Orange You Glad I Didn't Say Orange?

Picky eating has gone to an entirely new level. Sophie now refuses to eat anything orange. This includes her previous favorite foods- carrots, sweet potatoes, cheese, and goldfish. All of these items are now cast aside. Carl thought that I was kidding about her new anti-orange rule, so we did an experiment. We took rainbow colored goldfish- which come in purple, green, red and orange- and placed them on the table. She ate each one, except the orange. Repeatedly.

To banish all orange objects from her tray, Sophie has a special system. All forbidden orange food is segregated into the cup holder portion of the tray. If we take an object out, and place it back in the middle of the tray- this item is picked up and tossed to the floor. Since we do not have a dog, this is not acceptable behavior, and so we put up with her segregation system.

What does she eat now, you might ask? It is tricky. She still eats oatmeal for breakfast, with a banana. She will still eat yogurt and cheerios for a snack. But lunch and dinner times are proving difficult. She is down to white cheese, mixed veggies- corn, peas, beans- and fruit. That's it. I may possibly have gray hair by the time she is 2.

Picky, picky, picky!

The unthinkable has finally happened. Sophie is a very picky eater. It's very sad. It seems as only last month Carl and I were patting ourselves on the back, thinking that we were such great parents, our Sophs would eat anything! Then, seemingly overnight, Wham! Pickiness arrived. She is now strictly on a veggie, fruit, dairy diet. That's it. No bread, pasta, meat of any kind, nothing with a sauce- or wet texture. No eggs, beans, or anything combined. Everything must be in isolation. It is very stressful finding foods with protein that she will eat. Now she is very much like Sam-I-am, she will not eat meat on a plane, in the rain, on a train- it's driving me insane! Every book that I read tells me that this is only a phase, she is just showing her independence. I am hoping that this phase is over very quickly. Very, very quickly.

Sprinklers are fun

Sophie just recently discovered the fun of sprinklers. One was set up at the cabin, and Sophie's cousins were running through it. Of course, as soon as our backs were turned, Sophie ran through it in all her clothes. Not wanting to spoil her new fun, we stripped her down to her diaper and let her loose! She had a great time and continues to have no fear of anything water related.

It's important to get a good running start before you go through.

Sharing a quick laugh with Daddy.

Looking at her cousins, as if to say, "Hey guys, come on in- the water's fine!"

Oh, the Joy of a Spoon!

Sophie has just started to become interested in eating with a spoon. As you will see from the pictures, she pays no attention to which side she is using. This is (of course) due to the fact that she is a genius, and is inventing new ways to eat. It's messy, but really fun to watch!

Here she is placing Spaghetti O's individually on the spoon in the bowl.

Using the opposite side of the spoon- this provided a fun fling action when she took it out of the bowl- which resulted in the wall behind her being scrubbed clean during nap time.

And finally, forgetting the spoon and just using her hands.