Soon, I will start cooking carrots, peaches and apples for her. And broccoli, too, most likely.

She still wants coffee something fierce, and reaches for mugs with eager hands. Morganna discovered this morning that she has learned to imitate how we hold mugs with two hands: one around the side opposite the handle, the other on the handle. When she has juice in a sippy cup or bottle, she holds it herself.

And, she fed herself a decent amount of sweet potatoes with a spoon tonight. Zak would load it and hold it toward her mouth, and she would grab the spoon from him and stick it in her mouth herself. And she was pretty clean about it, too.

Artcargirl–we are SO looking forward to your visit! I can’t wait for you to meet Kat.

Yeah, Stephanie–it looks like she is trying to clue into how to get that coffee!

Mel–I am glad to know you liked guac and salsa, too. We haven’t tried Kat on salsa yet, but will soon.

Nancy–What a lot of parents don’t get is that you have to keep trying with kids and their palates. Keep offering the food. Sometimes it takes twelve times trying it before the kid likes it. That hasn’t been the case with Kat, but with a lot of kids, that is the case. Morganna didn’t like green beans for about the first three times I offered them. On the fourth go, she loved them and kept up that love.

You have to be persistent, and you have to model good eating behavior, too. Show enjoyment and interest in food, the way it looks, smells and tastes, and kids will be more curious about it. Kids are little sensualists, and that is how you hook them on food for life. Show the fun of it, the pleasure of it. Don’t ruin it by giving them crap or teaching them to “eat this it is good for you.” Making eating only about junk or a duty is the wrong way to do things.

Oh, and I do abdominal massage on Kat, just like I did with Morganna. I learned it on Morganna, because she was a colicky girl, and it was the only thing, besides me singing until my voice gave out, that helped ease her gas and her mind. Poor kid. But what I learned with her, I have used on cats, dogs, a husband and Kat, with great success!

Poor guinea pig Morganna!

Kim–I liked nearly -all- food, but learned pretty early on to only like the good stuff. It just takes a while!