Taking Bites!

Based on my research, I anticipated all kinds of feeding woes with Eon, but we have been really blessed. That boy loves to eat! He has done really well and has been on all table foods since about 14 months.

That's not to say we haven't been cutting his food into tiny little bites every meal, though. He understands the concept of taking bites from larger food items. He will take bites if we are holding it and cue him, but was unable to handle having total control of a larger item. If given a quarter of a sandwich, for example, he would shove the entire thing into his mouth.

However, the other night, I cut half of his hamburger into pieces for him but accidentally left the intact half on his plate. Meals are, um, lively around here and I just wasn't paying attention to him. When I finally glanced over, he was holding the half of sandwich and taking bites!!! I watched him finish the whole thing, taking very appropriate bites with good chewing and swallowing. I am so excited!

Now, if I could just get him to scoop his own food with his spoon. This is how it goes right now. I scoop a bit of food on his spoon and leave it on his plate. He picks it up and puts it in his mouth. Then he hands me his spoon. I tell him to scoop it but he insists. I place my hand over his and guide him to scoop some food. He puts it in his mouth. Then he hands me his spoon, again. We do this a few times until I get distracted and he finally drops the spoon and goes at it with his hands.

Sigh. Baby steps. :-)