Eating Battle

Why does eating have to be a battle for all my children?  Many adopted children from China eat really well.  But not Karissa.  I am not sure what is going on with her.  For about a month now, she has been moody during meal time.  In China, she ate everything and drank everything we gave her.  After over coming jet-lap in the US, she ate alot too.  So I know she has the capacity to eat.  Something changed and she is not eating much at all.  She does not like jar baby food, so my mom and I have been making fresh baby food for her.  It's so frustrating when she doesn't eat.  Many people say she will eat when she is hungry.  Well, that is not completely true.  She refuses to eat so we will do what she wants.  After skipping a meal, I know she is hungry, but she gets moody.  She wants a toy to play with when she eats.  And because we want her to eat, we give it to her.  Then she would throw it down on the ground and wants us to pick it up.  If we don't pick it up, she won't open her mouth.  So we pick it up and she takes a bite.  Then she would throw it down again and refuses to eat until we get the toy.  We also tried not giving her a toy.  She would be soo grumpy and frustrated that she will wave her arms around to prevent us from feeding her and of course her mouth is shut.  Ahhhhh......so frustrating.  One of my pet peeve is feeding children who do not want to eat.  Both of the boys were bad eaters.  They didn't want to eat and when they do eat, they didn't eat much.  But at least they are not moody. 

Karissa does not know how to chew yet, so she can't eat table food as a full meal.  Making baby food for her is a lot of work.  Cooking meat and vegetable and blending it takes a long time.  But I don't mind making it if she actually eats.  I just don't know what to do with her.  I am anxious and nervous every meal time.  I really cannot tolerate moody children.  If she is moody and does not want to eat, then maybe I just shouldn't feed her.  But on the other hand, I want her to eat very badly.  So part of me want to give in and pick up the toy everytime she drops it so she will eat.  But emotionally, I know I won't be able to keep it up.  Both Hebron and I are totally frustrated and don't know what to do.  If you had the same experience and tried something with your kids that works, please let us know.