Madeleine Tries a Raspberry...Sort Of

While she may claim to NOT want raspberries on her tummy, when in truth she secretly DOES want them, Madeleine remains pretty adamant about NOT wanting *actual* raspberries inside her mouth and/or digestive system.  She typically refuses to eat them if I offer one to her, but today I became convinced that if she just tried one she would realize how good raspberries taste.  EPIC FAIL.

ME: (popping a fresh raspberry in Madeleine's mouth)
MADELEINE: (spitting the raspberry out)  Mommy, I don't like that!
ME: You should try it, Madeleine.  It's really good!
MADELEINE: But what is it?
ME: It's a raspberry.
MADELEINE: No, I can't try it.  I don't want it.  Mommy, the raspberry doesn't LIKE me.
ME: Well, I think you just should try it and see how it tastes.
MADELEINE: But...Mommy...why did you give me a raspberry?
ME: Because I just bought these fresh raspberries, and I was eating some, and they're so super delicious that I thought you might like one.
MADELEINE: But...Mommy...they're NOT super delicious to ME.
ME: Okay, that's fine, I just thought you'd like it.

Later on, I thought I could trick her into giving it a try.

ME: Okay, girls if you want to watch a movie, you both need to try the potty.  And Madeleine, you need to pop that raspberry in your mouth.
MADELEINE: Uh, no, I can't, because it's NOT delicious.

Even later on, I decided to give it one more go:

ME: Madeleine, what do you think about raspberries?
MADELEINE: Um...I don't LIKE them.
ME: But why not?
MADELEINE: But...I like BLACKBERRIES. 
ME: But will you try one raspberry?
MADELEINE: No.  I don't LIKE them.  But I like the BLACK ones.  But I don't like the RED ones.
ME: Why not?
MADELEINE: Because...they taste ROTTENED.

How he has such a strong opinion about a fruit that she immediately spit out without even trying is confusing to me, but she is absolutely gung-ho in her anti-raspberry stance.

And in unrelated news, I bought the girls new princess and mermaid coloring books yesterday, and they have been completely absorbed both in coloring the pages AND giving names to every princess or mermaid in the books.  Not only do these princesses and mermaids get names, but they get entire back stories too, including ages and personal habits.  I'm totally stunned that there haven't been any made-up songs yet, but these coloring pages are still young, so I'm sure it won't be long before the girls are bellowing away. 

For some reason, the kids feel that I need to come and "meet" every single princess or mermaid that they're coloring, and if I don't enter the room within a minute or so, the kids will actually bring the books to me and introduce their newly colored characters.  So far I have met Elina, Marie, Rita, Reely, Ralla, Princess Q, Ginger Snap, Princess Ellabella, and many others whose names escape me. 

In addition to pictures of mermaids and princesses, these new coloring books also have activity pages, like "Find which shoe is different" and "Tic-Tac-Toe."  Unfortunately, the girls' attempt to play "Tic-Tac-Toe" together today was an utter bust; as Julia put it to me, in exasperated tones, "Mama, Madeleine asked me to play Tic-Tac-Toe with her, but then she, like, RUINED it, because she decided to make an 'O' in EVERY SINGLE row on the whole page."

Julia wasn't kidding.  This was truly a one-child game Madeleine played, in which she completely and utterly dominated:

At least she didn't color the whole page in black this time.