so i’m not really one for jumping on baby trends or for going too outside the box, unless it makes sense to me. organic baby clothes? no. cloth diapers? yes (although now that we’re back east and paying our water bill they make significantly less sense). when i read this article back in november it just clicked. so many things about baby food didn’t make sense to me - why start kids off eating food that tastes terrible and/or is super bland? of course they’re going to hate vegetables and other food that’s good for them later in life if that is their first introduction. and of course kids are going to develop a sweet tooth if they’re given fruit puree (which is delicious) and vegetable puree (which is very very not delicious). i mean, really, how many of us adults would eat salted pureed peas much less the unsalted version?
and so justin and i discussed it and we decided that this was what we wanted to do with elliott. elliott LOVES it. mealtime comes around and i hand elliott a bagel, wheat toast, cauliflower, asparagus, chicken, carrots, green beans, broccoli, peaches, banana, cheese…and he goes to town. it’s been really fun watching him discover food and flavors and to see what he likes and to see how much better he’s gotten at feeding himself. so far there isn’t something that he doesn’t like, although there are definitely things he likes more than others. he loves loves loves broccoli, but not so much zucchini, for example. we haven’t been militant about not feeding him baby food - living in the scout office and then in someone’s basement meant that he was going to have to eat the puree for a little while. this was the only time he ever pushed food away or made a face as he ate, and i couldn’t say that i blamed him. as a show of solidarity i tried a bite of everything he ate (ok, less solidarity and more curiousity) and it was really pretty gross - flavorless, texture-less, blech.
i don’t delude myself that elliott is always going to be a good eater, i’m happy that he is now, and the longer i can prolong the pickiness the better. my main wish in all of this, as juvenile diabetes is on the rise and as someone who has struggled with negative attitudes towards food all her life, is that elliott will develop a healthy attitude towards food and eating that will last the rest of his life. only time will tell.
