11.24.06
Okay, so sometimes a little reluctant…
So, yeah; not always exuberant about eating.
I’m not a fan of sweet potato, either, in his defense.
11.16.06
Not exactly a reluctant eater…
Last week Ethan ate solid foods for the first time. Milk is good, said he, but there were certainly times when he found himself craving a little rice gruel…or even some pureed pear.
It’s a curious thing, feeding a human for the first time. I found myself wondering if he would know what to do, if I would have to scrape the food inside his mouth and then work his jaw for him. I wondered if he would just spit the foreign substance out, unsure of what I had put in his mouth.
No need to worry, apparently. For someone who had never had occasion to know what a utensil was, Ethan sure seemed to figure things out pretty fast. It went a little something like this: I mixed up a little of his rice gruel yumminess. I sat down in front of the little man; he was kicking around and doing his baby thing. I dipped the spoon into the rice and raised it, and that’s when the Matrix moment began…it was just Ethan and the spoon. He became very still, very quiet and very intent. He focused. He outstretched his hands towards the spoonful of life-giving gruel and waited patiently, like a lizard watching the steady approach of its prey (much cuter than a lizard, though).
I had, at this point, a pretty good idea that it wasn’t going to be a big challenge to get this kid to accept food. You read a lot about reluctant eaters, but this was clearly not one of those.
The spoon finally got close enough, and Ethan lunged forward, grabbed the spoon and chomped down. No sooner had I fought to free my hand had his mouth opened again like a little bird waiting to be fed.
Apparently, the little man had been watching us eat, and had been biding his time, waiting for his chance. No problems, then, with introducing solid food into his diet.
Observe; a few pictures of a young man who does not mind mealtime…
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