Adrian not eating sand
I can't believe he didn't, either. Because some days I feel like the only thing I say is, "Oh no! What do you have in your mouth?" ...over and over and over again.
Julian was totally not a "put everything in your mouth" kind of baby, and now I'm realizing how easy I had it with him. He did want a *boob* in his mouth 24-7, but apart from that? Not much. He never ate sand or paper or anything odd.
Adrian, on the other hand, will put absolutely anything in his mouth. His favored activity of the past two weeks is trying to eat the dog, tail first. I can't tell you how many times I've caught him with Bugs' tail in his chubby fists, mouth open, just *about* to put that tail in his mouth and bite it. Bugs just sits there all innocent, with no idea of the horrible fate he has narrowly escaped.
Mealtimes are especially interesting between Julian, who will hardly eat a damn thing (suddenly *everything* is ICKY, including pancakes, maple syrup, bread, and all vegetables) and Adrian, who will literally put anything in his mouth and swallow it.
The other night I was eating a whole roasted beet and Adrian grabbed my hand and directed the beet into his mouth, where he gnawed several mouth-sized chunks off it happily and then demanded more. He also ate some spicy sausage with no complaints (not that I was going to give it to him, but he insisted on tasting it), avocado, spinach, sweet potato, omelette, cooked carrots, and some little chunks of roast beef off a Philly Cheese Steak pizza from Trader Joe's.
You should have seen his face when he ate the first little chunk of roast beef. It was like the heavens opened up and shone on him for the first time. Welcome to Paradise, Mr. Baby.
Julian, on the other hand, would eat none of the above except for avocado, which has somehow remained on the NOT ICKY list.
Most days, at least. What he will eat is cereal, pistachios, all kinds of fruit, cucumbers, avocado, eggs, cheese, occasionally chicken or mild sausage, raw carrots (but never cooked, those are *tremendously* icky), steamed rice, edamame, fruit leather, oatmeal (sometimes) and Trader Joe's fruit bars.
He also likes candy, which he only discovered this last Halloween. But he's not a fan of chocolate, cake or cookies. That must come from Dan, because I've never met a sugar molecule that I didn't like.
I am somewhat comforted to read that pickiness is a normal stage for 3-5 year olds. I just finished one study that concluded thus:
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Conclusion: During the third year of life, while energy intake increases, the restriction of food variety appears to be a normal transition phase. Long duration of breastfeeding is associated with higher food variety.
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Julian breastfed until he was 2.5.
I read plenty about kids who will only eat foods of a certain color, or who won't touch fruit, so as much as I think he's starving himself, I suppose it could be much, much worse. When I look at the actual list of acceptable foods above, it doesn't seem so bad.
At least I don't have to worry about him putting everything in his mouth!
