Feed Me, Seymour

As of Ryan's last pediatrician visit, we have officially entered the world of solid food. She told us to start him on rice cereal, so naturally we stopped on the way home to pick some up. And the next day I went out and bought a high chair, since we realized a bit too late that both laps and the jumperoo chair are not particularly conducive to feeding a not-always-cooperative baby.

Given his size and appetite, as well as his propensity to put everything in his reach in his mouth, I figured that eating would be a snap. And that's mostly true. As long as you catch him in a good mood, he's more than willing to open his mouth. He even grabs the spoon himself (usually with his left hand - I'm starting to suspect he may turn out to be a lefty!), and leans helpfully toward each bite. And most of the time he manages to get at least some of the food in his mouth. (He did discover the lovely "splat" noise the cereal makes if he bites halfway down the spoon, but at least that means half of it goes in his mouth even if the other half goes up his nose, all over the tray, all over Mommy, etc.)

But I'd forgotten about one major issue: swallowing. He hasn't quite gotten the hang of what to do after the cereal goes in his mouth. So he usually ends up kind of rolling it around with his tongue, enjoying making smacking noises with it, and then just letting it dribble all over his face and chin. But if anybody can work the cereal goatee, it's Ryan. How can you not love the cereal-covered grin?

So we'll keep working on it, and I'm sure eventually he'll discover how nice it is when the cereal goes all the way into his tummy instead of just staying all over his face. But for now, I'll just keep enjoying the flecks of cereal in his hair, in my hair, all over the kitchen...it's all good.