What Self-Feeding Really Means....

"Oh dear goodness, will this meal EVER end?!?!?" or "Ugh, I can't watch the applesauce being mashed in between fingers and caking to her head!" Actually, it wasn't that bad, and she feeds herself pretty regularly....just not 100% of the meal. Rachel is just relaxed about many things in life. Her perspective seems to be that if the status quo works, why change it? That doesn't mean she's not flexible b/c she really is. She travels pretty frequently w/ us and doesn't do too badly. That being said, if food gets in her mouth by someone else putting it there, great, and then if she can just pick it up, that's good too, but stick a spoon or fork in her hand and it's only fun for a few bites and then it's just a nuisance.

In many ways, she reminds me of Ben w/ her eating habits (no, I do not mean that he prefers to eat vegetables and applesauce w/ his hands instead of utensils!) b/c Ben doesn't go and get something to eat unless he's really hungry or the food is worth it to go get. So, for instance, I can bake a cake and Ben might eat 1 piece when I serve it to him but that's it (yeah, you do the math on how many pieces that leaves for me to have to run off on the treadmill!). However, if I make ice cream cookie sandwiches (add ice cream to homemade cookies and freeze), he would get up and get one himself....and maybe even a second and even be tempted by a third (years ago, he would have had the third, but now I don't think he would). So, I kinda think Rachel is a bit like this.....which is why she's cried before when she's finished certain foods.

So, I tried to laugh w/ her and just take pictures....it helped to relieve the tension in my shoulders. Yup, I moved her into the kitchen....off of the dining room carpet:)

Trying out her right hand......

And then the left one......Ok, the spoon is just fun to hold on to now, but it takes too much time.....It's ironic to me that she will meticulously pick off all the little morsels on her fingers but she won't try harder to master the spoon so she can shovel more in....iyayi:)I think a few bites of veggies, 3/4 cup of applesauce, and like 7 pieces of cheese (which just about went into her mouth in about 45 seconds) took like 25 to 30 minutes. It was a little painful. I even helped her w/ her applesauce at the end, and she came no where near to finishing her veggies. I had "the song that doesn't end" going on in my head the whole time....only I inserted "meal" for "song". Probably signs of insanity;-) I saw somewhere that "Insanity is hereditary; you get it from your children" (Sam Levinson). LOL.....I'm sure my mom would agree:)