The Girls and Food

Though it can be very frustrating, it also makes me laugh when it comes time to feed the girls a meal. Here's how a typical meal preparation conversation with Lily goes.
L: What are we having for dinner Mommy?
M: Chicken, green beans and peaches.
L: I no like peaches or green beans. I no like chicken either.
M: Well you don't have to eat them, but they are going on your plate.
FYI, it's a lie that she doesn't chicken or peaches (she's telling the truth about the green beans though); she does, but it's her initial reaction to say she doesn't like something.
She typically eats a small dinner, and then she gets down and goes about her business. She may ask for a snack later, but we tell her (nicely) "tough luck, you didn't eat your dinner." Granted, some meals go better than others, but this is the typical first response when I tell her what we're eating.

Mia, on the other hand, will eat just about anything you put in front of her. She doesn't eat the food, she scarfs down the food, often faster than we can cut it up for her. It's really pretty amusing to watch.

Last night for dinner, I was making Carrabba's Chicken Bryan (it was awesome by the way), spinach salad and mashed potatoes. When I told Lily what we were having, I heard the "I no like..." speech. A few minutes later, Lily found the package that held the goat cheese for the chicken, and she asked what it was. I told her it was goat cheese, she thought about it and then decided she wanted some. I told her she couldn't have it right then because it wasn't time to open the package which she accepted. So, dinner's ready and we're all sitting down. Lily asks me where her goat cheese is because I had given her plain grilled chicken instead of topping it with the goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, basil and lemon butter sauce that makes it Chicken Bryan (seriously, it was awesome). I really doubted she would like it because it's not "cheese tasting" like the cheddar cheese she usually likes, but I got a little piece of it for her. Low and behold, she loved it and wanted more! How funny that the child who has become so picky and won't eat regular, delicious-tasting food, loves goat cheese?! Only my child.

After we finished dinner, we put Mia down, and she walked over to Lily's spot; she tried to stretch up and reach Lily's plate but it was just out of reach. I thought "let's see what happens" and gave her a bite of goat cheese. She happily ran off munching on it, and a few seconds later reappeared asking for more. The same thing happened, and when she came back this time I tried giving her mashed potatoes instead; she spit them back out at me and pointed to the goat cheese. So there you have it...if you ever fix a meal for the Hooks family, please make sure there is some goat cheese in it because we all love it!