I Eat Like Civilized People

Sophia is on a "I want to do it myself" kick. We lump this in with the amazing milestone month we have had with her. Her new found independance is both fun and nerve wracking, and just a little messy. Some of the new "I wanna do it" stuff includes things like pulling herself up on everything --we have progressed from hanging around at the coffee table to pulling herself up on couches, chairs, and parents' pant legs (all the while chewing them, so if you see us with wet knees you know why!).

I decided that I wanted to see if this extended into the food realm as well. One of the books I was reading (well, re-reading, because I have a habit these days of looking and looking again at the resources we have, just to make sure that everything is going okay.) Well, according to the author, babies between the ages of 9-12 months can begin to learn how to use a spoon. Awesome! Sophia can feed herself. She's a smart girl, she'll figure this out no problem. Spoon with food goes into mouth, empty spoon comes out. Easy, right? What the author didn't mention was the total lack of aiming a 10 month has...


Usually what happened is that Sophia took the spoon, started it off in the right direction and orientation, then decided to turn the spoon upside down and head it straight for her chin, eyebrow, or cheek. She would then drag it across her face to her mouth. The picture above is relatively tame to some of the later faces that day...but let me tell you, bathing is now a daily priority!


Giving her two spoons is not an attempt to increase the chance of food actually getting into her mouth. They both ended up in her hands because she was faster then we were and she got them away from us. Okay, the truth is that we didn't want to get slimed by the food on her hands, so we gave up the spoon quickly in self defense. It looks harmless in the picture, but it is a pain to get off when it has dried.



Sophia did eventually start getting the spoon and most of the food in her mouth. She was pretty pleased with herself and her new found ability to eat like mom and dad. It was cute and we enjoyed the experiment.


We're still working on which end of the spoon goes in the mouth, but we are getting there. David and I have decided to stick with finger foods...she can still feed herself, and less of it ends up in her hair...