good times in elytown: 10 month old toddler


checking what is going on outside

I thought Anika would be a baby for a bit longer... but that time is already over. She is crawling, walking with a bit of help, handing me cat fur off of the floor to throw away, saying: mama, dada, hi!, 'uck (duck), kiki ca (kitty cat), kuk (book), playing peek-a-boo and 'so big!', and having a strong opinion about what she wants to eat and how she wants to eat it.

Spoon feeding was not an option until she had tired of feeding herself string cheese bits and Cheerios. Then we first had to have music playing and give her a spoon to hold - for show. We soon evolved into giving her the food pouch thingy (with the cap on) to play with as we spoon fed her. That worked for 3 days. My mother has a much different feeding philosophy than I do. I want to control the situation, she just goes with it and lets Anika do it herself. Although my mom's methods are MUCH messier than my highly controlled, measured amounts methods, Anika enjoys herself and just about the same amount of food gets in her belly - and she probably needed a bath anyway!

This entire food situation came to a head last weekend. Kevin was camping with his buds and I was home with the darling angel. I had help during the day, but nights were all mine and mine alone. Which is code for I had little to no sleep and barely able to hold it together during the day. Sunday she proceeded to throw ALL of her food off the table and refuse any spoon feeding. By "refuse" I mean violently waving her arm to bat away the spoon as it nears her face and therefore splattering food all over the room - me included.

So as a pragmatic parent, I tried to find another solution (but not until I had some real sleep). New game plan - don't let her have a bottle until she eats her fill of solid foods. Amendment to the game plan - let her feed herself the pouch of food and forget about the mess. Second amendment to the game plan - put barley cereal on her spoon and let her feed that to herself too. Third amendment to the game plan - get a real high chair and put the Stokke away for a while to prevent pushing from the table and throwing food off the table to bend over and look at it. I think the game plan has been adjusted enough - time to test it out for a few days!