Name: Tess
Home: St. Louis
A Mini Milestone
Today I packed away Ben's high chair. Two weeks ago, we bought him a booster seat, which he loves. I like the fact that he's now sitting at the table with us, albeit with his own tray.
Before I put away the high chair, I cleaned off a year's worth of stubborn stains. I found, to my surprise, that the cover is machine washable--imagine how clean it could have been all this time! As I scrubbed the hard plastic chair to remove the lingering grime, I felt bad for Hypothetical Secondbaby, doomed to a childhood of grungy equipment and worn clothes.
It's hard to believe that we only bought Ben the high chair a year ago. I tried to hold off introducing solids until exactly 6 months, as our doctor recommended. But two weeks before Thanksgiving, we gave in and fed Ben some sweet potatoes. I was excited for him to be able to have some "real food" with the rest of the family at Thanksgiving. Although I felt a pang that I was no longer providing him all of his nutrition, I was eager to see him grow up.
Now Ben is growing up even more. He holds his own cup and uses a spoon and fork (at least sometimes). He can ask for the foods he wants by name, and when we dare put something he doesn't want to eat on his tray, he picks it up and holds it out to us, saying "Take it." (As annoying as it is when he won't even taste something, it's a big improvement over flinging it.)
Hypothetical Secondbaby serves a useful purpose at the moment; because he or she could come along someday, I don't feel too sad when Ben leaves babyish things behind. Sometime in the future, when Tom and I decide that we have too darn much money and are much too well-rested, we could pass by these milestones all over again.
But of course, Ben never will. Luckily, watching him grow into an independent little person is more than enough compensation for losing my baby.
Before I put away the high chair, I cleaned off a year's worth of stubborn stains. I found, to my surprise, that the cover is machine washable--imagine how clean it could have been all this time! As I scrubbed the hard plastic chair to remove the lingering grime, I felt bad for Hypothetical Secondbaby, doomed to a childhood of grungy equipment and worn clothes.
It's hard to believe that we only bought Ben the high chair a year ago. I tried to hold off introducing solids until exactly 6 months, as our doctor recommended. But two weeks before Thanksgiving, we gave in and fed Ben some sweet potatoes. I was excited for him to be able to have some "real food" with the rest of the family at Thanksgiving. Although I felt a pang that I was no longer providing him all of his nutrition, I was eager to see him grow up.
Now Ben is growing up even more. He holds his own cup and uses a spoon and fork (at least sometimes). He can ask for the foods he wants by name, and when we dare put something he doesn't want to eat on his tray, he picks it up and holds it out to us, saying "Take it." (As annoying as it is when he won't even taste something, it's a big improvement over flinging it.)
Hypothetical Secondbaby serves a useful purpose at the moment; because he or she could come along someday, I don't feel too sad when Ben leaves babyish things behind. Sometime in the future, when Tom and I decide that we have too darn much money and are much too well-rested, we could pass by these milestones all over again.
But of course, Ben never will. Luckily, watching him grow into an independent little person is more than enough compensation for losing my baby.
Ben, just over a year ago
posted by Tess | 12:28 PM
2 Comments:
"Take it." That's sweet :) Juliette said "Piece of icky" and Ilsa said/says nothing - she just opens her mouth and lets the food fall out...
And yes, I'm using "Hypothetical Thirdbaby" as my cure for most baby-longings these days. I think when you stop thinking about Hypothetical (Number)baby and keep thinking about "Hypothetical College-bound and Out-of-the-House" baby you know you've borne enough children.
Aww...what a sweet post.
I was so diligent in keeping everything clean for hypothetical second baby, but now that she's here, I have slacked off a bit. It's probably because I know that hypothetical second baby is now Final Baby. Because of that, I'm hanging on to the high chair for dear life. In fact, it now has fingernail marks in it because of that! She'll probably be 10 before I put it away! Ha!
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