*there's more food

This is how Will used to pass some of the time during "meals".

  Then there was some of this.

 Next came this.

Literally so happy about this he is singing to the heavens.

Look at what he can do now!

I have trouble knowing what the next step should be with food. I think this is because Will is our first child and I don't have the experience. I have spent ages walking around the grocery store trying to find something that is close to what he already likes but different enough that it introduces him to something new. 

Good example of this: 

graham cracker > chocolate graham cracker > cinnamon graham cracker > Goldfish graham cracker > Teddy Grahams > graham crackers with larger and larger amounts of any kind of condiment on them 

Once he does that he has gone from liking just one food to more than 5 foods.

Bad example (at least at our house): vanilla wafer > Vanilla Oreo Cakesters

I thought that would be good bridge between the vanilla wafer and whipped cream. Will disagreed. And honestly I was a little offended that he crumbled it up with a look of disgust on his face. Anything made by Oreo should be revered.

That picture above is from the day I learned he doesn't want everything cut in small pieces anymore. He asked for my banana and used one end as the handle while he chewed on the other. I didn't realize that the difference in a sliced banana and a whole one is how it feels when we touch them. Once it has been sliced it becomes sticky and he is still not crazy about sticky or wet or really soft things. What does work is adding one of those to food he already likes. I put vegetable flavored cream cheese on Veggie Sticks

and sunflower seed butter on carrots...which went so well he began to rub his hand in the sunflower seed butter and then cram his entire hand into his mouth (see "singing to the heavens" picture above). Adding new tastes and textures to foods he already considers "safe" is called Food Chaining. 

The little mountain of whipped cream you see in the last picture is a standard addition to meals with sweet things. I encourage him to dip his other food in it and usually by the end of the meal we're smearing it everywhere. It is clear that he still doesn't really like it. He will get a handful and squeeze it through his fingers though and he likes when I say "Give me five" when I've covered my palm with it. Then we get to laugh when it splatters on his face. :) 

I have thought about keeping a list all of the foods he likes, but now it would be hard to keep up. He is getting closer to eating every day. Drinking is another story but that will happen in time.