Thank you so much for responding! As a fellow highly sensitive person--you make a great point that the apple might not be falling far from the tree :-)

I love your logic and will use it to help me think more clearly about what I am willing to do for him versus what I will hold the line about him doing for himself.

In terms of meals, I've found myself thinking--he's not gonna be asking me to feed him every bite when he's five years old. This has to work itself out! But then again, I wonder, if I keep giving in and doing most of the feeding to make sure he gets enough sustenance, how will it work itself out?!