Watching Noah develop over the past year into the amazing little toddler he is now has been an eye opening experience. One of the major milestones for him in the past few months has been switching from pureed food to whole form foods. Once he started getting teeth we really began to progress into more and more variety for his meals. What was once mushy and easily mashed foods (bananas, sweet potatoes, cheeses, yogurts) has worked it's way to crunchier and more tricky foods (cheerios, crackers, cookies, and meats).
Along with Noah's culinary experiences has come a propensity to use his pincer grasp to pick up any and all tiny objects he can find. Usually those tiny objects, regardless of nutritional content will end up in his mouth only to be chewed to a pulp and swallowed. We do our best to keep the house clean and prevent him from getting anything dangerous in his mouth but how long until I am asking, is my kid the one that ate the penny?
Just the other day I was sitting on the floor and playing with Noah, he meandered into the dining room and began to use the dining room table and chairs as an underground tunnel system to escape capture from the dad monster. The giggling and chasing went on for a few minutes until he took up shop under one of the chairs. I laid on the floor ten feet away and pretended to be exhausted. I took my eyes off of him for about 5 seconds only to open them to see him chewing away on something he had picked up along the way. I immediately ran over and put my hand out for him to spit it out. But instead there was a gulp, a gag, a cough, and a swallow. Whatever piece of magic carpet fuzz, spider, or crumb he had found had become a snack. I was definitely freaked out, but knowing how much we vacuum and clean I doubt it was anything too dangerous.
Noah has a complete disregard for portion control, he will stuff his mouth until there is no more room, smile a toothy grin and then chew until everything is swallowed. He had a chance to experience cheerios for the first time the other day and we had put 10 or 12 of them on his high chair tray. He picked one up, nibbled, chewed, and smiled. Suddenly he had a great idea and put another cheerio in his mouth. He followed that up with a third, fourth, and then I grabbed his hand to slow him down. But like buddy the elf eating cotton balls in the doctors office as soon as I let go, another cheerio went in his mouth. I couldn't help but laugh on the inside watching Noah's delight at my panic as he chomped away on his cheerios.
This has become the norm with meals, so we have taken to portion control ourselves by only allowing a small amount of food on his tray at a time. Unless it's watermelon, because Noah eats watermelon like a wood chipper. He picks up one piece moves his jaw up and down and begins to feed the machine with sweet and juicy pieces. There is a repetitive and constant sound of crunching and slurping as he devours the fleshy red meat of the defenseless watermelon.
I guess we should consider ourselves as pretty lucky because many kids struggle with feeding time. Many don't eat that well. Noah is easy in the sense that he will eat or at least try just about anything you put in front of him. He eats a great variety of fruits and vegetables (sweet potatoes, squash, zucchini, avocado, peas, carrots, corn, bananas, mandarin oranges, watermelon, canteloupe, honeydew, mango, peaches...I could go on..). He eats macaroni, pasta, cheeses, yogurt, crackers, cookies, cheese curls, chicken, kosher all beef hotdogs, spaghetti o's, cheerios, and more. I hope as he grows up he continues to develop his palette for good foods. I know there is going to be a time where he rebels and only wants his favorites like mac and cheese or chicken nuggets but I am hoping his experiences now will prevent that some. Christine and I love to experience new and delicious foods and that is something I would love to be able to share with my children. I would like for them to be able to enjoy healthy foods the way we do some day so that we can share in their delight when they try new and adventurous things.
I just pray my kid isn't the one that eats pennies.
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