Leah has become a little pickier when it has come to eating lately. Sometimes Leah will not be pleased with the standard fare I have prepared for her (yogurt with applesauce and fruit or whatever we are having for dinner) and would gladly scarf down bread or cheerios instead. She has learned how to shake her head saying no and will increase the head shake and may even escalate into a complaint/cry if the spoon keeps on getting closer to her mouth. I explain that she needs to eat her vegetables and fruit to grow into a big, strong girl but it doesn’t even faze her. Just kidding, I actually haven’t tried the speech but maybe I should.
Carrots seem to be her main irritant as of late. I still try take all the finger food that she hasn’t eaten of her tray and put it into her yogurt or dinner so she still gets a balanced diet even if she doesn’t choose to eat them. The problem is my little girl is getting smarter. I used to be able to pick up a carrot off of her tray, put it directly on her spoon with a touch of another food and voila. Now, depending on her mood, I have to be all secretive about it so she doesn’t see the whole process. (Put the carrots in the bowl, preferably while she is not looking, stir it around in yogurt or tomato sauce making it unrecognizable and spoon feed to child.)
Yesterday, Morgan was trying to help feed Leah with her dinner. Near the end of the meal, Leah would eat what she had taken off her tray and put on her empty spoon Morgan was holding. She seemed to pick up the smallest of crumbs making it a long, drawn out process. l guess this is what they mean when you always have to be a few steps ahead of them.
I will continue offering all sorts of fruit and veggies in the hopes she will try and like them. I heard some kids need to try a food up to thirty times before they like it. At first, I thought that was crazy but now we are doing it as I don’t think a bread and water diet will sustain all her needs for the next few years.