Just curious, did he lose a lot if weight after his divorce? Maybe he just can't believe what he looks like now if that's the case. (The opposite of Divine's trying to figure out where the holiday weight settled on the body) i know for me, after losing tons (an unhealthy amount) of weight, it was amazing to see myself thinner than I already was.....though I wouldnt stand there that length of time, it was just a wow look & it was nice to see cloths look good on me for the first time.

How would I address something like that? I would probably just ask....something like " have you always admired yourself in the mirror like that?" Just let him respond. Maybe he isnt admiring himself....at least that way you could get his thoughts about it & he can see how it's coming across to you. That way there are no assumptions going on between the 2 of you.

Yes, his feelings about the kids part of his life is normal after a divorce & will always be a part of his life during the holidays.

As for texting, my daughter does that to my texts all the time. When I text thoughts she has no idea how to respond to I dont expect a response. Only response I expect is to a direct question about her, not musing questions either like "where did your Dad's mortgage money go to if he JUST FORGOT to make the payments for a year?" She doesnt owe me a response & mostly it is just me telling her something I felt she needed to know or questions she might want to just THINK about....but I dont need or want her response to them. What she thinks is her own personal thing. Though I agree, we usually can get to know someone better if they do respond as it gives us better insight into what they are really thinking about what we wrote. However as you saw with your ex, he replied to everything but was sly enough to reply with what he knew you wanted to hear, not with what was REALLY going on with him. Which is worse, hearing a lie or hearing nothing? At least your new guy responds to your questions just not all your comments....that is actually NORMAL too. I may not respond to a texted comment but I always acknowledge I read it sometimes with a thumbs up when I do read it. Probably part of my communications programming training as every communications transmission responds technically with an acknowledge that the system has received it. Just something I do to let people know I have read what they sent without actually responding with words.