Toddlerhood Here We Come

Edmund Eats/Plays with Avocado

Each day Edmund inches his way closer to toddlerhood. In the past few days he has made leaps and bounds in the area of self help. On Sunday afternoon he held his bottle for an entire feeding. Edmund has been capable of holding his bottle for several months, but has chosen not to. Steven and I have debated as to the reason. While we often joke he is lazy, in actuality he probably just doesn't want a good situation to end. Why should Edmund hold his bottle when his mommy and daddy are so willing? Then a few days ago Edmund took close to a full feeding from his sippy cup, and has done so several times since. Originally I had grand plans of my baby being a sippy cup champion at 6 months. Edmund had other plans. Until this past week he would turn and whine whenever I brought the dreaded cup near his mouth. Suddenly something clicked, and Edmund was able to sip away. Now we have simply to combine the holding skill with the sipping skill and Edmund will be a sippy cup pro.

In the evenings I will often try to mash a little bit of the fruits and vegetables Steven and I are eating for Edmund, so he gets used to the family foods. One of my favorite foods is avocado. Interestingly enough my first taste of avocado was in college when I was asked to feed it to several of the children for which I nannied. Avocado is supposed to be a perfect baby food. Edmund seems to disagree with that statement as my last few attempts at feeding him avocado have failed miserably. A few weeks ago I decided maybe Edmund would at least get some of the avocado in his mouth if I let him "explore" it. None of the avocado you see around his mouth in the picture was actually eaten or swallowed that evening. Last night we had a Cobb salad to which we added avocado. I stole a few bites of avocado from the cutting board and Edmund seemed intrigued. I decided to cut him some small pieces instead of mashing it, and to my surprise he ate several pieces. I couldn't give it to him fast enough. Today at school the older children were eating papaya. I cut some up into minuscule pieces and Edmund had a baby sized bowl. At 9 months Edmund has yet to cut a tooth, but can eat diced food. Go Edmund!

Edmund has also started picking up Cheerios and Gerber Puffs and feeding them to himself in the last few days as well. For those of you who don't know, Gerber has a line of fruit and vegetable flavored finger food shaped like stars. I swore Edmund would never eat them as sugar is a minor ingredient and they aren't all natural. However, since Edmund eats better than most babies I know and probably totals 6 tiny puffs in a week, I have reasoned they won't turn him into a processed food junkie. Puffs explanation aside, Edmund has done remarkably well with self-feeding in a matter of days. I have offered Cheerios to Edmund for the past month, but he merely played with them. Fortunately not all was lost as Edmund perfected his pincer grasp during his play sessions. When I would try to put a Cheerio in his mouth Edmund would whine and turn away. Steven and I didn't push the issue, but kept offering the "play" opportunities. Then on Monday while I was talking to Edmund during his Cheerio playtime, he picked up one and brought it to his mouth. I had to cheer and clap, though according to child development experts this will probably set my child up for a life filled with "food issues." Who cares? My baby actually ate a Cheerio!

On Monday Edmund had a pediatrician's appointment during which we discussed all the self help skills he should be working on at this point. At the time of the appointment I mentioned I was trying the sippy cup and trying the finger foods, but Edmund simply thought I was crazy. The doctor said at this point introduction is all that is important, and that Edmund would get it eventually. At that point I felt the doctor might be crazy. With the lack of interest Edmund was showing I felt he would probably enter elementary school drinking from a bottle. Lo and behold the next day Edmund actually figured it out. Again I am reminded that children have their own time frames despite their parents' best wishes, and Edmund certainly has his own way of doing things.

Here are Edmund's 9 month stats for those of you who requested them. He currently weighs 18 lbs 13 oz and is between the 25th and 50th percentile for weight. He is 27 1/2 inches tall and is between the 25th and 50th percentile for height. His head is 47 cm which puts him in the 90th percentile for head size. His doctor assures me that everything with his head is fine. He also mentioned big heads run in families, so I'm afraid the Mercer side of the family is to blame--you know who you are :)