Dipping saved the day

It is no secret that Aaron has been one of the most cautious and picky eaters. Even when we first began feeding him solid foods, it took a while for him to get used to a spoon. As a baby he would NEVER put anything in his mouth (Andrew put EVERYthing in his mouth). When we tried giving him foods like Puffs he had to examine and play with it a few times before daring to put it in his mouth. Eventually we could spoon him most anything. That all changed around the time Aaron turned 1. It became increasingly more difficult to feed him- HE wanted to do it. And HE decided what he would and would not eat. Mostly he would decide NOT to eat it. We became increasingly more FRUSTRATED.

Aaron has a fabulous sugar radar: it might look disgusting or very similar to a vegetable (no connection) but if it had sugar he would pop it in his mouth after taking a close look at it. He likes ANYthing sugar. He hates ANY vegetables- if I even tried putting one on his tray he would QUICKLY pick it up and hand it back. If I didn't take it right away he'd either start crying or just throw it off his tray. Believe me, I always offer him vegetables, rice, and the same things Andrew was eating. I should mention Andrew loves all vegetables, fruits, and pretty much ANYthing (he must take after me!). Mealtime has usually been STRESSful.

Aaron's menu for several months has consisted of: chicken nuggets, peanut butter sandwiches, most fruits(because they're sweet), anything w/ sugar, yogurt, all crackers & anything crunchy, oatmeal, pancakes, Dutch Baby & French toast (the last 3 because syrup is served with them- sugar); sometimes cheese. Once in a while he'd eat spaghetti. Oh, he would NOT eat any pasta or rice. Absolutely not. For a few weeks this has been his menu. This all started to change a few weeks ago.

We made the discovery that Aaron LOVES LOVES LOVES ketchup-probably because sugar is one of the ingredients. He could eat it straight. This discovery was made the night we were having pot roast and we gave Aaron some (with ketchup) and expected him to push it back. To our utter shock he ate a piece- again and again. He even ate a potato and then carrots (along with ketchup). Since then he's learned he actually likes carrots. Ketchup is not the only dip he likes- Ranch dressing and soy sauce are two of his favorites. So when we want to offer him something 'new' (he's already been offered it before, most likely) we serve him a dip along with it.

But we were shocked today when we were giving Andrew some sweet tomatoes (which he loves) Aaron begged for some too. Initially I assumed it was because he wanted to play with it. I almost went into shock when he quickly put it in his mouth and wanted more- and more. Then tonight when we had rice for dinner I offered him some and showed him I was putting a dab of soy sauce on it. Without any hesitation he ate it and then wanted more and more and more. It was as though he was making up for all the rice he'd refused the last MANY months. Even though he didn't eat the broccoli on his plate at least Aaron allowed it to stay.

Maybe, just maybe Aaron is growing out of his very picky phase.