All of the baby books claim that there comes a time when a child no longer wants to be (or tolerates being) spoon fed. (I don't know why this is...I would love to have Sawyer from lost spoon feed me mint chocolate chip ice cream anytime!) I knew Aveline was squatting near the age the experts identify, I just thought that maybe she would bypass this need for nourishment independence. I realize that this is a necessary step on her path to becoming a full functioning adult--I know I don't want to be the one cutting and feeding her filet mignon after she's received her PhD. Why am I dreading this?
I took some time to examine why I was having such a hard time with this transition. Feeding her myself was so simple. It was neat, tidy. It was efficient. Now she will rarely take meals from my spoon. She grabs the utensil from my hand and waves it triumphantly in the air. It took three spoons just to feed her yogurt today--one for each of her hands and one for the delivery. The spoon in her grasp is merely an accessory at this point. She much prefers grabbing fist fulls of her grub and smearing it on her high chair, her face and sometimes in her mouth. Meals are no longer finished in fifteen minutes. They now take close to an hour. That includes the hosing down and complete wardrobe change both she and I undertake at the end. She enjoys it though. She even likes trying to feed us with her spoon.
I know I am going to miss feeding my baby like, like a baby. Soon she will be a toddler, then a child and eventually a teenager and an adult. I am going to try to cherish the dwindling number of times she allows me to give her a meal and the minimal clean up afterwards. Besides...I get to do this all again in just a few short months!
My big girl eating lasagna!
5 comments:
Little miss independent!
She's been grabbing the spoon for me too... And making a mess while doing it!!! But I LOVE IT!!! Seeing her in that highchair is a huge reality check for me, she's getting so big!
That's great that she's so independent! Cordy still won't eat with a spoon on her own. We can spoon feed her with no problems.
Of course, she won't hold her own sippy cup either, so I guess it's all part of the same problem. :)
But with another one on the way, it's probably for the best that she's learning to feed herself (and you!).
Has she started slinging spoonfuls of spaghetti on the walls yet? Oh, the messes! LOL
What a cutie!
Healthy eaters run in the family.
;)
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