Independence

On Saturday Kayla will be 11 months old. My baby is turning into a toddler! A toddler who is beginning to stretch her wings and is eager to be independent. A couple of weeks ago she decided she was just to mature for baby food. Unless it's yogurt, just about anything I come at her with a spoon she angrily knocks out of my hand. At first I thought she was entering the picky eater phase, rejecting foods she once loved. But then I realized, no it's not the food itself, it's the form I was presenting it in. As long as she can pick it up and put it in her own mouth she's happy. My first reaction was to freak and stress...what the heck was I going to feed her, she only has two teeth and although she has been eating finger foods for several months now, the bulk of her nutrition was still coming from baby foods. Meal times were becoming a battle because I had no warning, there was no slow transition that I was expecting, one day she was eating baby food and the next day she was not. Now meal times look like this:

Yes that is a piece of broccoli in her ear and no this is by far not the messiest she gets.

So this left me with two problems: how do I maintain a somewhat balanced diet for Kayla and what to do with all those baby food jars in my cupboard. I discovered a few tricks to help solve both problems. Like dipping chunks of pita bread in a fruit puree as the 'jam' and coating pasta bites in a veggie puree as the 'sauce'. Kayla loves both these options.

Her dabble with independence doesn't end there. Now that she's walking pretty good, less and less is she feeling the need to hold my hand. I just want to hold her and cuddle with her and she squirms and wiggles until I put her down and off she goes. I guess this is the goal though right. We aim to raise independent, productive members of society.

But she's my baby! I didn't think I would have to start letting go so soon!