Food According To Fletch

Happy 15 months, Fletcher!

The older he gets, the harder it is to feed him, as he gets bored with chewing and swallowing after about three mouthfuls.

Food According To Fletcher:

Mashed Potatoes: Weird. I'm going to pull that out of my mouth and look at it. Oh no, it's stuck to my hand! *rapid hand movements flinging potatoes* Repeat.

Pasta: You got this in the toy aisle, right? *pull out of mouth, study, fling* Repeat.

Cereal in Milk: Yummy! I wonder what it feels like when I squeeze it between my fingers. Oh no, it's stuck to my hand! *scrapes off on nearest, hard-to-clean surface* Repeat.

Milk: Technically, I could hold this cup myself, but I'd rather hold it not quite high enough so you'll hear me sucking air and reluctantly prop it up for me. That frees up my hands for scraping you with my super long nails that I won't let you cut. 

Goldfish, Oyster Crackers, and Dry Cereal: Didn't I have this yesterday? Come on, give me that knife and fork you're eating with. COME ON. I WANT THEM NOW.

Gerber Jar Food: Okay, I'll eat this, at least for a while. When your guard is down I'm going to let it slide out of my mouth and then mash it into every stain-able fabric I can touch in 7 seconds. When you start cleaning up the mess, I'll grab up the spoon, full of food, and drop it on your head. Then I'll totally laugh.

Because eating is a pretty hilarious game.

Not now, I'm on the phone.

apple

I can't help being jealous of Fletcher, in the best sense of the word. He has no concept of "what other people think." He is exactly what he is, and he has no reason to ever pretend or lie. When he smiles, laughs, or looks happy? He's happy. We should all be so open and unafraid.

He's more than six months old now, and I believe he's learning cause and effect. When he drops the toy from the highchair... it falls. He's probably learning which of his actions will create a response from his father and me. It's possible that he cries now for things that he WANTS but doesn't NEED.

Whenever he cries, I try to give him what he wants, and some people on the outside might think that I'm a first time mother who is spoiling her baby. While there is a critical voice lodged in my head that says I'm doing everything WRONG, I feel strongly on this. I feel confident on this.

I have limits and I trust my limits. I will not give my baby anything that could possibly hurt him, no matter how much he wants it. I will not take him out of his carseat when we're in the checkout line at Wal-Mart, even if that's why he's crying. I will not always come to his aid when he wants to reach a toy, because I know it's important for his development that he learns to move and crawl.

But if he wants something – be it attention or distraction, comfort or nourishment, or help falling asleep – I'm going to give it to him if I think it's in his best interest. I'm obsessed with babying him. He won't be a baby for long.

He sits on his own now, for minutes at a time. He's going to figure out crawling soon. Andy picked out his first "little puffs" finger food that dissolves. He's growing up, and every day my eyes sting with the overwhelming pride I feel just looking at him.

Maybe someday he'll stick his hand in the snow and cry, and I'll be the one who rushes over to cuddle him and take him inside. I'm going to baby him as much as I can. And maybe I'm going to hope that my little apple falls a bit farther from the tree.