Self-feeding - when did he grow up?

We've been working with Henry over the past week or so to transition to more finger-foods. It's hit and miss so far. He has always been such a good eater - as evidenced by his robust size - but we're finding with this new challenge, he's resisting foods for the first time.

I started him first on these little puffs made by Gerber designed for baby's first finger-foods. They come in a variety of flavors, but so far he seems to shun all but the banana flavor. We actually started these a few weeks ago, but it was the litmus test for me because I was so worried about the possibility of him choking. These puffs are tiny and melt almost immediately as they go in his mouth, so they were the training wheels we both needed to convince me he was ready to try something more adventurous.


This last week, I've introduced diced pieces of some of his favorite foods, as well as a new food or two. The game is on: Henry vs. Mama and the Big-Boy Foods. After several innings, we're not a lot closer to him being a designated eater, but it's okay because I'm not 100% sure I'm ready for such grown-upness anyway.

Let's look at the loss column:
*He just said no to diced cooked carrots, diced green beans, diced peaches, and diced pears.
*He actually gagged (and threw up) on small curd cottage cheese.
*He seems to have regressed a little on his puffs, with less than 50% accuracy in his aim to get them in his mouth.

And, a look at the win column:
*If I mash up the peaches a little, he might not spit them all out and manages to swallow a tad bit.
*If I mix his cottage cheese in with his sweet potatoes or peas, I can trick him into eating some of it.
*If I leave the green beans on his tray long enough, he'll eventually start playing with them and inadvertently a sliver or two end up in his mouth. And sometimes, he doesn't spit it back out.
*He loves baby yogurt, one of the new foods we've tried this week.
*If I take advantage of his hunger by withholding his bottle until I've first offered the foreign foods, he's a little more likely to sample. And sometimes, he doesn't spit it back out.

That's a final score of 5 to 3, so we'll say we're winning, but it's gonna be a long season. And, on a side note, since starting to offer solids before the bottle, I've experimented with seeing how well he could drink his bottle without my help. He's already in the high chair, so I just tilt it back so that gravity is working with him instead of against him, and he just goes to town. All by himself. Without my help. Doesn't need me anymore. *tear* I don't remember him asking me if he could be all grown up yet, because I'm sure I would have asked for a little more time.

Peas and Sunshine

Yesterday, perhaps to make good on my pledge to get together with that friend of mine and her daughter more often, we took advantage of the spectacular weather for our first outdoor play date. (Let's call my friend M and her daughter A.)

M and I spoke early in the morning to arrange our outing, and by lunchtime we were spread out atop blankets beneath a towering shade tree at the city park. My primary objective, outside of visiting with M&A, was to put Henry on a swing for the first time. I was sorely disappointed when we arrived to find that the swings were not safe or designed for babies as I had hoped at least one of them would be. We improvised, but I'll get to that in a bit.

I could not have dreamed or ordered better weather. Truthfully, in Texas, weather comes in extremes; seldom do you have days where it is completely comfortable to be outdoors without either a jacket or an economy sized tub of sunscreen, SPF 200. The spring and fall seasons last only a blink or two, with scorching summer heat being the dominant climate pattern. Case in point: today, in early March, the temperature is expected to reach near 90 degrees. But, yesterday, it was the perfect day to be outdoors. There was a breeze, not so strong that we were chasing down belongings blown from our picnic blanket, but gentle, ruffling up our children's fine wisps of hair. At that time of day, the temperature hovered above 70 degrees. The mild sunshine shimmered and sprayed between the branches of our shade tree - not the harsh rays of mid to late summer sun. I could have spent the entire day there, just soaking it in.

First order of business upon arrival was to feed the babies their lunch. Henry is transitioning to more finger-foods and varieties of textures, so I brought some foods that he had refused in the day or two preceding, hoping one of these times I offer, he'll be more receptive. Of course, I also brought back-ups: pureed peas and applesauce, and after he gagged on curds of cottage cheese and spat out diced carrots, I was thankful I'd had that foresight. He sipped on white grape juice and seemed every bit as smitten by our surroundings as I was. M and A tackled lunch as well - literally. M had to almost sit on her to keep her still long enough to eat. A, being mobile, wanted to cruise around and didn't seem terribly concerned about missing lunch.

Once the babies were fed, M and I grazed on our lunches while still fussing with the kids as they tumbled around on the blanket, playing with toys and trying to reach the edges of our palette. Before long, we had each of our cameras out and were staging scenes of the babies playing together (or not.) I know I took 94 pictures myself - yes, obscene.

As we neared nap time, I decided that I would attempt to get Henry in that swing, even if it meant I would have to hold him as I sat in it. We all made our way to the playground. Now, M is about perfectly sized, and her little bum did fit in the kid swing, but barely. That, of course, meant that my larger bum would in no way fit in the kid swing. I had spotted a tire swing on the opposite end of the playground equipment, and decided that I could probably get into that swing with Henry. It was hard plastic, shaped to look like a tire, but in no way soft or allowing any give. I hiked one leg over the edge to sort of straddle it and once I tested it a little, I relaxed and we swung in short strides. It wasn't exactly the picture I'd had in mind, but we were swinging. M&A came over to see how we were managing. I tried to reposition myself so that we weren't sitting so precariously on the edge, hopefully enabling us to get a better swing going. I bent my right leg so that it was spanning the hole in the middle, creating a place for Henry to sit that wasn't on the edge. Well, that hard plastic edge dug into my leg and was quite uncomfortable - but at this point, I was stuck. I couldn't move while holding Henry, and the longer I sat there, the more uncomfortable I became. M was trying not to laugh, failing. She took Henry just long enough for me to remove myself from the swing, but not before she snapped a picture - thanks, M! We were both laughing hysterically, and when M sends me that picture, I'll post it. Maybe.

Henry and I had such a great time - I hope another beautiful day finds us back at the park again soon. Here are just a few of my pictures: