In the evening, Aunt Erica and I visited longtime family friend Bill and his kids.
John really enjoyed tapping on the piano and making music.
We had some great excitement around here today. In the afternoon, I was eating a snack of yogurt in the kitchen, holding John on my hip. John began pointing to the yogurt: he often points to food but then won't eat it when offered. With no hope, I offered him some yogurt on a spoon. The first two tries he wouldn't take it, but he kept pointing, and on the third try, he accepted the spoon and ate the yogurt! Then he ate a second dab of yogurt!
That would have been enough excitement for one day, but there's more. At the end of dinner at Bill's, I was sitting at the table with John on my lap when we were served pumpkin pie. I began eating mine when John began pointing. I thought, "Yeah right, you're not going to eat this." Still, I offered him some pie on my fork and he ate it! In fact, he ate nearly ten bites of pie! If he pointed and I offered him my fork, he ate, but if I offered the fork without his pointing, he refused to open his mouth (and I've learned in the past six months just how tight a baby can clamp his lips shut).
One thing that has me thinking is that when John ate solids twice today, by spoon no less, he was in my arms or on my lap, eating from my foods. I held him on my lap while eating all meals for the first six months of his life and that is where he was when he began diving for my plate. But once he hit six months old and was heavier and could sit up, I began using his booster seat and trying to feed him in a more formal way across his plastic tray. I really have seen his interest in food dropping. I do always serve him what we're eating and I even make sure he sees me serve it from my plate to his plastic tray . . . but maybe he would behave differently if I brought him back onto my lap? I don't really want to do that because he weighs about 23 pounds, is a wiggle worm, and makes a big mess (which would fall onto me). However, this hypothesis certainly merits experimentation!
What fun! Do people tell you that you and your aunt look alike? If you click on the picture to make it larger your facial features make it quite apparent that you two are related :-)
ReplyDeleteRebecca: Yes! My Aunt Erica is my mom's identical twin, so my "genetic mother," and, yes, we look so much alike.
ReplyDeleteI agree - you all look alike! Really neat! and btw...there is at least One Togo's here in ATL. At least there was one, not too long ago, in Woodstock.
ReplyDeleteI fed my kids on my lap. Not all of them, but as the table got more crowded I would just keep them on my lap to avoid the big bulky high chairs which are so hard to maneuver around when you have a lot of little kids needing help. My youngest child, the one who was always on my lap to eat, is my best eater out of all my children. Never really thought about it before, perhaps that is why. I just held them for convenience, quiet, comfort, and so everyone could eat. Yes, I think you are onto something :-) I would keep trying that for a while. After he is eating well you can put him in his chair again. He will be so used to food, the texture and flavors, as well as having experienced more independence (with all this walking he's doing) and may be more ready to sit in the chair and eat alone after a bit more time.
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