Chicken Nuggets a la Orange

Well, I was hoping to write a very snooty post today about the evils of children's menus -- see the NYT story that suggests the young American palate is turning as beige as the ubiquitous chicken nugget. (Sadly true, I fear.)

Such a post would have started generously: "Lucylu eats chicken nuggets, of course, don't all toddlers?" But it quickly could have asserted my superior parenting skills: "But she actually prefers such things as grilled salmon, chicken pad thai or the baby prawn salad at Ikea."

Anyway, I should have moved my fingers a little faster. Not only did my little munchkin have a chicken nugget Happy Meal for lunch yesterday -- at Old MacDonald's! On the playscape! (And she needed TWO orders because she loved them so!) She then insisted on a half-dozen more in the microwave for dinner, after turning up her nose at my grilled baby back ribs, sweet potatoes and avocado salad. What's wrong with this girl??

"Something else! I need something else!"

Well, most days I think we do pretty well. She does try new foods. She doesn't always like them. (Last week, basil-walnut pesto... a no-go. She prefers butter on her noodles.) But she does eat collard greens. Salami. Black or green olives. And she usually likes avocado. Mango. Almost all fruits really, even kiwi. She loves blueberries. When we shopped together at Giant, I'd let her eat a whole pint in the shopping cart and then wonder, hm, should I pay for this?? (Probably.) Broccoli. Spinach. Asparagus tips. She doesn't care for carrots. And she does not like pancakes or French toast. For breakfast, she prefers eggs -- scrambled or hard-boiled -- and sausages, or cold cereal with berries. Oatmeal too, especially with dried cranberries.

On Saturday, I asked her, "What do you want for breakfast?"
"Hm," she paused. "Chocolate."
Okay, so we're not perfect.

She does not like pizza! (Again, what's wrong with this girl?) And she does not like cake. But she loves Stouffer's frozen dinners, especially the salisbury steak, and she has a weird affinity for Lean Cuisine's Tuna Noodle Casserole. I'd say her favorite ethnic flavor is Japanese -- she likes edamame and miso soup with extra tofu (and insists on using that big unwieldy spoon). Sensibly, she loves her Italian grandmother's meatballs too. And she does love ice cream. Oh, child of mine and David's...

HEALTH UPDATE: I took the babies to the developmental specialist yesterday and I think they did really well! Their social behavior fits their chronological age. They have very impressive smiles and goo-gaa's! Their motor development is more like a 2-month-old, which is their gestational age. They don't grasp things yet (except David's chest hair...doesn't that count?) So that's all good. And then they saw the pediatrician again today. We think Josephine has reflux. She's going to start taking Zantac and go for some wacky ultrasound, where she will drink milk and we will watch it go down, down, down (and hopefully not up, up, up.) She weighs 9 lb 6 oz and Margaret weighs 12 lb 4 oz!