Cooking for Mia --and feeding her -- is hair-pullingly frustrating. She will only eat plain chocolate cake. Will not touch a "complicated" sandwich (ham, cheese ONLY please) and don't even think of adding mayonnaise or any other sauce to it. Won't eat anything that doesn't match her idea of what it should look like. Noodles are always "white". If I add even a drop of soy and the "noo-noos" change colour, she won't eat. She loves broccoli but only if it's steamed, cut into 2 inch pieces and not an extra centimetre. She loves steamed green peas too but if you overcook them and if she can squish them with her index finger...
Braving toddler disapproval and sending a prayer to the gods, I cooked some shell-shaped pasta (no sauce), chucked in some butter and grated cheese (only cheddar) and added some vegetables. Broccoli, peas and itty-bitty pieces of carrot and celery. I thought I was being very smart with the itty-bitty. I thought she might appreciate a bit of orange in her food and hoped the celery was adequately camouflaged.
Mia made me pick out every ittyfuckingbitty bit of celery and carrot out of her pasta. And then she surveyed each forkful very suspiciously before putting it into her mouth. Mummy fail.
Now meet my other daughter, Livvy, 9-month-old in three days, bottom-bopper, zero crawler, tickle lover and general household food bin. Every bit of celery, carrot and squishy peas and not-shell-enough pasta picked off Mia's plate went straight into Liv's tummy. She has now successfully eaten newspaper, a complete (and I mean all of it) nine-of-spades card, corner off a cardboard box (a packing box mind you), bitten an inflated balloon, deflated it and then tried to eat it*...
Livvy is like the Bear Grylls of babies -- will try anything once. And if it doesn't make her spew, probably try it again.
If not Grylls, Livvy seems to be channeling baby Po from Kung Fu PAnda 2. In the video below, just substitute Livvy for the Panda and that's almost how it happens in my house. Except that the baby panda asks for food politely. Livvy goes into complete baby-outrage-mode -- red face, yelling as loud as possible, body rigid -- if she sees anyone eating and if she hasn't been made an offering.
Mia refuses food when she's full or not interested. Livvy doesn't want to accept she's full and she's always interested. I might have to watch what this baby eats... Or just enjoy it. And thank gods that finally I might have a baby who likes icing.
* Yes I took the balloon away. No I haven't given her another balloon.
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