Although I miss the snuggly sweetness of mealtime when he was entirely milk-fed, Yogi with a fork has his own brand of charm. And yes, I did say Yogi with a fork. The times they are a changing.
Once we get him in the chair and push him up to the table, it's on. As you all know, there were days when I wondered if he would ever eat food that didn't come through a bottle, but now he eats with gusto. After reading lots of Montessori theory, we made the decision to forgo plastic kiddie type plates and utensils and Yogi eats on our plates (the small one for salads) and he does what he can with his fork and spoon. We bought two sets (meaning we have two spoons and two forks) and we just wash them after each meal. They look something like this when compared to a regular fork:
Most of what he eats is picked up with his hands, but he plays/works with the fork at every meal. He likes to pierce the occasional blueberry (bee-bee), cheese square (che) or black bean (bean) with his fork. The chatter is fairly constant while he eats. If he's not actually chewing and swallowing at.that.second, he's telling you about what's on his plate or the fact that a car is driving by (cahhh - sounds kind of like a Boston version of the word) or that Baker is coming down the stairs (dah). The spoon seems to be less compelling, but he can use it fairly smoothly. He's much better with it than the fork, but I think it's not as fun.
