My little monster a picky eater?

My little girl who used to eat whatever she was fed with very quickly is not behaving the same anymore. Of late, she likes to take her own sweet time with her food (except her favourites such as cheese, cornflakes, grapes which she will finish in 5 mins). A bowl of porridge that will usually take her 15 mins or less to finish is now taking 30 mins or more! And mummy is losing her patience.

For some weird reasons she will show keen interest in the food during the 1st few spoons and thereafter she will keep the food in her mouth. I have to constantly remind her to chew and swallow and have to demonstrate until my jaws got tired. Why is she behaving like this? Is this normal? or is she bored with the same usual stuff that I have been feeding her?


Apart from eating so slowly, she's also rejecting green leafy vegetables. Since I started giving her rice with meat and veges, she will spit out the vege or use her fingers to remove them from her mouth. I have so far only given her steam spinach and she dislike it. I have also given her cabbage with no luck. I have tried hiding the veges under the meat or in between the rice but she still figured it out. Luckily she's not making a fuss when I put the veges in her porridge (maybe not yet). How else can I get her to eat green leafy veges?

Lately, I also found her picky when it comes to fruits. When she was younger she enjoyed all sorts of fruits given to her. Now she will react differently towards different fruits. Her current favourites are grapes (her all time favourite), dragon fruit and orange. Fruits such as papaya, mango, strawberry, apple and banana will only be taken when she feels like it. If she doesnt feel like it, she will take a bite and then run away from me.

I also fed her avocadoes with yogurt as she dislike the avocado on its own. I've been giving her this combination for months and lately she's been trying to suck the yogurt from the spoon without eating the avocado. Isn't she cheeky? She's doing the same when she wants the soup without the rice. I wonder where she learnt all these from and although it does look cute and cheeky, it is driving me up the wall!