Hungry, Hungry Hippo

We have quite the eater on our hands! It has been my goal for the last month or so to really get better about offering Jackson finger foods that he can feed himself. We want him to get used to what "regular" food tastes like, and become more self-sufficient in eating. I was having major issues worrying about him choking and told the doctor last month that I probably would be packing Gerber tubs of fruits and veggies in his lunchbox for Kindergarten! I am pleased to say I have made great progress :) Last week I spent quite a bit of time one afternoon chopping fruits and veggies into tiny pieces and divvying them up into empty baby food tubs I had saved. So far Jackson has had carrots, grapes, mandarin oranges, green beans, toast, and some chicken.

Last night was my first attempt at a totally solid dinner and he started out feeding himself green bean bites, but got tired of that. I started feeding him pieces of mandarin oranges on a fork and he LOVED those! Part way through, he just started eating the green beans again! Between him feeding himself and me feeding him (he LOVES eating off of a fork) he ate half a tub of green beans and a whole tub of oranges! That made mommy very happy :)

This morning he surpassed my expectations again by eating his normal breakfast (a full tub of fruit and 4T of oatmeal) along with a piece of toast! He did share some of it with Pax... :) Lunch went equally as well as I added half a container of Yo-Baby, which he LOVED! The green beans weren't going over as well for dinner so I did feed him a tub of squash, but then he picked up on the green beans again. Josh and I took turns feeding him mouthfuls, but between all of us, he polished off that half a tub. Unfortunately he was not nearly as hungry by the time our dinner was ready and missed out on trying some of the chicken we had for dinner. Luckily there's plenty left and he can try that tomorrow! In the midst of all this new food, he drank like a champ today! He's pretty unpredictable with his drinking and he was just awesome today! WOO HOO!!!