I'm 1 and I want to eat what I want to eat. Dang it.

There has been a lot of discussion amongst my mom friends lately about food: what are your kids eating, how are they eating it and when did they decide that throwing it off their trays was acceptable and/or the way to go?

We've been lucky - Sophia has generally been a good eater, but definitely shows signs of quirkiness. She'll happily try anything - and generally swallow it - assuming we're not at the table, in a formal high chair setting (Think - Whole Foods trial stations while in the shopping cart and you've got a winner. That's how she got hooked on taztziki sauce).

Meat has been our big struggle. For a girl who comes from two rather carnivorous parents, she shows no interest in meat (unless, of course, it's a random meatball at our friend's house or a chicken nugget from the guy at Whole Foods, but I digress). We've tried chicken, turkey, beef, salmon, you name it. Nada. Zilch. I think it's a texture thing because if it even makes it past the Fort Knox of her lips, she'll chipmunk it in her cheeks for awhile and then spit it out. So I've given up the battle, at least for awhile. She's getting plenty of protein from yogurt and cow's milk, and, when she's deems it worthy, cheese.


You see, we used to have a love affair with cheese - string cheese, Havarti with dill, Monterrey jack - you name it, she'd eat it. Copious amounts even. But ever since we had a rough "too much cheese in the car resulting in puking back up cheese" incident, she hasn't been so fond of cheese. Occasionally she'll have some, but it's rare and not with enthusiasm. Again, not a battle I'm going to fight. She'll get back there (in the mean time, I seem to be ingesting her rejects. Hmmm).

I'm searching for new things for her to eat all the time. It's quite easy to get into the same routine with her of rotating foods. But I think she's inherited her father's content in eating the same thing day after day. (Again, unless we are somewhere out and about and someone offers her something interesting). The other night we got into quite the battle royal - even the standard favorites (pasta, yogurt, broccoli balls, etc.) were getting tossed on the floor. She had no interest in dinner food at all. I coaxed, airplaned and did all the tricks I swore I'd never do in an attempt to have a healthy eating relationship with Sophia. Finally, I was done. After frustrated mumbling on my part, I popped her out of the chair and put her on the floor while I cleaned up the aftermath.
And what does she do? Crawls over, with much purpose, to the dog bowl. (We were sitting our friend's 125lb Newfoundland who, let it be known, was very, very well fed by Sophia during his stay with us) And before I could get to her: Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Yup. Dog Kibble. No people food for her. Just dog kibble.

And I just sat down with her on the floor, moved her away from the dog bowl and laughed. You win some and you lose some, right? At least there was protein in there somewhere....