Testing the limits of the carpet cleaner

Cutie Pie has started a new battle of wills. It's anybodies guess when he will abruptly end a meal by throwing his tray across the room.

As you can see, Cutie Pie has discovered an interesting quirk of our otherwise perfect highchair. It has a clear plastic tray that nests on top of the pretty wooden tray. This way the baby eats off the plastic, washable part but the chair still looks nice and matches the dining room furniture. This feature was important to me when we bought the chair because our house is small and there was no where to store a high chair. The baby's chair was going to be right out there 24/7 and I wanted it to blend in with the rest of the decor. I have since given up on such illusions, as you can probably tell if you look back at the pictures of my living room covered with a garish baby mat and littered with toys.

I am open to suggestions on how to manage this messy dilemma. We bought one of those booster seats that pull right up to the table but he throws his little baby plates and bowls around the room with reckless abandon so I prefer to use the highchair where he can eat off the tray. At least the tray is big and easy to catch before it hits the floor.

This whole thing started as a protest by Cutie Pie when we didn't feed him fast enough. Cutie Pie prefers to scoop all his food up in one handful and shove it in his mouth, often choking in the process. To avoid having to use CPR at every meal, we had to be more careful about giving him small bites and pacing him through the meal. However, sometimes Cutie Pie eats those bites in a matter of seconds. If you mistakenly turn your attention to your own plate, you are in trouble. I've had to learn to eat with one hand holding down Cutie Pie's tray and the other hand cutting up Cutie Pie sized bites. If only I had three hands so I could feed myself!

http://theadventuresofcutiepie.blogspot.com/

All Done!

"Alright Cutie Pie are you ready to eat? "

"All Done!"

"What? You're all done?"

"All Done!"

"OK. If you say so." I put the spoon and bowl away.

"Aaah!" Cutie Pie reaches for the food. "All Done!"

I'm starting to think that Cutie Pie doesn't know what "All Done" means. We were so proud of him when he started signing. "All Done" isn't a real sign but the kids in our family are taught to put their arms in the air to express that they are through eating. It seemed like a good idea to me so we began teaching Cutie Pie this easy sign.

After just a few weeks, he seemed to show us his sign for "All Done" at the end of his meals. I was so proud when I told his Teachers at school about my super intelligent baby and I asked them to please reinforce his signing when he eats in the classroom. We really thought we were getting somewhere. But in the last few days, Cutie Pie has been signing "All Done" and saying "Ah Duh!" right away when he sits down to eat. Then when we stop feeding him, he gets upset! Oh well. At least he knows to say "All Done" at meals.

http://theadventuresofcutiepie.blogspot.com/

Peas? No Thank You!

Yesterday, Cutie Pie's Teacher informed me that he didn't eat his peas. I laughed and told her about the time I tried to give him peas and he rejected them. Cutie Pie likes babyfood peas. He eats them all the time. Peas have the most fiber of all the vegetables so anytime Cutie Pie gets stopped up, he gets a meal of peas. I thought he'd like to try the real thing so I put a few on his plate one day. He looked at me like I was crazy.

Apparantly she had been pretty surprised because she had never seen Cutie Pie turn down any kind of food. I've watched Cutie Pie eat lunch at school with his friends. The teachers have to feed Cutie Pie two spoonfulls of baby food then hurry and give all the other babies one spoonfull as fast as they can before Cutie Pie notices that he's not being fed. At home, Cutie Pie loudly complains if I dare to take a bite of my own dinner in between Cutie Pie's spoonfuls of baby food.

So last night, we just happened to have peas with dinner. What are the chances? I decided to try again to instill a love for green vegetables in my child. I picked a couple of peas out of my meal and put them on his tray. Cutie Pie just stared at me. I smashed one. Cutie Pie whined for more baby food. Then I had a genius idea. I put a pea on the spoon and fed it to Cutie Pie with a little bit of baby food. I thought that if Cutie Pie could just get used to eating peas, maybe he'd like them. No such luck. Cutie Pie ate the baby food, swallowed, then spit out a pea. I tried again but this time I smashed the pea first. Out came the smashed pea. After four or five tries, Cutie Pie finally ate a pea, I think.

http://theadventuresofcutiepie.blogspot.com/

No! No! No!

"Here we go Cutie Pie! It's a new food. No, you put it in your mouth. What's wrong? It's not yucky, it's good. Put it back in your mouth. You'll like it. No, leave it in your mouth. It's good. Yum yum yum! What's wrong? Are you choking? Why are you coughing? It's not even in your mouth! OK, smile and open wide. Here comes another bite!"

Cutie Pie is expanding his repertoire of food. Each day we try a new food or texture. He used to be very adventurous, willing to try anything new. Now he is becoming more cautious. He is careful when he puts new foods in his mouth and sometimes makes his I don't like it face before the food even touches his lips! He's never had an allergic reaction or a bad experience with food. So, I'm not sure where this new apprehension is coming from. Luckily once he tastes it, he usually likes it. He's even starting to like bananas.

Just a few weeks ago, I could name every food he'd ever had. But now that he's a solid food pro it is easier for me to name foods he hasn't had.

Cutie Pie is now only mildly interested in eating but he is fascinated by the mess he can make with his food. He actively tries to knock the food off the spoon. Once there is a splat of something on his high chair tray, he reaches for it enthusiastically and smears it as far as he can reach. Then Cutie Pie likes to grab his sippy cup and slam it on the table. He knows it won't spill if he tips it over but he can get water to fly out the spout if he bangs it. So this is what he does. He closes his eyes because he knows he will get splashed in the face.

Meal time has become great fun for Cutie Pie. He especially likes it when we have guests over so he can show off his new tricks to visitors. He loves to smile and flirt with Grandma in between bites.

Somehow he has learned to shake his head as if he is saying "No! No! No!" I have no idea how he learned this because as far as I can remember, Cutie Pie has never even heard the word no! Meal time is especially fun to say No. Cutie Pie likes to do it right as the spoon is entering his mouth, sending food flying every which way. It's part of his plan for turning meal time into play time. The kid is a genius.

http://theadventuresofcutiepie.blogspot.com/