I’ve only mentioned NikkiZ’s eating habits here and there - but let me just insist that the term Picky Eater didn’t quite cut it. It wasn’t that she only liked a few foods. It was just she didn’t seem to like food in general. We couldn’t even get her to try anything new. No matter how fun or unhealthy. She’ll eat Vanilla ice cream, but only vanilla. And only sometimes. She would only eat candy on occasion. Potato chips? Nope. Pizza? Not often. The only constant (which I served with every meal) is corn. Rice was almost a constant, but some days she just wasn’t in the mood. Cheese and Oatmeal were other somewhat constants, but not the kind of foods I can easily fit into a dinner menu. But - I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t fed her a plate of cheese or a bowl of oatmeal on nights she wouldn’t eat what we were eating. I did that at least once a week. When she was at daycare, the kitchen staff stressed out over NikkiZ’s unwillingness to eat. One day - after resisting all foods - one of them joked with us that she wanted to go buy her a happy meal just to get her to eat. We told her it wouldn’t do any good. She wouldn’t eat that either.
At meals I always tried to get her to try the new foods, but never insisted. I would put the food in front of her, and if she didn’t want it I’d willingly let her put it on my plate. Every meal I tried.
A few weeks ago, I made a roast. As usual, I put bits of everything on a plate for her to try. Oddly - she took a bite of roast and put it in her mouth. Which it shocked the hell out of me that she even tried, it was even more insane when she dove in for her second bite. She never even tries the food, much less finishes the bite. Which she did. SEVERAL TIMES. She kept asking for more! more! more! Then she went for the potatoes and loved those as well. She avoided the carrots like the plague, but I happily took those off her plate and traded her for my potatoes. It was like a dream come true. My child ate real food.
Ever since that night - it’s like a new kid has entered our house. She tries foods. And likes a lot of them. It’s like she suddenly realized that some of the food was good. Really, really good. And maybe she should at least test it out sometimes. She has eaten (and loved) baked beans, steak, chicken (in various forms), and POTATO CHIPS. She suddenly likes chips. And you know what else she likes to do with them? Dip them in the Swiss Laughing Cow cheese wedges. So - not only is she trying foods, but she’s also inventing her own combinations.
The best was last night. We had some fresh fruit to make parfaits after dinner. She took a bite of blueberry, decided she didn’t like it, and tried a blackberry instead. She ate a few blackberries, with a suspicious look on her face, and then went back and tried another blueberry. And then decided she liked them and just kept eating them. So, she went back to a food after an initial rejection. I think she decided that while the initial tastes were a little strong, both berries were pretty good after awhile. She loved them.
Of course, then she ruined it all by trying her hot dog dipped in whip cream. And I threw up everywhere. The End.