"I don't like it"

I have just listened to 10 minutes of the "Mommy...MOOOMMMMYY! Mommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmy!" anthem, otherwise known as Cavan in her bed trying to pain me into picking her up before she takes a nap. But now I hear her playing with her dollies and stuffed animals, which will probably last about 20 minutes before she falls asleep. But I have to laugh because the transition from the Mommy screams to her conversation with her dolly, Betty, went something like this:

"Mommmmmmyyyy! Mommy? Mom? .......
Betty, Mommy's not coming. No, she's not. No, your mommy's not coming either...."

But onto my intended post. Cavan has been developing picky-eater habits lately. Up until now, she would eat nearly anything we put in front of her, veggies of all types included. Now, even though she has eaten particular foods, like chicken or carrots, for almost two years she is claiming, "I don't like it."

Some of this may correlate with her other obstinate behavior, like wanting anything other than what I'm offering. For example, I'll give her a purple sippy cup. She will insist on yellow. Cavan, do you want to wear your puppy outfit or your butterfly shirt? She will cleverly choose something that I did not offer—the froggy hoodie, of course. So when dinnertime rolls around, we are only at about a 30% success rate of Cavan eating the same meal that we are, but I'm skeptical that this is because she doesn't like it.

But luckily, her favorite meal consists of one of the healthiest foods available—black beans. She probably has beans six times a week, between breakfast, lunch and dinner. She loves pairing beans with diced tomatoes. Again, I can't complain about this either.

She loves fruit too. Grapes (quartered to avoid the number one toddler choking hazard), apple slices, strawberries, blueberries, bananas—all easy options. And her newest favorite snack is mozzarella string cheese. I wish Polly-O made packages of 48, instead of 12! So while it is difficult to get her to eat greenery lately, I don't think she's in any nutritional danger.

But the funniest part of this whole thing is when she forgets to be stubborn until she's three-quarters through her bowl of food. She'll be eating away with only two bites to go she'll spit it out and announce "I don't like it." You're not fooling me kid! So I guess it's time for bed. Upon hearing that announcement, she'll usually finish it right up.