parents of small children going through the same thing.

I just wish I had the magic answer for my little guy.