That's Not Cheese!

Benjamin and Bella were willing to eat a variety of foods as babies and toddlers.  I didn't struggle at all with them.  Christian was much harder.  He was very picky.  Now I have Peter and I'd give anything to have Christian's "picky" eating back.  Peter will eat bananas, grapes, cheerios, toast (only one kind) if it's got banana mashed onto it, and cheese.  That's it.  No veggies, no other fruits, no meat.  Everything else is slapped off the tray without tasting it, spit out upon tasting it, or slapped off the spoon as I bring it to his mouth.  He'll take a bottle of milk first thing in the morning when he's very hungry, but won't drink it the rest of the day.  It's been frustrating to say the least, but I've gotten pretty creative. I've started putting a little powdered fiber into his water so that he doesn't get so constipated.  I've been making fruit smoothies with veggies and powdered oatmeal and some days he'll eat those if they're tasty enough and he's hungry enough.  As soon as his hunger is sated, he slaps the spoon away and refuses the rest.  I've been frying eggs and smearing the yolk on toast before I cover it up with banana puree and he hasn't noticed.  I do the same with avocado - spread it like butter before I put the banana on top.  That's worked too.  I've made pancakes with various fillers, such as blueberries or peaches, and cut them in strips he can hold in his hand when he's in the car.  He's usually bored enough just sitting there that he'll nibble at them.  I really hope as he gets older and gets more teeth, we can move beyond his 5 acceptable foods and eat more like the rest of the family. 

The reason I tell all this, though is because of something funny that happened today.  I took him to Costco and I placed a box of cubed squash in my cart.  (I know that's far more costly than a regular squash, but I wasn't in the mood to cut and peel today and the easy, ready-to-go, although far more expensive, cubes called to me.)  He looked at that box of squash and got so excited!  He started screeching and reaching for it.  I couldn't figure out what he wanted.  My cart already had other things in it, so I thought maybe it was something else in there, but I was in a hurry and didn't want to deal with the issue.  I just distracted him and we moved on.  When we got home, I was unloading and he got excited again when he saw the squash.  I asked him if he wanted some of it and he affirmed that it was indeed the squash he was after.  So I opened it up and took out a piece.  The whole time I was mostly thinking, "He's going to spit this out,"  but I also thought, "Have I found the vegetable he'll actually eat?  I'm not sure how well he'll be able to eat raw squash, but if he likes the flavor, this would be awesome."  (Not that I haven't tried giving him cooked squash a million times already.)  I put the piece in his mouth and he was all smiles until he tasted it.  Then his face fell. I wish I'd gotten it on video.  It was classic.  He moved the piece around in his mouth and looked so perplexed.  Then he looked disgusted and angry.  He opened his mouth, ripped the piece out with his fingers, and put it back into the box before I could stop him.  I couldn't understand what just happened.  Why was he so excited to try it and why did he seem so perplexed by it?  I studied the box of squash on the countertop and then it hit me - it looks like cubed cheddar cheese - the same thing he eats every day!!  His favorite treat.  He thought it was a big box of cheese!  What a disappointment for him!   I couldn't help but laugh.  Poor little guy thought he'd hit the cheese jackpot.  I sat him in his high chair and cut him some real cheese cubes.  That seemed to cheer him up.