Omnivore to toddler in one easy step

Serves me right.

Moxie posted a question on her blog about introducing solids to babies. I responded with our experiences--which mostly jived with her response--but then added a note at the end basically bragging that our intrepid toddler was, for all intents and purposes, a fine eater.

Last week, Miss M ate whatever I put in front of her. Nothing unusual appeared; let's face it, with Taxman eating three meals a day at the office Monday to Thursday and my "condition" (ahem), I don't do a whole lot of innovative cooking. (Truthfully, I've been eating a lot of cold cereal and peanut butter sandwiches.) But she was happy to chow on her usual fare: scrambled eggs, fish sticks, pasta, baked chicken.

Then came Shabbat. Admittedly, we pushed her dinner a bit late and took her to shul. Not sure what I was thinking. But the three of us sat down to a meal together for the first time in a week, and she proceeded to gulp down her kiddush grape juice and challah. Then she ate...steamed baby carrots. The main course was turkey meatloaf, something she has loved in the very recent past. Like two weeks prior. But she refused to even have it sit on her fork, anxiously brushing it off the tines and dangling the bits over the edge of her high chair.

The weirdness continued at Shabbat lunch, where she basically ate steamed zucchini. After two bites, she rejected a plateful of pasta and sauce. And, of course, she was horrified by the reappearance of the meatloaf.

And since, she has refused to eat a scrambled egg, which I had already made, and said "No!" to multiple offers of fish. French toast, which I thought she'd go mad over, was basically snubbed until I let her drown it in syrup.

Things kind of peaked yesterday. She had peas for lunch. It was supposed to be a scrambled egg and peas on the side (a formerly favorite combo), but she ate only the peas. And an orange. But still. Then for dinner she wanted soup. Luckily, I had a serving of soup in the freezer. What kind? Um, split pea. But she happily ate two bowls of it.

So the food tally is: last week, omnivore; this week, lacto-vegetarian. (I think there would have to be some sort of seismic event for her to give up her beloved mozzarella string cheese, which I have to restrict to once a day.)

The parental tally is:

One Tired Ema: puzzled and very tired.
Taxman the Abba: very puzzled and also very tired.

See, this is just another reason for me to get to the hospital ASAP. For at least two days this would be a headache for someone else. Pesach should be quite a kick, too; her snack choices will be whittled down to by at least half. No bread, crackers, pretzels, Kix, Cheerios...plus no corn or peas at meals! Quel disastre!