Carrots and my tear of joy

I think I have mentioned before that Oliver will not eat one vegetable. Since we switched from pureed baby food, he has refused to eat any. Doesn't matter if they are raw or cooked soft. If they are sweet or savory. If I add good stuff to it or not. If a vegetable touches his tongue, it's out immediately. I've even tried to sneak a small vegetable in (when he wants us to feed him occasionally) under the other item he actually wants. He will start chewing, then immediately stop, start making gagging faces and spit it out. D.R.A.M.A. K.I.N.G. Honestly, part of me has wondered if Grandma Dee's vegetable aversion really was a genetic thing like she has claimed all these years. Hmmmm.

Given that he won't eat any, I have had to be more stealth about, when I have time that is. I have made popscicles with spinach ground up, fruit smoothies with kale and spinach, fresh orange juice with carrots, and I have even pureed different veggies and added them to various entree items... which I can't tell you which because Steve reads this. Never mind sweetie, just ignore that.

Though I do this on the sly, I still give him the vegetable we eat every night in hopes that one day he will eat it. This last weekend, Oliver picked up a carrot, which is not uncommon for him to tease me like that. Steve actually said: "are you teasing mommy?" With our cheering (yes, I know you aren't supposed to do that... but whatever... sometimes you have to bend the rules), he took a bite. Then chewed it. Smiling large, he took another bite and chewed it too. We started doing cart wheels in the kitchen... it was amazing. We were so over the top that Collin and Ethan were eating up their carrots in hopes of the same cheering and performance, which we did, even though they both love carrots.

Yes, he's standing in his highchair, but who cares, he's EATING a carrot. He could be hanging out upside down from it for all I care!

Just to see if this wasn't a fluke, I have served carrots two other times this last week and he ate them all time, with a little cheering of course. Maybe we have turned the corner?? Maybe? "Go Oliver! Eat those yummy brussel sprouts! Woo hoo!!" Okay, maybe not that corner just yet.