We're gonna get some food (and sleep) in the house tonight.

Husband: I think he's still hungry.....


Baby: Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!


Husband: No, he is definitely still hungry. What can I give him? He needs something. Now.


Me: Here, give him some cheese. The soup is still cooking.


Husband: Hurry! Good god, he's eaten the cheese already. Forget heating up the soup, pass me a piece of bread. Anything! Stat! He's freaking out here!


*I furiously open the bag of whole wheat bread and throw a slice across the kitchen to my husband's waiting hands. Baby is foaming at the mouth. Geez, this is already breakfast number two. 

The sleepless wonder is an eating wonder. He eats everything. Pasta? No problem. Meats? Please. He practically asks for the BBQ sauce. Fruits and veggies? He can't get enough! Curry? It's like he's already been to India. I tell ya, there is nothing this boy won't try (and eventually demand more of). How did we luck out? For starters, luck may have played a small role in his eating, but I like to think we helped with his ferocious appetite.

There were a few conscious choices my husband and I made while the sleepless wonder was still all cuddly in my belly. For one, we always wanted him to eat with us. We were going to make every attempt to integrate him with our meals. That means we would prepare food in front of him and talk him through the process as though he were watching something on the Food Network, "I like to use mushrooms in my pasta sauce. It brings a certain texture to the pasta."  To help with this, we didn't invest in a super expensive high chair that wouldn't fit in our house anyway. Instead, we bought a Chico chair that has hinges that go on any space with a ledge i.e the dinner table or our kitchen island. When the sleepless wonder was old enough to sit on his own, we put him in his chair at the kitchen island and I cooked in front of him. We also began to eat in front of him and at 6 months old, we gave him his first taste of rice cereal (after staring at our mouths awkwardly while we ate). He went crazy and thus began his obsession with food.

Secondly, we decided to prepare all our own baby food- that way the transition from what he eats to what we eat wouldn't be all the different, and he would be introduced to a larger variety of foods. At 7 months old, after making sure he had no allergies, we began to make delicious combos of yummy fruits and veggies- rice, spinach and curry; sweet potato and nutmeg; strawberry, blackberry and mango; baby couldn't get enough and surprisingly, it was super easy to do and we felt pretty darn proud of ourselves once we lined our little freezer with all his favorite foods.

Lastly, we began giving baby finger foods that were soft and easy to swallow early on. Baby loves to pick at food, touch it, feel it squish in his mouth, and occasionally share a couple of servings with the dog. We have allowed him to try to use a fork and spoon and not worry about the mess (although having Charlie clean up the aftermath certainly helps!)  He screams and points when he wants more (and by scream I mean a full ear piercing holla!), but otherwise, meals are fun, not rushed, and we all sit together (actually, the dog sits under the baby's seat-she has hit a gold mine there!)

So how much have we influenced baby and how much it just him? I'm not so sure, but I like to think of every positive as something we have somehow  taken a part in. I can only pray that his love of all food goodness continues.