Food Challenges

Yes, I tempted fate when I bragged about what a good little eater Jack has been. I brazenly talked (and blogged) about the fact that he eats strongly flavored foods, loves salmon, and even preferred veggies to fruit. Well, those days appear to be over. Getting Jack to eat anything but applesauce is an effort. These are a few of our recent struggles with food:

1. Jack's high chair has holes that allow you to attach toys to to keep him entertained. Problem is, he can remove these toys. If you think he has finished eating, you might want to double check. Sometimes his food has been hidden in these holes. And believe me, it is not easy to get it out of there.
   
2. Jack loves cheese. Last week I found he had stuck his cheese on the wall so he could take a break from snack time to play. (Notice it on the wall behind him in this picture.) I told him to take it down and he did...and then gladly finished eating it.
3. This one cracked me up! He got jelly beans for Easter. He doesn't really eat them, he prefers to lick them. And he laughs after each lick. Well, I guess he got tired of holding the slimy little jelly bean, because he found part of an old medicine syringe and carefully placed the jelly bean on it. He then walked around with his newly created jelly bean holder and licked it as he played.
4. Oh, and whatever you do, don't leave him alone in a room when chips are on the counter.
   
5. I saved the best for last. Sunday night, we made steak for dinner. Stuart and I were eating and feeding Jack off of our plates. I was giving Jack bites of broccoli, which was fine for awhile, but then he got upset and pushed my fork towards the steak. OK, he made his point, I cut him some steak. That was OK for a couple of bites, but then he made it clear he wanted to do it himself. I got out his baby fork and gave it to him. He kept pushing my hand away when I tried to help him get a piece on his fork. When I stopped trying to help him, I learned why he wanted to do it himself. He didn't want the little piece, he wanted the entire steak. He quickly stabbed his little fork into it and took off with the meat.