Salad Days (x-post)

[rj_anderson]

Baby Paul, who just celebrated his first birthday two days ago, is exceedingly active these days. Here he is doing one of his favorite things, hanging around my desk and trying to bash the computer keyboard:



I have discovered to my chagrin that having two other children has apparently taught me nothing useful as far as the care and feeding of toddlers is concerned. What works with the first, or the second, turns out to be completely useless with the third. At this point, in spite of all my efforts to introduce him to a wide variety of fruits and vegetables early on, Paul refuses to eat anything other than the following:

- crackers
- yogurt
- toast
- bananas
- cake
- guinea pig poop

The latter is most regrettable, I agree, but try as I might to keep the cage clean, he always seems to find them. Here he is on the hunt for more tasty goodness:



Why he should chow down with enthusiasm on pre-digested cavy leavings and yet refuse to eat peaches or scrambled eggs is beyond me. And any kind of protein -- even cheese, or lunch meat -- is just hopeless.

My mother-in-law says that my husband refused to eat anything but bananas and oatmeal until he was four. I never quite understood how that could be, especially as he was her sixth child. Now I know.

Cross-posted from rjanderson_blog, because yahtzee63 said she wanted to see some baby pics. What's a mother to do?

Comments

[mary-j-59.livejournal.com]

Yes, I agree with everyone else; your little Paul is really cute! As far as the odd food choices go, he sounds a bit like my younger nephew, who is still a very picky eater - okay on the protein, but highly suspicious of fruits and vegetables. In spite of what seems a very unbalanced diet, he's basically pretty healthy. I'm sure your little guy is as well.

Oh - a friend, when I was describing my little nephew's diet, asked if he had allergic rhinitis. He did; he was asthmatic as a little fellow, and she said, "He probably has food sensitivities, too. Some children just know they need to be cautious." She, herself, was a picky eater as a child, and has a pretty serious peanut allergy. So it's her theory that, if kids are picky, they have a good reason for it and you shouldn't worry. I've got to say, though, guinea pig poop is a novel sort of snack! Makes me wonder; do guinea pigs chew pellets the way rabbits do? Is there actually any nourishment in this stuff?