Leaf-eating babies

I've been noticing that Julian studiously avoids all leafy foods in raw form...spinach, lettuce, and the like. He picks off his plate and sets them aside like, "Why the hell are you giving me this? It's not even food!" If the spinach is cooked, he likes it. But raw? No dice.

It suddenly occurred to me while loading the dishwasher for the umpteenth time...this leaf aversion makes perfect sense! What if every time Julian was outside he saw leaves and thought "FOOD!" It would be a disaster. He would be poisoned within a week. I'm sure it's an evolutionary adaptation from way back in human history...don't eat leaves unless you are old enough to know which ones can be safely ingested, or you might end up very sick. Even dead.

Believe me, the kid knows what's food and what's not. I'm amazed at it, really. He can spot a ripe strawberry under a leaf at 100 paces. On our evening dog-walking route around the neighborhood (aka The Poop Loop) there are several fig trees with ripe delicious fruit that are not being harvested by their owners, so we often stop to pluck a snack here and there. When J sees a fig tree coming up, he points at the ripe figs and smacks his lips in anticipation.

Green leafy things just don't look like food to babies, and that's a good thing. In fact, now that I think about it, I'm very grateful for it.