Cayman Prefers to Feed Herself

Feeding time has become a frustrating time for this mama.

When Cayman does want to eat, she prefers to feed herself. That's the positive side of things. She's been aspiring independence in this area. It's a beautiful thing. A blessing really. Another one of our everyday miracles. But there's some challenges that have come along with it that has left this little mama feeling strained.

Cayman eats so slow. I think she gets bored before she even fills up and then begins to get ornery about meal time. She flings food, throws her fork, or dumps her bowl over the side. Sometimes she even uses her messy utensils to comb her hair.

All part of being a toddler that is two I understand.

So much of meal time is me trying to keep her focused to continue eating and not play with her food. And Heaven forbid if the Mommy tries to feed Cayman. She'll spit out every one of those bites. So I've learned to put my hand over top of hers that is holding the spoon and guide each bite into her mouth so she still feels like she's in control. This works for a little while until that devious spark in her eye returns, a grin stretches across her face, and that little tongue sticks out from her mouth spitting...no, it's more like spraying the food all over me. Then she laughs. And not just any laugh. It's a laugh that comes straight from the depth of her belly and it drips with pure orneriness.

To be honest, it takes every part of me to not crack up too. Who would have ever thought, this little girl, born with only a tiny ribbon of brain matter, could have so much personality and silliness?

But no matter how cute she is about it, she must learn that that is not proper meal time manners. We are not a family of baboons - well most of us anyways. :)

But like I said, that's more of the positive side of the meal time frustrations. I have the patience to deal with that kind of stuff.

Where I begin to grow inpatient is when I fear setbacks for Cayman. I feel anxious about the amount of food she is actually ingesting. Dropping in L.B's is not a good thing for the already tiny Cayman. She's a little peanut. At her two year wellness check up, she weighed in at 19 lbs. 8 oz. I heard the notorious [friendly] lecture from her pediatrician about that. We talked about ways on increasing her caloric intake and gaining weight.

That's superb but only works when your child actually eats!

I've been trying to break the meal times down and feed her small amounts but more often throughout the day. This actually works the best but is the very part that is straining on me.

It seems right when I get started on a cleaning project, some other day task, errand, or staying on track with our appointment schedule, I get interrupted by this new feeding agenda. It's been difficult trying to get anything accomplished when stopping to feed my little toddler every 2-3 hours that eats at the speed of a snail.

Truthfully, Cayman hasn't been on the weight charts since she was only a couple months old. But I've never felt anxious about it because I had the confidence that her intake was a healthy amount. She's typically a good little eater.

But lately I'm losing that confidence. With her new found ability in crawling and mobile independence, she is very active. High activity requires more calories and she's been taking in less than her normal. Plus she needs her strength and weight gain as I foresee another surgery in the near future. (More on that another time).

See why I feel concerned?

I'm really hoping it's just a teething thing. She's popping in three of her pearly whites right now. Her crabbiness reveals to me that they are bothering her. So hopefully this phase will pass and she'll be back to eating like a champion again soon.

This mama's nerves would really appreciate it!

Oh, sweet independence you are so yummy...

and Messy too!