Making a Mess

Jasper is a really good eater. He's taken to solids well and polishes off amazing amounts of oatmeal, vegetables and fruit. Last night we introduced bananas, and they too were a hit. Feeding isn't a battle, which we consider to be a huge blessing! That's not to say he doesn't get messy.

Jasper has started trying to hold the spoon again while we feed him, and that means sometimes he grabs at the spoon and gets some type of pureed food or oatmeal in his hands. And then he invariably rubs his eyes or wipes his face with his messy hand, smearing his face with something that is bound to dry and then be difficult to wipe off. Last night it was oatmeal. If you look closely, you can see oatmeal on the eyelashes of his right eye. It was classic!
We have started giving Jasper tiny pieces of food: chicken, green beans and sweet potatoes. He doesn't reject them outright, but he generally only eats them if we're sitting there shoving those little pieces back into his mouth as he's trying to push them out with his tongue. By the third time or so, he'll chew up the piece and swallow it. He won't pick them up and eat them on his own. We try to trick him into picking them up by putting Cheerios down on his tray along with the other pieces of food. However, he navigates through the mess of food with the precision of an artillery specialist in a minefield and only picks up the Cheerios. He knows what he wants!



Last night, at the end of a very full feeding of oatmeal, green beans, bananas, Cheerios, pieces of chicken and sweet potatoes, Jasper also drank breast milk. We let Jasper hold the bottle on his own, and he can bring it to his mouth to drink. However, he hasn't figured out he has to tilt his head way back to keep from just sucking air, so we reclined the high chair to help him once the amount of milk in the bottle got really low. He did really well and polished off 4oz!