Me, Katya and Sweet Potatoes

Me, Katya and Sweet Potatoes
Originally uploaded by deirdred75.

Ahh the kitty kats. Nathaniel loves, loves, loves, loves the cats. When they come near him he gets all excited and flings his arms out to grab them, opens his mouth wide to nuzzle them and starts cooing and screaming at them with delight. They are treating this new development with just a hint of trepidation. Actually Katya is a trooper. She has put up with a huge amount of pets as I try and teach Nathaniel the principles of gentle petting. And when he has gotten a little overzealous and grabbed a hunk of skin or fur, she just meows to let him know it hurts and then walks off. I am sure once he is old enough for them to sleep together, she will completely transfer allegiances to him.

Now as for the sweet potatoes of the photo, this was taken in earlier golden times. Right through last week we were cruising on the food front. He was trying foods, sucking down apples and butternut squash, steadily increasing the amount he was eating every day, sleeping through the night. I was bopping around thinking to myself we got this food thing sorted, he's going to be feeding himself Cheerios in no time. He was guzzling water and reaching out for my ham sandwhich.

Then it all came to a halt. As of this weekend, Nathaniel has decided that's it on the food programme. He balks at food and all meal times, gagging, or pursing his laps, struggling to get out of the chair or my lap. I have greeted this development with a swing between tears and attempted optimism. I am now trying to get him to eat without turning it into a power struggle or food issue. But absolutely none of the books have any advice on this. All of them talk about what happens if your child doesn't like food at the beginning, but there is no entry on a happy eater who just decides he is done wth this food thing.