Meredith eats things. She eats blocks, and books, and the tv remote control. However, she distinguishes between toys and food with an uncanny sort of sixth sense. With almost unfailing accuracy, she refuses to bring anything consumable to her mouth.
UNTIL THIS WEEKEND.
This week, amid the ever-present but recently more anxiety-ridden battle called "Mealtime at the Meyer's"- a breakthrough occurred. Spinning off the idea that Meredith loves to put the little ribbons from her baby toys in her mouth, we served her the most ribbon-like food imaginable--plain spaghetti! This met with moderate, reserved success. She picked it up and put it in her mouth. She played with it, broke it into pieces, and put it into her mouth several more times before eventually sacrificing it by throwing it onto the floor as a peace-offering to the dog.
Clearly we were on to something. Now, only one question remained: "How do we get Mer to swallow some of the food?"
Luckily, it didn't take very many glances in the refrigerator before we realized the potential of STRING CHEESE.
Slimy and smooth, like its spaghetti counterpart, string cheese never crumbles on to Meredith tongue with a rough sensation that results in automatic raspberries. String cheese is also long enough that Mer can grasp it easily, and it is flexible enough that it can wiggle into her mouth even if her aim is not dead-on. Unlike spaghetti, though, string cheese has TASTE.
Upon discovering the pleasures of mozzarella string cheese, Meredith promptly ate/played with an entire stick work of strings.
It may not sound like much to you, but to us it is a major battle won! Meredith independently fed herself some food!
Now, my next question--what else comes in string form?
*Written on September 11, 2011. However, my fond feelings for string-cheese have only increased since then, making me feel the need to include it in my list of thankfulness.
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