May the fork be with you

For weeks, I've been giving Dan a little plastic fork and spoon with his meals to see if he'll figure out how to use them. Mostly he would just wave the utensils around, eventually throw them on the floor and continue eating with his hands.

On Wednesday, lunch was on the table - mine and Dan's. I went to fix our drinks and when I came back Dan had procured my fork and was poking his food. This is interesting, I thought. So I got him a smaller salad fork and watched. He put the fork in his mouth and actually got some food on the fork - in that order. Once the food was on the fork, he took it off and used his fingers to eat.

At dinner Thursday, experimentation continued - fork in mouth, food on fork, eat with fingers. Then, he stabbed a piece of food and brought it to his mouth and ate it. We applauded and cheered heartily. Of course, he then got excited and starting waving his fork around. Easy, kid, you'll poke your eye out! And it wasn't just a one time thing. He was able to repeat it.

All this time, I just thought he lacked fine motor control. Call it the curse of the first born - he just wanted to use the same utensils that the adults use, not the baby fork and spoon. Silly mommy - a first born myself, I should have known.

Flashback: Dan's first sweet potato. You've come a long way baby!