DS still wants mashed fruits/vegetables at 17.5mo

[M and N's Mom]

My DS is a great eater.  He eats meats, bread, cheese, pasta, raisins, cereal, etc. in small pieces from his tray.  But when it comes to fruits and veggies he will only eat them if they are pureed (with the exception of peas and corn).  He willingly eats them pureed, and is getting pretty good with the spoon, but DH thinks (and I agree) that we shouldn't be pureeing them anymore or he will get too used to that and never want to eat fruits and veggies that are just cooked, or raw.  We eat quite healthily, and want to make sure his intake of fruits/veggies doesn't go down, but if I don't puree them, he won't eat them.

A typical lunch for him would include 4 cubes of mashed veggies/fruit, and some pieces of meat or cheese or bread, etc.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

TIA

[peeta]

You could start hand mashing them (so that they have more chunks) and then slowly mashing less and less.  Maybe "soft fruit" like mango and watermelon, that can taste "mashed"?  What about cutting small pieces and giving DS a fork.  If he's getting good with a spoon he might like a fork...I know we often "cheer" when DD uses her fork to eat instead of her hands. 

Good luck