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October 11, 2005
Swedish Meatballs
I was thrilled when I read this news story yesterday about how a bunch of pediatricians are debunking the myths regarding what foods babies should have first. When Clara "Gourmand" Jane first started solid foods, I skipped the rice cereal and jarred mush. For one thing, Clara Jane has been constipated since the day she was born. Rice? That's one of the foods that brings diarrhea to a halt. Giving rice to a constipated baby seemed a little nuts to me. I might as well have gotten in her little moonpie face and cackled, "Bwahahahahaha!!!! You're never going to poop again, Little Girl!" So we went straight to white peaches, which were locally in season at the time. A month later, the kid was chowing on smoked pork, and we haven't looked back.
She loves Vietnamese food. Thai food. Mexican food. She dips everything in salsa. Hey - she's getting lots of veggies that way! Chinese food. Scottish food; last week we discovered that Clara Jane totally digs the haggis. We've gotten a lot of odd looks at the various ethnic restaurants we've tried. To which B. and I say, "Guess what. Babies in Vietnam? They eat Vietnamese food everyday! And those kids in Mexico? They eat Mexican food everyday!"
Why am I bringing this up? I'm not sure. Other than I don't do much bragging about my child on this blog, so I thought I'd gloat about her a bit.
Today we had lunch at the kiddo's current favorite place, Qdoba. Forget the plain cheese quesadillas for my kid. She's all about the soft taco with spicy shredded beef and salsa verde. So happy the taco makes her that she must stand in the booth while she eats! And dance! There must be dancing to convey the joy that is the soft taco with spicy shredded beef and salsa verde!
My apologies to the employee charged with cleaning our booth when we were finished. While my child didn't fling the contents of her taco all over the floor, booth and table, she did throw a bit of shredded beef, which stuck to the window. I intended to remove it myself, I really did, but I got distracted.
How did I get distracted? By my dancing carnivore pepperhead child, that's how. When ABBA's "Dancing Queen" comes on at Qdoba, apparently it's the signal for all dancing carnivore pepperhead children to stand on the booth, spinning and twirling a' la Bernadette Bassenger. But with the twirling, there comes a great risk. And that risk brings with it the chance that the dancing carnivore pepperhead child might get dizzy and fall, cracking her forehead on the edge of the table.
First rule of dining in public: the quickest way to end a perfectly wonderful dance routine is to face-plant on the table. Trust your mother on this one, Child, for she knows.
The big Swedish meatball that's sprouted from Clara Jane's forehead? I call it Bjorn.
Posted by Robin at October 11, 2005 02:16 PM
Comments
Psst! I know, like 3,684 people who will skip right over the wonderful parts of this story and focus on how you failed to clean up after your daughter...
I love that Clara "Stomach of Steel" Jane has a more refined palate than most of my relatives!
Please give Bjorn a little rub for me.
Posted by: FP at October 11, 2005 03:45 PM
i read the article with great interest too. I have continued to eat spicy foods while breastfeeding, in hopes that my 2 month old won't be a picky eater. i'm glad to know that your food adventures have gone well. you inspire me!
Posted by: suzie at October 11, 2005 04:02 PM
Yay for Clara Jane!
She and I are food friends. My favorite meat-containing dish at the Q-D is the shredded beef taco, tho' I get mine with the hot red salsa (roja, as I recall).
Mmm, mmm, mmm. Taco heaven!
(Hope Bjorn's stay is a brief one. Maybe drown him with gravy?)
Posted by: Summer at October 11, 2005 04:14 PM
You know what makes that child so fabulous? Aside from her mother, that is...
It's that you first fed her white peaches. Consuming peaches makes you a genius.
Posted by: DixiePeach at October 11, 2005 05:10 PM
I thought it was interesting that DixiePeach most enjoyed the whole "peaches" thing. Well, that and the fact you had a dance party at a taco joint.
Posted by: Big Daddy B at October 11, 2005 07:01 PM
Feed her poop. My dog seems to like it.
I LOVE being able to feed your monkey anything off my plate and not worry about you freaking out about it. It sucks, however, that she's tried more ethnic foods than I have... Interesting.
Posted by: Wendy at October 11, 2005 09:44 PM
I fed the kiddo Hummus tonight and thought of all the kids around the world that eat Hummus every day. Odd, but I'm determined to have a child that eats "normally" (aka Not like me).
Posted by: Sarcastic Journalist at October 11, 2005 10:41 PM
She liked the chicken korma and garlic nan last night, too. She actually ate some of the rice for a change. Of course, it was covered with the korma sauce... We must be horrible parents; we skipped the rice cereal and now she finds plain rice boring and uninteresting.
Posted by: B. at October 12, 2005 07:25 AM
I swear by Davies Gate boo boo stick for Bjorns. I think it's the tea tree oil in it, but it works a treat.
I'm so jealous on the food front. At a bit more than a year, Bean decided that she was pretty much a vegetarian and wanted nothing more to do with "sauce". Now that she's 3, she's expanding her repetoire, but the positive is that at least she eats tons of fruits and veggies and most ethnic restaurants have some sort of steamed rice and veggies combo I can get for her.
Posted by: Liz at October 12, 2005 01:30 PM
We're ABBA dancers here, too.
Posted by: Eulallia at October 12, 2005 09:52 PM
Good for Clara Jane! Don't you long for the days when lunch could make you dance for joy?
Maddie also eats anything and everything - to the horror of my mother-in-law. That part is kind of fun.
Posted by: Angie G at October 12, 2005 09:55 PM
