The Dickens

Ry is developing quite a little personality! It is usually cute...but sometimes not so much, hence his nickname "the dickens". He loves his bath when he can splash around and throw his bath toys. But post-bath is another story. He does not like to dry off and get dressed! The second I put him down he rolls over and starts grabbing at anything he can get his hands on, like this: I know that this is completely normal at this age; he is curious and does not want to sit still. But when I try to get him still enough to fasten his diaper and get him dressed, he fusses as though I am torturing him!

Something naughty that he really likes to do is throw his food on the floor. He is getting very selective about what he will eat (read: picky!). Right now his favorite foods are: yogurt, any fruit, cheese, pasta with marinara, mac and cheese, almost any cracker, and almost any baby food. There is not much else he will eat these days. We try new things almost daily and he will have none of it. I know that you can't force it. But when he won't even try something, then proceeds to throw it on the floor...it can be maddening. I get especially frustrated when I have spent time making something for him and it all ends up on the floor. I try to act cool with him since I feel like at this age, once he knows he will get a negative response it will only encourage him. So I try to approach it lightly while saying no and explaining how many children all over the world are starving (such a typical mom thing to say! But so true nonetheless...). He does still really like his baby food, which is many times what I resort to feeding him when he won't eat anything else...but I would like to get away from this since he is almost 1! Otherwise I resort to our staples of fruit, crackers or cheese slices which aren't the worst things in the world but he cannot live on them! I have heard from some people not to serve him anything special if he doesn't like what he is given...but I am sorry, I cannot let him go to bed without eating anything! Am I encouraging picky behavior??

Well anyway, it is hard to stay mad at him for any length of time, because then he looks at you like thisand all is forgotten!