Little Stinker

When we first introduced "solid" foods to Kai, we thought he was going to be like his daddy--willing to eat anything. At least he downed the rice "cereal"--milk--like it was the tastiest thing ever. But since getting his first taste of fruits, his like of vegetables has slowly waned. And now we're experiencing an even larger dilemna, since his first taste of finger foods, Kai does not want to eat out of a spoon anymore. We have to try all kinds of tricks to distract him. Normally giving him a bowl or a spoon or a baby food lid will help for a bit, but that's not always the case. In my most desperate moments I'll hold a cheerio in front of him and then give him his food when he opens his mouth for the cheerio. Cruel, I know, but he has to eat something, and he's not adept enough at eating the cheerios yet for them to actually fill him up.



So, dinner tonight went something like this: the first few bites of sweet potatoes and apples and chicken were accepted rather easily, then I began using the lid distraction technique, when that began to fail I started making really funny faces and noises (he really liked them and was laughing a good deal--I got a few bites in during the laughter but felt guilty about really pushing it), then we used the cheerio distraction technique. Now, unfortunately, Kai is getting pretty smart about the cheerio tease and is quite quick to close his mouth. Finally, I called in reinforcements. Reid came and tried his best with silly noises and faces and we managed yet a few more bites. I was just about to toss in the towel when Reid pulled the honeydew from the refrigerator. Kai was super-excited about that and began eating that. Then we tried some avocado. He was eating, but like I said, he's not adept yet at the feeding himself thing and by this point he'd been in the high chair for an hour!!! I finally just abandoned ship and we moved on to his bath.

Now fast-forward to after his bath, he's dressed for bed and nursing. He finishes and so I go to settle him in and the crying begins. This isn't the "I don't want to go to bed" crying, but rather the crying where he says "Me, Me" which I think is his attempt to say milk, indicating that he's still hungry. So we troop back to the kitchen and pull out his original dinner--lo and behold, he eats it. So I place Kai in Reid's lap and begin to feed him. Would you believe he downed his food and ate about 6 ounces (a jar and a half!). Like I said, he's a little stinker!!