My Toughest Critic

Before Eleanor was born, I was certain that I would make my own baby food. I mean, why not?!? How hard can it be? It would take hardly any time, save us lots of money, and ensure that our precious baby was getting only the purest of ingredients, lovingly crafted into delectable mush.

And then. Eleanor. I tried making baby food a few times. But 1) it took a LOT longer than I was anticipating, and 2) she refused to eat it. Even though she loves baby food in a jar. So it's not saving us much money if I end up throwing all of it out. I don't know; maybe I tried the wrong foods, or the wrong techniques, or something. But she wasn't having it, and I was incredibly frustrated, so I gave up.

Then we tried to make the switch to real food. Which she also doesn't really like. The girl likes her food slimey and out of a jar, or in the shape of a fish, and it's been a hard trait to combat. But we keep trying. We've cooked sweet potatoes, peas, carrots, plain pasta. I've given her raw strawberries, blueberries, cantaloupe, watermelon, and more. She's tried orange juice, cheddar cheese, swiss cheese, and cottage cheese. Every day, for every meal, I give her little bits of finger food that, 90% of the time, doesn't ever get eaten. Most of it goes in the mouth, but it all comes right back out again. We were shocked this weekend when she seemed to be eating ham. Ham! And the next day, when we offered it again, it was summarily rejected.

So. The point I'm getting at here, is that I was amazed to serve her the same meal that we ate tonight: whole wheat spaghetti with veggie pasta sauce. And she loved it!! She couldn't get enough. I don't know if it's because she was eating the same thing as us, or the taste, or whatever. But it was the first time I've actually cooked something for her and had such a positive reaction. I felt on top of the world.

I don't know how I'm going to feel tomorrow, however, when I try to feed it to her again, and it ends up on the floor, getting hoovered up by the dog. Can this be the start of a streak, where she actually eats real food? Or am I just getting my hopes up for nothing?

At least if she rejects her birthday cake, I'll know that it means something is wrong with her taste buds, and it's not my cooking.