Social Experiments with Leila

Miss Leila is back to being quite particular and fussy when it comes to meal time. She is also cutting another molar so I can give her wiggle room to be more picky, but not when I'm serving applesauce and yogurt.

The last few mornings out of pure laziness, I put Leila in her chair and pushed her right up to our kitchen table. (less to clean) Normally, we keep the tray on her chair because it acts as a barrier between her food and everybody else's food, drink, silverware, etc. The barrier is necessary if we want to eat our meal before it hits the floor. But, during breakfast time, I can keep the two of them far enough part that I don't have to worry about her fingers fishing for food out of Gage's bowl. As a result, she's completely content to finish her food without fuss.

During dinner, however, we have less room to spread everyone out where our plates are still guarded. I sensed a good tantrum and refusal to eat coming on. I applied knowledge of breakfast-time success, removed her tray, put her up against the table, handed utensils to her... and prayed I could shovel my food in fast enough. The result: Leila ate three plates full of meatloaf, broccoli, and applesauce. Her desert was mashed potatoes. What a breakthrough. Tantrums that big because she wanted to be doing what the rest of us were doing.

I shared this new-found piece of evidence for keeping Leila happy with her babysitter-- a woman far more experienced with kiddos than we are. And again, due to the number of mouths she feeds at lunch time, Leila's seat is the high chair, period. But, lately, Haw Haw (Tom) has been eating lunch with them and he is certainly the apple of Leila's eye. When I picked her up yesterday, Mollie told me that she wouldn't eat anything unless it came from Tom's plate. The girl has independence-envy that I am not ready for her to have :) Her food was the same as Tom's, but she wouldn't eat it unless it came from Tom...

Austin's book about raising daughters does not cover this kind of stuff---light switch mood changes well before she has words to use to express what she really wants. oy vey... Maybe it's better that she isn't expressing herself in words yet :)