If At First You Don't Succeed, You'll Have a Mess to Clean

"No, I will not 'smile for the camera,' daddy. That trick is so last month."

We've decided to jump into the next step when it comes to feeding the little one and are trying to have her feed herself!

Are we early for that? Late? Should we hand feed her for the rest of her life and never teach her how to use utensils?

I have no idea except that I'm pretty sure that last one is not an option. Pretty sure.

So far we've taught her that once food is on the spoon or fork she can help us guide it into her mouth. She will sometimes try to guide it into her hair or lap but mostly she's gotten this whole "food goes into the mouth" thing.

What we haven't been able to teach her (yet) is that if we hand her the spoon and put the suction-cupped bowl on her tray, she should eat the food from the bowl using the spoon. I am fairly certain that at this point she believes that handing her the spoon with the food means that she should fling the food at the cat, via some catapult-like spoon maneuvers, then put the spoon down and eat the remaining food with her fingers.

The cats are unsure whether to be happy or upset. It often seems to depend on what we're trying to feed Lois. Bacon or ham products are a happy occurrence, whereas oatmeal seems to be a bit of a downer.

Actually, as the one who cleans it up? I agree with the cats.