“Open up.”
“No!”
Merry frowned. How could this child possibly be so stubborn? Must be from her mother. He offered the spoon again. “The ponies eat their lunch. Don’t you want to eat lunch, too?”
“No!” Ivy poked her finger into the plate of mushy carrots and wrinkled her nose.
Merry sighed and regarded his daughter. Perhaps a different tactic would work? “You have to eat your lunch, Ivy. It will make you grow into a big girl. Don’t you want to grow up?”
“No!”
Pippin snickered from his place on the other side of the table. “Me neither, Ivy-lass.”