Just When I Think We’re Making Progress

in eating with a little less mess, this happens and I realize we still have a long way to go!  :o)

This particular evening she’d eaten only a little supper so I gave her a yogurt which she quickly devoured.  I then gave her a second one and I turned to do the dishes.  When I looked over a couple of minutes later this is what I saw and could do nothing but laugh!

It looks like we still have a ways to go when it comes to proper table manners but she’s going to rock at finger painting!!

The Big Question Is…

….did any of the yogurt make it into her mouth???

Yesterday's post about Hannah's Unique Sippy Holder reminded me of these pictures that also capture one of Hannah’s current habits. She’s a HUGE fan of blueberries and calls them ‘blah blahs’ so I’ve taken to calling them that too. The funny thing is that sometimes she eats the entire ‘blah blah’ and other times (like in these pics) she bites into them and that’s it. I can never tell what kind of day it will be but since she enjoys them so much I’m happy to give them to her whichever mood she’s in.

Hannah is a great eater and as much as this may sound funny, I’m going to miss these messy meals as I love watching her explore her foods both in tastes and texture.

Love You Berry Much!

Hannah tried blackberries for the first time on Saturday. At first she wasn't too sure what she thought but she quickly changed her mind! As quickly as I could get them on her tray she was signing 'more' and I could hear, 'moy, moy!'

Peanut butter and blackberries. A winning combination!


A meal best served wearing only a diaper and a trip to the tub was our next event of the day.

A Special Treat for a 14 Month Old

Today Hannah turned 14 months old! In the afternoon I was going through the fridge when my eyes spotted a chocolate pudding cup. Her cute little outfit was already dirty from breakfast so how much more damage could be done with a pudding cup? Quite a bit I guess but oh my did she have fun!!

The first sign that the spoon was going to be abandoned for fingers.

Who needs to scoop it out when you can drink it directly from the container?

Good to the last drop! (I love the little ring of pudding in this pic.)

She went directly from the high chair to the tub!

Happy 14 month old birthday little love!

Such a Simple Solution!!

I love talking to other parents about what our children are doing and also asking for suggestions. Recently we were really struggling with meals when Hannah went through a phase where she would suddenly bat at the spoon and food would go flying. Needless to say this was fun for mommy for oh....never!!

After struggling with this for a couple of weeks I was having coffee with a couple of moms and a dad whom we take swimming lessons with and asked if they had dealt with this? Sure enough a couple of them had and they both had the same suggestion: give Hannah her own spoon to hold. I tried this and voila...no more batting at the spoon! Wow!! That was so easy!

The only time we still struggle with this problem is when she signs 'all done' and I attempt to feed her another bite. I tell you, when she says she's done she means she's done! :o)

Letting Hannah help feed herself isn't always neat but I don't mind her getting messy when she's learning something new. I just wasn't a fan of flying carrots for no particular reason!

It Was Going So Well...Until Mommy Left the Room

Hannah is beginning to use a spoon to help feed herself so I captured this first video showing how well she's doing. That's my girl!


I also wanted to capture some pics so had to leave her to run to another room to get the camera. Silly me left her cereal bowl on the high chair and you can see what happened. Oops! Yes, that's my girl too!

The video came to a quick and abrupt end when she started throwing her food on the floor. Nope...it was time to clean up.

I love capturing these moments as I already know firsthand that time passes far too quickly and these moments will be fleeting. She sure was messy but oh how I enjoyed watching her experience this. I must say that for myself, being an older mom has granted me a whole new level of appreciation of motherhood. I'm not sure if I had my children in my early 20's if I would have taken the time to watch her grow, learn and experience the feeling of oatmeal and bananas running through her fingers.

Mmmm...Noodles!

Hannah tried her first noodles since we returned from China and they were a huge hit! She enjoyed playing with them and feeding herself. I feed most foods to her but she does feed little bits to herself and is doing really well! I love to see how she's growing, changing and learning more every single day!!

My Cautious Eater

I love to watch Hannah eat little things like Cheerios or Gerber Puffs. She's cautious and determined and doesn't get frustrated with the attempts and it's absolutely adorable to watch! She often gets them to her mouth but either she can't find them or they stick to her long, beautiful piano fingers and she just can't get them in. It's so cute!!
When one eventually makes it in she is wonderfully cautious to finish it before putting another one in. She has been like this since the day we met and I began feeding her Cheerios broken into 1/4's. If there is any in there she'll wait to open her mouth until this piece is done, thank you very much! Saturday night at Grandma and Grandpa P's she almost proved me wrong though when she got quite a large piece of Mum mum in her mouth so mommy (thinking she was helping) tried to scoop it out. Oh...the look in those eyes about broke our hearts! It was like, 'What did I do?' I learned my lesson after that and she was just fine with her mum mum and could handle the pieces even though I kept a really close eye on her.

Here's a little Cheerio moment. Not sure how many truly make it into her mouth as I clean many off the floor and out of the seat of her high chair but she sure does enjoy the challenge! I am so thankful to capture all these precious moments as time is fleeting and she is changing and learning so much every single day!!!