Ding... orderrrrrrrup!

Luc is a very picky eater, and getting pickier by the day. Gee, I wonder where he gets that from? Ahem. Anyway...

For the first six months that we were constantly introducing new foods, he was hesitant but pretty open minded. It would take a while for him to get used to a new food, but once he accepted it, he'd eat it pretty consistently. Since his first birthday however, he's taken on a much more adventurous yet strangely intolerant attitude (toddler, much?). He'll try almost anything once, but when he realizes it's not something he already likes (taste or texture-wise) he spits it out and refuses to try again (unless we can distract him and then we might be able to slip in a few more bites). In fact, the older he gets and the greater his options become in terms of food choice, the less he seems to want to eat. He used to love mixed vegetables, for instance. Now, he sometimes seems horrified by the mere prospect of eating a pea. He even (usually) turns down sweet potatoes and squash, for goodness sake. I'm really hoping that it's just a phase.

I've always made it a priority to feed him home-cooked, fresh, (mostly) organic foods. He's never even had jarred baby food. And it's only been relatively recently that I've given him anything store bought, meaning anything that I haven't washed, cut, cooked, and prepared myself. I started making baby food for him mainly because I wanted to get myself into the practice of preparing his meals. I didn't want to get so used to opening jars and packages now that I'd risk falling victim to the advertising genius behind crap like this when he gets older (no offense meant to any of you that do actually buy those things, but I remember having them a couple times when I was a freshman in high school- they're gross). Plus, I feel better about knowing exactly what goes into the preparation behind the foods that go into his little body. Plus, I like being all domestic and doing fun mama stuff like that.

But I've been given the same piece of advice by two different doctors, and more than a few other moms; don't become a short order cook. I understand the philosophy behind this warning- giving in to your baby and making them the same meal night after night, something separate from what the rest of the family is eating, only further enables your fastidious eater and creates much more work for you. I get that. But the thing is... I already sort of am a short order cook. And I don't really mind it. I often make one thing for myself and another version of that thing for SD (oh, holy cow- I almost used his real name- gasp!) and since Luc had only been eating pureed baby foods and easy finger foods until recently, I've made three separate meals in one night many times, without so much as a second thought.

Lately I've been trying to consolidate my efforts a little though, mostly to save time. I've had to be much more creative in my meal planning, which has turned out to be a good thing for all of us. For the most part we're eating better quality, more balanced, more organic, and less salty foods, because that's what I feel good about feeding to Luc.

It's tough though! Sometimes I buy something for all of us (most recently, some organic butternut squash ravioli) and it turns out to be way too spicy for Luc (guess it's time to try making my own filled pastas, which I've been thinking about doing anyway, but oooh, that sounds like a whole other NaBloPoMo post). So for now, I still end up making multiple dishes or using varied ingredients almost every night. Even when we have spaghetti for instance, I get veggie "meat" balls, SD gets turkey or beef, and Luc gets organic cheese in his.

And while we still try a lot of new foods with him, and we try them multiple times (yes, I've read that it can take up to 10-20 tries to get kids to like something new), it's getting really hard to find something, anything (!) that Luc will actually eat. Right now his staple food is turkey and cheese sandwiches. Could be worse, I guess. I just try to make them as healthy as possible (organic, sprouted grain, no-salt bread/ additive-free, natural turkey breast/ organic cheese), and vary the other ingredients (cream cheese, avocado, etc). He gets a turkey and cheese sandwich about every other day. And it's really nice on those occasions not to have to struggle or keep worrying that he Hasn't! Eaten! Barely! Anything! All day!

So I guess I may as well invest in a counter bell and a hairnet. 'Cause at the rate we're going, it looks like I might be taking orders for quite a while.