Surprise Picnic

My sweet Aziza did not eat many solids.  She could manage things like peas and diced carrots, gluten free macaroni noodles, Rice Krispies, quinoa, oatmeal etc.  These were things that did not require much in the way of chewing - otherwise all of her food was of a chunky mashed consistency.  If I attempted to put anything solid in front of her that was larger she would immediately throw it across the room.  Not in anger ... simply because she had no use for it and therefore did not want it in her space.

When Aziza started first grade in September 2012, I started having to send lunch to school.  I was a bit stumped as to what to send but soon figured out what would work.  She had a few different options for lunch throughout the week but by far her favorite was this very heathy lunch:

An entire sweet potato cooked and mashed with garlic, chicken broth and quinoa.
An entire avocado that her teacher would mash for her and sprinkle with brown sugar or honey.
A container of soy yogurt and/or applesauce
A whole banana that would be mashed.
An apple juice box.
A water bottle.

Aziza was a very good eater with a crazy huge appetite, but had little interest in anything solid (nor did she have the skills to eat solids).  So, one day in September 2012 I was very surprised by what I saw.  Aziza had disappeared with her favorite toy drum as I was getting some housework done.  However, after a few minutes I realized that I was not hearing the drum anymore so I popped in to check on her.  Aziza had managed to swipe a muffin from our kitchen counter, peel the wrapper back and was attempting to have a picnic with it on my bed.  I think that she was very frustrated with herself that although she knew how to bite into it, she did not have the oral motor skills to chew and swallow it.  Sweet baby girl, it was the closest she came to having gluten or dairy in a year and a half!  I let her try to continue to eat it, and eventually she lost interest leaving me with a bed full of muffin crumbs.  A wonderful memory.