The JAKE go through phases when they LOVE hearing stories about themselves and each other. “Tell us again about the time when Andy…”, etc. It’s kind of an organic, portable scrapbook (which is a good thing, because I don’t think Ellie has even made an appearance in the real scrapbooks yet..oy!).
One of the most-requested stories is the first time Andy ate meat. Andy was a very easy baby. He was happy 98% of the time. He was cuddly. He was a great sleeper. He was content to wait sometimes when I had to deal with his 2 year old brother. He was also a HUGE eater. Sean and I remember packing up to leave Jackson, MS, for an internship in Memphis and putting Andy in his high chair while we packed boxes…the kid was happy to eat canteloupe and Honeycombs for hours…but that’s another story.
One day we were eating dinner. Andy had just graduated to sitting upright in the high chair, and we sat him down with us for meals, pulling the high chair right up next to the table and my seat. We were having green beans, french bread, and spaghetti with spicy meat sauce. Andy’s eyes locked on my plate and he went ballistic. We (and probably our neighbors) heard a kind of desperate grunting and blabbing that clearly meant “I have GOT to get me some of that!!!!”
No problem…I’d transitioned another child into table food. I knew just what to do. I broke off a piece of bread and put it on Andy’s tray. No deal. The gesturing and grunting continued. No problem. I gave him a tiny bit of sauceless spaghetti noodle. Nothing doing. Green bean. Nada.
So then I decided to reason with him. (Yes, I know he was less than a year old…what’s your point?)
“Andybear, you’ve had everything on my plate except for meat, and you won’t like it. It’s spicy and hot and babies don’t like meat until they’re older. Heck, we STILL can’t get Jonathan to eat the patty off of a hamburger.”
The poor kid looked even more desperate. Finally, I decided that the burned hand teaches best, and I gave Andy a little piece of italian sausage from my sauce. He ate it. A look of pure glee came over his face. The grunting resumed with more intensity. He wanted more. He got more…a lot more. My little baby was a voracious carnivore.
This had positives and negatives in the days to come. On the one hand, we were very economical at McDonald’s. We bought one hamburger for the boys. Jonathan ate the bun and Andy ate the burger and they were both happy campers. On the other hand, Andy’s diapers were horrendous.
