Feed Me!
There is nothing better than watching Henry develop as a little person. Each time he does something new, I want to give him a cake and buy him presents and give him a big hug. (Usually, he just gets the hug.)
But with each new thing that he learns, there are always bumps in the road (sometimes literally). With walking, there are the trips and falls and bruises that come with it. (With running, multiply those bumps by two.) With talking, there are the challenges of listening to him yell out “shit” in a crowded store (instead of “sit”) or “cock” (instead of “truck”). (Sorry for the blue language.)
And lately, Henry’s been feeding himself more. Not the picking it up with his hand and shoving it in his mouth, but using forks and spoons. Henry is good with many things; his aim, however, is not yet up to snuff. So spoonfuls of food tend to end up on his bib or the tray of the highchair or the floor as much as in his stomach.
As such, half of each meal is usually Henry feeding himself and the other half us feeding him.
Yesterday morning, however, things changed. I strapped him in his highchair, and he wailed. I tried to put on his bib, and more wails. Sliding the tray in, elicited the biggest wail of all. And when I spooned up a heaping pile of apple yogurt (one of his favorite flavors), he swatted it away.
He wanted nothing to do with me and my evil food. Not in the standard situation. Instead, he walked over to the table and chairs that his grandfather got him for Christmas, sat down, and said, “Eat.” So I put the yogurt in front of him, handed him a spoon, and, with no bib around his neck, he proceeded to eat the entire container.
Okay, not the whole container. Maybe half. The other half ended up on the table (which he smeared around a bit), on his green sweatshirt (just out of the wash), and in his hair (apple yogurt as a conditioner? perhaps).
And he loved it. He had the time of his life, with no wails.
Next up, of course, is to have him cook his own meals, and then ours. (And, most importantly, do the dishes, too.)
