I've avoided blogging about Z's eating habits largely because I've made a conscious decision not to make food an issue with her. She ate everything I put in front of her from 6 months to a year of age, but since she turned one she's the Arbitrary Princess of Picky...at least with us. She's slightly less particular at day care, but even Adriana can't get her to eat fruit.
Yes, you heard that right. My toddler refuses to eat fresh or canned fruit. Only dried or dehydrated fruit will do. And bananas, rarely, or applesauce, if she's in the right mood. Vegetables are allowable, but only in soup or hidden in sauces. And usually only in Adriana's food, but corn and ketchup are always acceptable. She likes cheese, but only if it is yellow and cut up. Unless it is a free sample from Whole Foods, in which case anything goes.
But here's the rub, and the reason I try not to get too bent out of shape about my daughter's diet. The foods she'll always eat aren't all that bad for her. She requests Weetabix and warm Grape-Nuts by name, gobbles peanut butter by the spoonful, and snacks on peanut butter and jam or honey sandwiches on whole wheat bread. She loves spaghetti, lasagna, pizza, bagels, and macaroni and cheese. And less you think she only eats carbs, get this: she eats hummus straight up. No cracker or pita required.
So that's the good news. Here's the bad news. Z thinks she's entitled to a snack every time she's in her car seat or the stroller. And dry Cheerios will no longer do. "I want sumpin' else," she says. She usually demands "a bar" (meaning a cereal bar), and while they aren't entirely nutritionally void, they're pretty close to junk in my book. So we're working on reducing our on-the-go snacking along with getting her back on Dr. Weissbluth's sleep schedule.
I tell myself she won't starve, but I was reminded again today how slim she really is. Both my neighbor's 14-month old and my friend's 6-month old boy weigh the same as Z.
