Women are like lionesses at the gate of the home. . . . She guards that gate, and things matter to that family if they matter to her. . . . Sisters, you are each like the lioness at the gate. This means that there has to be some prioritizing. I was taught years ago that when our priorities are out of order, we lose power. If we need power and influence to carry out our mission, then our priorities have to be straight.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

And the bug ran away with a spoon...

Most of you know that I have struggled to get Shaelyn to eat anything, which is so ironic since I want to eat everything! She hates being constrained in her high chair and hates wearing a bib. Consequently, I have decided to allow her to eat little dry snacks throughout the day without having to be in her high chair, which has resulted in an almost daily vacuuming/sweeping routine (those of you who know me are saying, "WHAT"?!) to keep up with the crumb monsters. She has certain foods that she loves (mainly red, saucy pastas), but with the lack of bib, I'm not so inclined to allow her to indulge - I've gone through too many stain sticks recently! She also used to have a more complete menu of foods to choose from when she would allow me to spoon feed her, thus making foods like applesauce, yogurt, mashed potatoes, and soups a viable option. However, since she learned to be a self-feeder, she would absolutely refuse the spoon-feeding option. She insisted on using the spoon herself. I would have allowed it had her hand-eye coordination been a bit better. Instead, no food got in the mouth, and all food landing somewhere that required cleanup on my part. Hence the crumby-no-high-chair-snack-all-day dilemma we have reached.

Until this week...

I found a smock/bib that has sleeves and attaches in the back, covering more surface area and making it practically impossible for her to rip it off of herself. It's made by the same company that makes the wonderful bibs my friend Nicolle and I found that are selling off the shelves at every place you can purchase baby supplies. They are made in the USA and are PVC, phthalate and vinyl free. I purchased the junior bib, but they also make real aprons and smocks for those of you with little ones big enough to make craft messes. I got mine at Toys R Us for a much lower price than what is listed on the Bumkins website, but you don't get the variety at the store, so the website might be the way to go if you're looking for something specific.

I also felt like Shaelyn was ready to try spoon feeding herself. Her hand-eye coordination is much better than before and her manual dexterity is excellent. So after a yummy lunch of Spaghetti-O's, made possible by our wonderful new Bumkins bib, we made an attempt at the applesauce. Results are below.


Cleverly written by shelley