There are moments in every parent’s job that they wonder what good their efforts are producing. How any positive impact could possibly come from all of their hard work.
…Trying to logically reason with a teenage girl, for instance.
(Sorry, Mom.)
…Or perhaps trying to convince a ridiculously cautious four year old to try something – ANYTHING – new.
…Or, in this case, the first week of teaching the art of eating.
I’ll take the utter rejection as a compliment – food, apparently, tastes horrible compared to the Nectar of Goodness that I create.
But really?? Must every molecule of every bite be deposited onto your bib?
Not that I was surprised by this behavior – your sister was quite the expert food-rejecter as well.
…But her faces weren’t nearly as entertaining as yours.
Also? Your ability to splatter paint yourself – quite impressive for a guy your age.
I know, I know – the first week of real food is rough.
But the second week?
Not one tiny bit better.
Ali witnessed this gross injustice against your bib, your food, and your mother, and she decided to go a different route with the feeding of her baby.
“I’m just going to feed my baby from my chest, okay?”
And I think she’s onto something.
You go Ali!
The pictures are priceless. Ali does not look stressed at all.
I don’t blame her. I was always excited to get to feed my their first real foods and then after all the mess and rejection I wondered why I was doing this to myself.
Good gracious girl! How do you do anything, but sit and kiss those sweet chubby cheeks and stare at those eyes????
The faces! So funny! Did you have to hose him off after each meal?
This had me literally laughing out loud! Those first weeks of real food are so frustrating (and messy) for everybody involved! And that picture of Ali nursing is so sweet. She’s definitely righ – it’s so much easier than cleaning mashed pears from behind a baby’s ears :)
Great post! And simply adorable (if messy) children :-)
Your pictures of Noah are superb!
And Ali’s summary of the situation is perfect : )
What a cute post, his faces were priceless. Wow Noah looks alot like Ali did at the same age. Hope he gets better about eating the food instead of rejecting it.
Right. Logic & teenagers DO NOT go together :)
He does do some good faces. You know, people make a lot of maney off that kind of stuff these days.
He’ll have the rest of his life to practice eating. If you saw my clothes, place at our table, chair, etc., you wouldn’t feel so bad.
Way to go Ali!
He is a riot! I love that little face!
She certainly took the path with the least amount of mess! Goodness!
The photos are beautiful, Rachel. And you’re lucky. Fletcher was just as messy but would use his Herculean strength to rip off any bib that dared circle his neck.
One smart girl. And one hysterical boy!
LOL, those are awesome. LOVE the first one. That is priceless. I like the pic of Ali feeding her baby. K only did that a few times and I never got a picture. Now that S is done nursing whenever she fusses K says, “I think she wants to eat from your chest again.” So funny.
Man, Noah DOES make some faces. Awesome!
Wow! We haven’t even started food over here yet! He must be VERY advanced! What’s next Calculus? :)
Noah is SO cute! I love the faces he makes, and those big blue eyes are precious. Ali is adorable too.
What a great laugh – I think all us former baby-doll carriers “breast-fed” them at some point! Landon will only eat in his bathtub, which he adores. I at least start out in the high chair each night, but we almost ALWAYS end up finishing his meals in the tub, whatever works I say!
Too cute. Elizabeth cried with disappointment the first month or so of solids. So eager to try them and then so sad that it wasn’t what she expected. I don’t miss that part of babyhood AT ALL. It was a real shock to us because her cousins just ate happily. I now understand how you end up with a kid that only eats one or two foods.
But we persevered and she does eat more or less normally now.
http://www.parenthacks.com/2011/04/feed-your-baby-in-the-baby-bathtubin-the-sink.html
Feed messy baby in the baby bathtub to go right from feeding to bathtime!
Love the faces Noah was making, did he ever get the hang of it?