First Fight

Julia and I had our first disagreement last night at dinner.

Julia felt (strongly) that she ought to hold her spoon and feed herself. I felt (equally strongly) that I was the proper one to feed her in hopes of actually getting the food into her body. My way of conveying my feelings was to continue to try to feed her. Her way of conveying her desires was to swing at the spoon, furrow her little brow, and SCREAM.

Julia loves to eat. I swear the child nursed for the first 24 straight hours of her life. Her fervor for nursing has made it easy on both of us. She has taken to solids like a fish to water, and loves to feed herself. Lately I can plunk her in her highchair with a dried papaya spear or a banana and guarantee myself 20 or so minutes of peace ~ or more accurately, I get 20 minutes or so to deal with the mealtime chaos that is Luke. When it comes to food, Julia is rather bossy for an 8 month old. If I dare seat her in her highchair without having food instantly and magically appear in front of her ~ she lets me know it. Daddy pausing too long between bites because he is reading the paper? Yeah, she lets him know it. It's amazing how in 8 months they go from being feeble little things to beings able to convey exactly what it is that they want, and when they want it. We are only two months into the "food" thing but I think that its already time to move her to table food and totally off of purees.

Last night Julia wanted the spoon. Not a little, a lot. I started using my right hand to block her hand as I fed her with my left. That worked for a few bites, but then she refused to open her mouth. The child looked dead straight into my eyes, dodged my blocker hand, grabbed the spoon, and would not let go. We were in a stare down. Not kidding. A flat out stare down with an 8 month old. I pulled on the spoon, she wasn't letting go. I pulled harder. She has a grip of steel. I yanked on it one more time, and the spoon was mine.........but in the process I flung the yogurt that was on it in a 6 foot arc over the kitchen floor. I went on to hand her her own spoon, and continue to feed her with the spoon I had wrested from her grip......but later on as I was on my hands and knees cleaning up the yogurt from the floor, I had to wonder who really won that battle?

Big thanks to my friend Shannon for making the adorable and soft and perfect hat that Julia is wearing in the second picture. Julia finds the long string things the best thing ever.....other than a food covered spoon, of course.