Ever since Kathleen started crawling, she's been asserting her right to independence. It's as if the crawling threw a switch in her brain. She's discovered what a glorious thing it is to see something you want and be able to do it, and she will not have anyone or anything stand in her way. Not even her loving parents.
How has this manifested itself? All closed doors must be open. All open doors must be closed. Over and over again. All water bowls must be played with and dumped. All cat food and dog food which has not been previously whisked to the safety of a table top must be scattered far and wide. All toys must be played with and tossed aside the moment another more desirable toy is spied. Diaper changes are not to be tolerated. Nap time and bed time must be overthrown. The cat and dog must run in fear of her approach (actually, she'd rather they stayed put, but negotiations have faltered as the girls refuse to agree to Kate's terms).
The quest for independence has also infiltrated meal times. She has made it a habit now to refuse bottles at daycare unless they're delivered on her terms. She also will no longer let me feed her solids at home. If she's going to eat, it's going to be the way she wants to eat and how much. That means any spoon entering her mouth is going to be put there by her. All of mom's efforts will be met with pursed lips, batting hands, and puree smeared irritably across a little face and hair.
Meal times at home have become a messy affair. I've learned that baby food stains are impossible to remove from onsies, so Kathleen now eats clad in nothing but a diaper and her birthday suit. She has diced fruit or cheese or puffs on her tray to play with or throw to the dog. On occasion, a few puffs will make it to her mouth. The fruit and cheese aren't a hit yet. Not in that form. She doesn't mind having a nice fruit half to grimace over while she's gnawing on it.
Her favorite thing by far is a spoon full of puree and cereal. Like I said, she won't take it from me, but she will feed herself. I'm surprised at how remarkably good she is at getting it into her mouth. Yes, a good 25% ends up on her chin and chest, but the rest gets into her mouth and stays there. She seems proud of herself. She laughs, blows raspberries, and sucks on the spoon before dropping it and grabbing the second full spoon I place on her tray after she's through with the first. I'm proud of her too.
She doesn't eat nearly as much as I'd like, but all the experts say that when they're done, that's it. They know when they're satisfied. It seems like a big decision for a baby to make - aren't the parents supposed to know what's best? - but it's not up to the parents to tell them when they're full. And at this age, they still rely on formula or breast milk for their primary food source: solids are practice.
Not even a year old, you wouldn't think a baby could be so independent - not when you remember how passive and helpless she was only a few months before. In fact, I'd say she's more of a toddler than an infant these days. She's growing into quite a little person.
1 comment:
She sounds delightful. Funny about feeding herself. My son is 4.5 and he says, "Feed me, Mom." He could eat by himself at 2 but now the tables have turned. He hates getting messy and it has to be icecream for him to eat on his own. Independence immediately returns at that point.
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