Friday, February 16, 2007

Come And Get It!


Isaiah stood by the highchair with a look of disbelief. The question was, "Why are you letting him feed himself?" I giggled and said, "He has to learn sometime." He shook his head and responded, "What a MESS!"
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It all started a couple of days ago. He would whine around and head for the pantry to let me know he was hungry. I would say, "Are you hungry, you want a bite?" He would just whine louder, and signal the "gimme" sign with his hand.
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I would prepare him some food, put it in a bowl, and sit down on the living room floor indian style. He would waddle over to me, sit on the floor, and open his mouth. I would spoon feed him bite after bite, until it was all gone. He would then wonder off, completely content, and ready to find his brothers for some more play time.
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However, one day it all changed. We went through the typical lunch time routine. Where he demonstrated he was hungry by going to the pantry and crying. I prepared his lunch and sat on the floor to feed him, when he grabbed the spoon. I said, "No no Roman." He scowled at me and tugged harder on the spoon. I, relunctantly, gave it up to him, and he quickly, clumsily poked into the bowl, grabbed a noodle, and shoved it aimlessly into his mouth. His eyes lit up, and he gave me a sloppy smile, as if to say, "Seeeeeee!" I rewarded him by saying, "What a big boy, aren't you a good boy?!" He then attempted to feed himself the entire bowl. Yes, it was messy, and it took much longer, but his pride was well worth every pain staking bite. This is when I knew he was ready to sit back in the high chair, with his own bowl and spoon.
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Next day, I fixed him some organic tomato soup with stoved top stuffing mixed in, one of his all time favorite meals. I placed him in the freshly cleaned high chair, strapped him in, and gave him his food with a spoon. It all went civil enough in the beginning. I even began to check my blog, feeling a new sense of independence from his self-feeding, but it wasn't long after that I heard Isaiah say, "Mom, Roman is just making the biggest mess! Look at him!" So I turned in my chair, and to my shock there was no spoon in sight, and the bowl was actually atop his noggin'. The tomato soup was primarily gone, but the residue of the soup was all over his head, shirt, and face. I giggled and sighed, but again saw that Roman was happy as a lark. He, thoroughly, enjoyed his new lunchtime experience, in more ways than one.
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So, now we have added bathtime to follow lunchtime, which then leads into a nap. Isaiah recommened that we just DON'T allow him to feed himself. I told him that he needs to be able to learn to be independent, even if it is more work for us in the beginning. He let me know that his child won't be feeding himself until he can eat without making a mess. I laughed heartily and said, "Then I would STILL be spoon feeding all of you!" LOL
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10 comments:

Anonymous said...

LOL Those pictures are great!!! I have a similiar picture of my son eating spaghetti! Too cute! And you're right..they have to learn sometime!

meNmykids said...

I have a thing about babies eating I have more pictures of my babies eating than anything else. I even made up a slide show of "Heidi eating" pictures, but never posted it. He is such a big boy.
Gale

Anonymous said...

I too love these pictures. I look at them and wonder how they could be so happy with all that sticky food on them! I have to admit though that I get really tired of giving a bath every time they eat, so I only let self-feeding happen once a day until the girls could get most of it in the right place! :)
Precious moments!

momto3blessings said...

OHHH I miss those days. He is soo stinkin cute even with spaghetti all over him. LOL! Your right they have to learn sometime. They just have to have a bath after every meal for awhile.

marykathryn said...

Ohh little Roman..what a dollbaby!! You were telling about his mealtime messes and girl your were not kidding!! Move over rubber ducky ths little man needs some soapy water!! Too CUTE!!

Nadine said...

I love those pictures. You're a great mom! Some moms would just hate that mess you not only do you love it, but you take a picture of it and blog about it. I think you're great!

Mrs.Martin said...

So Sweet Trina! You made Uncle and Aunties morning over here. We are loving the pics of the kids.

Jack-on-the-Lake said...

Stopping by to de-lurk. My sister-in-law and I are both addicted to your blog!

Love it,
Karri

Kim's Life said...

Oh he does look very handsome. With the food and all.

Nicki said...

Hilarious! He is too stinkin' cute!