90) So far, so good with open access to food in unlocked kitchen

It's still very early to make any definitive judgments; however, Sasha has been living with a totally unlocked kitchen for 10 days and so far, he's doing very well.  I can hardly believe my eyes but he really seems mellow and able to handle the open kitchen with a relaxed attitude.  In fact, yesterday Sasha's dad and I went to away for an overnight stay in San Francisco (a 30 minute train ride away) for our anniversary and their uncle Bob came to stay with the kids while we were away.  It was Bob's first time staying with Sasha and his sister with the unlocked kitchen and I could tell that Bob was very impressed that we had come so far from the last time he stayed with the kids when everything was still locked up.

In addition to living with unlocked food, Sasha was put to the test with some extra challenges this weekend...

1) His sister brought home half an apple pie yesterday morning that she baked with a friend of hers and put it in the unlocked fridge.  She told Sasha that she hoped he could resist eating the pie knowing that this sweet treat was in the fridge.  Fortunately, the pie remained untouched in the fridge until the three of them were ready to eat it for dessert last night.

2) Today, Sasha went to the birthday party of his friend, A.  Although most kids probably take these things for granted, this was the first birthday party invitation Sasha has received from a friend he made completely on his own.  The party goers enjoyed a "Can You Escape" game room and then hung out at the park to toss a frisbee and have lunch (pizza and cake/ice cream).  Instead of stressing out about Sasha eating high carb foods or indulging in too much sugar, I felt totally relaxed and carefree.  As it turns out, Sasha did great at the party- he ate moderately, had only a modest serving of ice cream, and said he had fun playing the game with the kids.  His friend's mom kept an eye on Sasha (even though I hadn't asked her) and she happily reported that he had a great time with a relaxed and moderate attitude towards the food.

The sweet treats over the weekend were definitely out of the norm of our lower carbohydrate food plan.  In the past, we would have NEVER trusted him to the pie in the unlocked fridge or to attend a party with pizza, cake and ice cream.  Although we do not plan to make it a habit to expose Sasha to these types of foods, it was good to see that he was able to demonstrate moderation around these highly tempting foods.