Food Stuff

Sometimes Masen puts too much food in his mouth. You can tell when this happens by his chipmunk cheeks, and the drool of food escaping from his little lips as he attempts to chew. In the past I have offered my hand (as any good mama would) as a safe place for him to spit out the excess. It's gross, and I have to control my gag reflex at the gooey, half chewed ick that is in my hand, but I do it for the good of my baby.

Problem is, my hand is no longer seen as a savior in a time of crisis and need, but as a place to spit out food when he decides he no longer wishes to chew, or swallow it. He also thinks it's kind of funny, which is never good when dealing with a toddler.

So now mealtimes include him requesting me to offer my hand, so he can discard his food, and me getting to do a mouth check to verify if he really needs help, or if he needs to be reminded to chew, chew, chew, and swallow. We're also working on taking smaller bites, so we can eliminate the need for spitting out any food all together. It's a work in progress, but I guess that is what a majority of his toddler years will be!

I can't complain too much though, because the joy of being a momma to my little boy, far outweigh everything else, no matter how gross and icky :)