Toddlers Know How to Eat

A few months ago, I wrote a post lamenting Kai's eating habits. He was turning his nose up unexpectedly at just about everything that I offered. I mourned the loss of my broccoli-eater! Since that time, he has turned the corner and his eating has improved (for now). But he still doesn't like broccoli. Tonight I smothered it in cream cheese and he managed, without even looking I might add, to suck the cheese off the broccoli and to keep the tasty little green tree safely out of his mouth. 

Despite these challenges I have discovered that I love to watch my son eat. Toddlers really have it right. While they may not eat everything, when something is acceptable to their palate, they go at it with gusto! When Kai likes what he is eating, he savours every mouthful. He takes his time to chew. When I try to rush him, he patiently continues to chew what is in his mouth, looking at me as if to say, "hold your horses mom, I'm not finished yet." He also has incredible focus. He can down a container of yogourt without even looking up. Sometimes he'll use two spoons, sometimes he tries the other end of the spoon, sometimes he even thinks that a container of yogourt might go down better if he drops a little left over chicken in it, either way, it is the center of his world while he is eating it. Watching him eat raisins is my favorite. He takes each one individually and chews and chews and chews. It makes me think about how I eat raisins, the small, inconsequential foods that they are. Because of their itsy bitsy-ness, I often grab a handful as I rush by the pantry and then don't even remember if I ate them or not. If I was more like Kai, I'd slow down long enough to enjoy each little raisin.

So while he is still kinda fussy (he'll only eat blueberries if they are served in a bowl; if I dare to drop them loosely on his high chair tray they become splatter for little fingers!), Kai teaches us everyday that Toddlers really know alot more than we adults give them credit for.