In Which Connor Grabs A Bite To Eat

Jeremy had several appointments on post today and Connor had no school, so while the big guy was at the doctor's office the little guy and I spent most of the afternoon in the Tacoma area. I dropped off one of Connor's hearing aids to be repaired (the second one he's broken in the past month-- sometimes I think we'll never have both of them back at the same time!) and then we drove over to Marlene's, the local health-food store, for a late lunch.

It's so funny to watch Connor explore flavors! I ordered the mushroom and barley soup, a ciabatta roll, and a cherry smoothie-- all things that Connor and I could try together. I already had a pretty good idea of what his favorite thing on the table was going to be.

Connor goes for flavor. Strong flavor. And when I say strong, I mean the kid likes wasabi straight up and will suck on limes. You have to put spice in just about anything you give him, and the principle works both ways. In other words plain applesauce isn't going to cut it, folks-- better pile on the cinnamon. This is one of the reasons I think he likes freshly pureed fruits and veggies from the farmer's market. The flavors are so much more intense than the stuff you can get out of a can. It's one of the reasons why I like them so much too; I'm not much of one for bland myself.

So I was completely unsurprised when he reacted to my feeding him a tiny piece of ciabatta like I was attempting to poison him. He immediately spit it out, and no amount of coaxing would make him open his mouth again for it.

The mushroom and barley soup got mixed reviews. He seemed to enjoy the taste of the soup, but refused to swallow the bits of barley I snuck in on the spoon, instead reserving them in his cheeks like a little chipmunk until he saw something that made him laugh and expelled bits of mushy barley all over the table in the middle of the store, causing the two old ladies at the table next to us to cringe and start whispering behind their hands. It was not one of our better public moments.

The cherry smoothie was another story, though. They make them with very simple ingredients: sour cherries, apple juice, ice, and in our case local bee pollen, because I'm trying to head off Connor's allergies. At any rate, there's no added sugar so the smoothie is lip-puckering sour.

I wish I'd had a camera when I put the first bite in his mouth; the contortions his face went through were pretty amazing. First he sucked his bottom and top lip into his mouth and squinted. Then he made a kissy face. Then he sort of screwed his mouth up and flailed his arms around wildly for a couple of seconds. I swear I could see smoke coming out of his ears. And finally he swallowed and sat perfectly still for a second, contemplating what had just happened. We looked at each other for a minute. Very deliberately and slowly I picked up the spoon, dipped it into the smoothie again, and brought it up to his mouth level.

"MORE!" Connor signed, and lunged for the spoon.

He's a thrill seeker, all right. God help us all if he ever discovers roller coasters.

~Jess