Apples!

Thanks for the support about kaua's walking, or lack thereof. He is about 8 days shy of being 13 months old and still no walking. He is able to put pressure on his feet (flat), but is not confident enough in his balance. He'll take tentative steps (on flat feet) while holding onto something, but walking still doesn't seem to be in the very immediate horizon. Still not worried at all about him though and am enjoying this loveable little boy.

Today, he at an apple for the first time. This is his first grown up fruit that he's eaten. You all know that Kaua is a finicky eater. He's definitely a meat and rice kinda boy and its been tough getting him to eat his fruits and veggies. He does eat baby food fruits, so that's primarily how he's been getting those nutrients. I've consistently offered him regular people fruits, of many varieties and he's rejected them all, until today. Today, I was eating an apple and he started to show some interest. When he's interested in food that I'm eating, he'll literally climb into my lap and try to eat the food right out of my hand or off the plate. So when he showed interest in my apple, I broke off a tiny piece and put it in his mouth, fully expecting him to spit it back out like he normally does. But nope, he ate it and wanted more. Eventually, I let him take small bites right off the apple (not the skin parts of course) and he loved it. He kept eating and eating and eating. I've been so envious of others who's kids eat all kinds of healthy foods, but with Kaua it's been a chore, despite the fact that I love healthy foods and ate a lot of it through out my pregnancy. So I'm hoping this new trend of his apple loving sticks and am also hoping that his new openness to this fruit will lead to more. Veggies are still a challenge and I find that I have to hide veggies among his foods and pray he doesn't discover them, but heck, who knows, maybe one day I'll be eating something and he'll come right on up to me and want some and discover he loves it.

Does anyone notice that their child eats more when they are not in their high chair? Recently, Kaua has been much more receptive to food when he sees me or another adult eating and can come up to them and eat off their plate. I think it has something to do with him eating on his own terms and thinking that he's getting the same foods as everyone else, versus baby foods. He really does actually get the same foods as we do when in his high chair, but I dont think he's figured it out. For now, I'm perfectly happy to let him eat off my plate, as long as he eats. Kaua is really into drinking milk, and would be perfectly happy with drinking milk most of the day rather than eating solids if I let him (which of course i dont).

Another newer characteristic of Kaua is he's starting to learn how to throw tantrums. They are not full force, like I'm sure they will be when he's closer to two, but he definitely know how to whine, arch his back, flop down onto the floor and cry when he's not getting his way. And he does this fairly often now. I'm sooooooooooo not looking forward to the terrible twos! I'm trying to find the balance between providing him comfort but not reinforcing this behavior with rewards or my attention. Gosh, parenting is so hard! And to think it only gets harder!