Picky Baby Vs. Thanksgiving

For our little Thanksgiving feast at home, we set a place at the table for Elvie. I had no illusions that she would suddenly love food just because it was Thanksgiving, but I thought it would be nice to have her in her own spot at the table, and she could practice eating a few things. She has been notoriously picky, rejecting almost everything we’ve given her to eat. There are a couple of things she has eaten without gagging herself to get it out of her mouth as soon as possible, but there is nothing she just loves. If it were up to her, she would just have her bottle. We know, though, that she does need to start eating solids at some point, so we just keep giving her things to try. At the Thanksgiving table, we decided to give her a bit of everything and see what happened. We kept a camera handy to document her reactions. Here’s how each dish fared on the palate of our picky baby.

Elvie's Not So Sure About This

We Started With a Roll

This is something she can hold on her own, and since she puts everything in her mouth, we figured that she would at least taste it a few times.

Much To Our Surprise, She Liked It!

Elvie liked holding the roll for herself and gummed it up pretty well by the end of the meal, actually swallowing some of it along the way.

Next Up: Mashed Potatoes

Elvie was really happy to be participating in the meal with the rest of us, so even though normally she would push a spoon away, she smiled and took the bite.

The "No Thank You" Face

Realizing that her enthusiasm for joining us in eating was unfounded, Elvie tried to get the mashed potatoes out of her mouth as quickly as possible.

A Bit of Brussels Sprouts From Zinashi

This may be Elvie’s first lesson in not trusting what your big sister asks you to ingest. She opened her mouth to let Zinashi put the bit of brussels sprouts in, then looked doubtful.

Eyeing Her Big Sister With Suspicion

She swallowed the brussels sprouts, but she was not a fan. For the next few moments, she stared at Zinashi as if to ask, “Why would you put that in my mouth? WHY?”

Homemade Cranberry Sauce Might Be a Winner

It’s both sweet and tart, but pretty smooth, so I thought she might at least swallow it without too much fuss.

She Was Not Impressed

The cranberry sauce was not a hit, or even remotely acceptable. She kept making this face until she licked her roll a few times, presumably to get the cranberry off her tongue.

Tasting Turkey With Trepidation

She’d already had plenty of food that didn’t taste good to her; I’m pretty sure by this point she was just trying to make it through however many more bites we’d force upon her.

Not a Turkey Fan

She spent the next ten minutes rolling her tongue around her mouth, trying to find all the turkey bits and get them out.

Opening Her Mouth Reluctantly For Gravy

The gravy I made had a really mild flavor, but she was already annoyed. Still, she opened her mouth; it must be a reflex. I don’t think she would have willingly eaten anything else at this point.

She Couldn't Get Her Mouth Far Enough Away

As soon as a drop of gravy touched her tongue, she recoiled in horror. Luckily for her, we didn’t have a ton of food choices at this dinner, so all that was left after this was dessert.

Excited to Try the Cake

There was a bit of a pause between dinner and dessert, and Elvie witnessed us eating our cake with gusto. She probably thought this might be different. Look how happy she is about her bite!

How Could We Do This to Her?

She is clearly not a chocolate lover, and it seemed like her feelings were hurt that we would trick her. Why would we all pretend to like so many disgusting foods? She should have just stuck with her roll.

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