Pixie is at the age where she wants to DO ALL THE THINGS, which is both awesome and exhausting. She likes to make her own meals, though she likes actually eating them even less. She loves those little clementine “Cuties” and the easy to peel aspect is perfect for a toddler’s budding independence. She loves regular oranges, too, but she can’t manage to peel one solo yet. Actually, even the Cuties are slightly difficult (which I guess is the mark of “developmentally appropriate challenges,” which sounds boring just thinking about), so there’s this mix of peeling, tearing, gouging, and gnawing at the peel with frank determination.
After she has successfully freed the juicy (read: MESSY) fleshy bits from the peel, she might deign to eat it. Or she’ll just leave it on the floor, or the couch, under the table, shoved inside her hand-me-down My Little Pony mini playhouse thing… (you know, the usual places; yes, I supervise her, why do people keep asking me that?). So I spend some non-trivial quantity of time daily hunting whole oranges and tiny bits of peel, which she graciously offers to the dogs, and they politely slobber on before spitting it out because, hey, IT’S A PEEL, not some delicacy like left-over macaroni, carrot, or poop.
Can you get vitamins from just playing with your food, or does she actually need to eat it? Last night she didn’t want anything to do with her dinner until I tried to put it away. Then, she needed to stand in the kitchen and lick her bowl of rice pasta and pumpkin sauce. Not eat it, just lick it.
One, two, done! Okay, you can put it away now, Momma.
Thanks, baby!
