Spit happens

The before picture...doesn't he look excited??


This picture was taken after Jack's first encounter with sweet potatoes and a piece of watermelon. :)

Jack is officially a Gerber baby! It has been fun for us to watch him learn about eating...from his first scrunched up noses to his wide, open mouths, like a little baby bird... He did NOT like peaches or apples initially, and would get this horrible look on his face, like, "You gotta be kidding me!" He much preferred sweet potatoes. (That's my boy! All the salads I ate during pregnancy must have had a good influence after all!) He really liked pears at first, and now he'll eat just about anything--peas, green beans, apples, bananas, pears, and yes, peaches.

For the first few weeks he would suck on anything around him...his hands, the spoon, his bib, the rim of the tray in front of him...I learned quickly to strip him down to his diaper when I feed him, because somehow the food manages to get all over the place. I'm sure you veteran parents know what I'm talking about...you know, they get it on their hands, and then they rub their eyes or scratch their head or pull off their bibs...EVERYWHERE. :)

The other night I was trying to feed him peas, and it was as if his fingers had to accompany each bite; I would stick the spoon in, and as soon as it was out of his mouth his fingers went in...and peas mixed with baby saliva came oozing out all over his hand. Yummy. But he enjoyed it, so I guess as long as it was a positive experience for him, that's what counts.

The other thing he does, though, is that he SPITS at me!! It's not anything ill-intentioned, of course, but he always does it with a mouthful of food...so Mommy ends up with just as much food on her as on baby (at least it feels that way, with all the spit-up and drool from the rest of the day!). We say, "No, no, Jack! NO spitting!" when he does it, but then we bust out laughing because he's so darn cute. He just grins this green, slobbery grin and then does it again.

Tonight, however, as we fed him, he calmly opened his mouth for each bite, with no hand interference, tray-sucking, spitting...we were so impressed! (Of course he spit up green beans all over Eric a few minutes later...but I guess that goes with the territory) It's funny how basic and uninteresting the simple act of eating may seem...and yet what a big step it is for our growing boy. Just wanted to share this special milestone!

(OK, so I totally ripped off the title for this blog from his bib...but we thought it was so funny...because let me tell you--spit DOES happen, a lot, and no amount of bibs can stop it! He currently goes through 3-4 bibs a day--just for the drool!)