Broccoli

has never been one of Naomi's favorite treats. In fact, for some time now, she's treated most green vegetables with deep and abiding suspicion. This just goes to show that it's not always just the parents' fault if a child won't eat vegetables, since her older sister is regularly heard to yell, "More brussels sprouts, please!" when said vegetable is being served. Hannah has loved green vegetables ever since her pincher grip developed at around 8-9 months. When other kids were pinchering up Cheerios, Hannah was working on miniscule slices of asparagus.

Even though Naomi doesn't usually eat anything green that I put on her plate -- except guacamole (but not plain avocado) -- I still offer it to her. And sometimes I offer an incentive, like salad dressing or ketchup to dip it in. So when I offered broccoli last night, I wasn't at all surprised that, although she dipped one piece of it in the ketchup, she then set it back on the tray and began demanding more meat and sweet potatoes. And pears.

I was absolutely shocked, though, when I was able to convince her to try a bite and she proceeded to eat about 1/2 of an adult sized serving of broccoli. I'm not sure what happened, but I like it. Maybe we'll try brussels sprouts next.