Food for thought...

I have a love/hate relationship with food. And it really is a relationship! Next to my boys and Jay, I spend most of my time utilizing my culinary skills, thinking about the next meal, making a grocery list or shopping for said groceries.

The love part of the relationship comes when I get to cook a meal without children underfoot complaining that they see something green coming dangerously close to their plate. (How dare I attempt to get some vitamins into their growing bodies!)

The hate part of the relationship comes from cooking 3 meals a day for 4 different boys with different tastes.

Whoever said 2 year olds don't have discerning palates doesn't know Owen! We start our day the same each morning....

First, I drag myself out of bed and down the stairs to start the breakfast routine. When I can finally see straight, I pop a few pieces of bread in the toaster while I start filling juice glasses and mashing a banana for Kai.

By this point, Owen has straggled in and promptly crinkles up his face and plugs his nose in disgust. (I kid you not, this happens every day.)

As if the air around him is too caustic to breathe, he barely chokes out the same pitiful phrase each day...

"I smell someping!"

Each time I ask him what it is that is so offensive. He can't even utter words. He just looks in the direction of the toaster and points.

You see, bread is Owen's arch enemy. His disdain for this most basic of food extends to bread in any form. The said nemesis doesn't even have to be toasted for him to claim the aroma is assaulting his olfactory senses.

(On a rather sacrilegious side note, each week Owen plugs his nose and states, "I smell someping!" as the bread passes in front of him in our Sunday Sacrament service. I don't know if I should laugh or cry at this!)

Even the most heralded and convenient of all baby foods has never been swallowed by Owen. The foe in this case was the banana.  What baby doesn't like a banana?

*The approach

*The realization

*The refusal

...

In contrast, Drew was the most willing and amenable baby when it came to expanding his food portfolio. We started off with avocados and worked our way up to kale and tofu (which Jay thought was a bit too "granola").

By 9 months old, Drew's diet of organic and healthy food would rival that of any tried and true vegetarian!  Perhaps I got a little overzealous when I introduced mustard greens.

Despite my southern roots, I had never eaten mustard greens but knew they were packed with nutrients. So into my baby's open mouth they went. Bite after bite Drew opened his mouth to receive the green glop like the sweet and trusting baby he was.

As I neared the bottom of the bowl I noticed his big blue eyes were watering. A fearful expression appeared as the spoon neared his lips. What was wrong?

Had the mustard greens gotten cold? I decided to take a bite to find out.

SHAZAM!

Those greens are not mild and they are not timid!  They come by their name honestly! Imagine a bowl of spinach covered in spicy mustard and there you have what I was poking down my beautiful baby!

Thankfully Drew survived the mustard greens caper and goes on to eat a few green things today...despite the traumatic experience. 

*Drew is happily eating avocado

I've lived and learned a bit in the food department and Kai is reaping the rewards of this experience.  There isn't a mustard green in sight and bananas are back at the top of the best baby food list.  In fact, things are going so well that Kai occasionally likes to wear his star snacks like a chart of the constellations!

And so my relationship with food continues to grow as do the boys' stomachs.  I am not at liberty to terminate this relationship so I will evolve, adapt and even make my morning toast...despite the protestations of a bread-hating 2 year old!