Zucchini?

No, thank you!!

I failed again. I was mistakenly lured by some beautiful zucchini as I perused the produce department for another new food to introduce to Jillian. I debated whether or not to leave the skin on the zucchini as I prepared to cook and puree the little gems, and in the end thought I was smart to leave it on--you know, for nutrient preservation sake. Matt and I both tasted my concoction when I was through and we decided she would love it--it was sweet and the flecks of dark green skin were undetectable in texture (um, so I thought). This was her worst food refusal ever--she wouldn't even swallow it. She just held it in her mouth and screamed at me. Really. I had to clean it out of her mouth myself. Poor thing. But--before you go thinking I really have no baby food making skills at all, I should share with you that last week I successfully whipped up some peaches and apples...Jillian thought both were divine. I will prevail!

In other food news, I started giving Jillian very small pieces of soft diced banana in an attempt to work on finger feeding (and yes, fine and visual motor skill development). This actually started after Matt made a comment about the "regard raisin" item that is prevalent on several developmental exams. He remembers this from medical school and wanted to know if Jillian would "regard raisin" (in other words, notice a raisin sitting in front of her and attempt to pick it up). I suppose you had to be there in order to understand the full humor of the situation, but he grabbed a craisin (dried cranberry) out of the pantry and set it in front of her and said: "Regard raisin!". She looked at him (but not the craisin) and smiled. To be fair...he told her to regard a raisin and had the nerve to set a craisin in front of her :) Excellent listening, Jillian! You just might be ready for a game of Simon Says in the very near future. Anyway...
The first time I gave her the banana in this form was not the most well-received.

She has since decided it is fun to try to "chew" bananas, but only if I feed them to her. She does try to pick them up (and succeeds) but usually just drops them on her bib or in her lap at this point. I think once she realizes she has the power to put the banana in her mouth herself, she will shovel it in!
And lastly, here's a shot just to prove that not ALL food experiences around here are torturous for our poor child. The highchair is a happy place!