Status Update: Food Edition

Since I last spoke of Ruby's adventures in gastronomy nearly seven months ago, her palate and food repertoire have developed immensely. No longer is her diet comprised entirely of bland foods cooked in water. Starting around 3 months ago, Ruby finally began to take an interest in what Steve and I eat.

Even at her 12 month check-up, I expressed concern to our pediatrician that Ruby had no interest in "real" food. She preferred plain tofu, beans straight out of the can, plain bread, and plain steamed vegetables to anything with the slightest hint of seasoning, even rejecting things that had been cooked in oil. However, as with everything else, Ruby eventually came around, but just took her sweet time about it.

Around 3 months ago, Ruby started to ask to taste anything Steve and I were eating by earnestly saying "Eh? Eeeh?" or making the sign for "more." I realized that she would eat steamed vegetables with a little bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper. She also liked stir-fried string beans, which interestingly enough was also MY favorite food as a child! Since then, things have really taken off to the point that Ruby will eat almost anything that we eat.







I'm pleased to report that she still prefers vegetables, although she can definitely put away a lot of carbs.



As for meats, she likes the dark meat on chicken and the pork tenderloin that I use for stir-fries. I would say her favorite foods are fruits, and I keep the house stocked with at least 3 varieties of fruits at all times for her snacks and desserts.

As Ruby still does not drink milk (other than breastmilk) on its own, I started to make fruit smoothies for her, which have been a hit.



Of course, the amount of food that is actually consumed is still quite variable, and many days it seems like Ruby is much more interesting in playing with her food and rubbing it into her hair than actually eating it. For a while, this kind of behavior would fill me with worry that she would go hungry, so I would offer option after option until she ate enough bites to put my own mind at ease. I've realized though that that is not exactly conducive to good eating behavior, so now I try to offer only the dishes we are eating that evening and maybe one additional "appetizer." As counter-intuitive as it is, I realize that my job ends at providing healthy food options. To eat or not to eat is her business.