Mashed Potato Madness

My children are quite unpredictable when it comes to meal time. If they're hungry, they'll eat. If there's something more exciting going on, food may be the farthest thing from their minds. As a rule, Kyle tends to be what people would call a "better eater" than Dylan. Kyle will actually try things that you offer him, while Dylan tends to stick to the familiar: bananas, bread, PB&J and pasta. Sometimes he'll surprise us, but I don't expect to see him chowing down on a stalk of asparagus anytime soon (unless, perhaps, he's dipping it in barbecue sauce).

Last night we celebrated Chanukah. My mom made a wonderful meal, and we were all gathered around the dining room table enjoying our roast beef, latkes, kugel and other yummy dishes. Kyle was doing a pretty good job with his latke and apple sauce (until he was full and then proceeded to smoosh his leftover piece of latke into the small crevice in his high chair tray--a signature move). Dylan was absolutely refusing to sit in his chair, so he climbed up on his papa's lap and was stabbing away at David's plate with his own fork. One thing my boys will do when they get tired of eating themselves is feed others. Dylan started out by offering David small bites of cranberry sauce and green beens with his Donald Duck fork; however, he had some difficulty when he got to the mashed potatoes. Fingers worked so much better. Within minutes, Dylan was grabbing fistfuls of mashed potatoes and shoving them into David's mouth (who was such a good sport, I might add). Dylan wasn't trying to be silly or messy--he was in the zone. His goal was to feed his papa, and if that meant grabbing fistfuls of mashed potatoes and feeding him that way, that was how it was going to be!

Although this sort of activity isn't a normal occurance for us, the chaos of mealtime is something I believe we will be experiencing for a while. It will get better when they're three, right? Four?