A New Like and a Dislike

Norah has officially "outgrown" the bouncer. The past 3 times we've put her in it, she has bailed out (still strapped in, but hanging upside down), so we finally decided it was time to return it to Jenny. Jen, being the generous soul that she is, offered us a trade--bouncer for jumperoo.

We took the jumperoo over to Grammy and Grandpa's house Saturday night to let Norah try it out, and I think its safe to say, it was a very good trade! For two straight hours (and I assure you, I am not exaggerating--we timed it), Norah bounced and jumped and laughed and shrieked. She loved the boooiiinng (pronounced: boy - eee - oing) sound effects, and of course, the jumping. But I think her favorite part of the evening was watching Grandpa and Uncle Johnny's dogs. Sally and Doby didn't know what to think of the new contraption in their livingroom (let alone the energetic girl at the helm). They kept pacing past her--never getting too close--and each time they would pass by, Norah would go into hyper-jumping/shrieking mode, as though she was putting on a show for them. I wish you could see in the pictures how high she was jumping--she was really getting some good air. And let me tell you, she slept like a log Saturday night!

As for the "dislike" promised in today's title...we have finally stumbled across a food that Norah does not enjoy. Sweet peas. I still can't believe it. I love peas. How can my own child hate them so? Oh wait...I think I may know the answer to that question. Grammy. My mom hates peas with an unmatched passion...that is it was unmatched, up until I tried to feed them to Norah this week. The first two bites, she just smacked the peas in her mouth, as though something wasn't quite right. Then she began with the tongue-out show of disgust. Finally, around bite 5-6, she held the entire contents of the spoon on top of her tongue and started making a gagging noise. At this point, I decided we'd had enough peas for one night. Still, I didn't want her to learn that she can make a few yucky faces and get chocolate cake, so I went into the kitchen and got jar of green beans to fake her out. She was pretty apprehensive about the first couple of bites, but quickly adjusted to switched menu and devoured the entire jar.

I am not ready to give up on peas just yet. I've read that it sometimes takes several tries to gain success with a new food. In fact, we tried peas again last night and made it to about 10 bites before Norah's gagging tendancies returned. (Please spare me any nasty comments on how insensitive and mean I am...it was only a few bites, and she was rewarded with her favorite, bananas, when we got through with the peas) I wont push her too hard, and I am proud of what a good eater she is already, even if she doesn't share my love for peas.