The Magic of the Mess

I love watching Chris eat. Not because he devours food. In fact, until recently, he's been throwing his food on the floor and seems to prefer playing with than eating. Well, the Baby Led Weaning book does say that babies may only start actually eating from nine months onwards or later. So I'm not too bothered.

However, I do enjoy the occasions when he finds the food tasty or at least nice to gum or tear apart. It's pure, unadulterated pleasure that I don't know how to savor first hand... I'm sure I could, when no one's watching, but then part of the joy of eating is also because it is, if possible, a communal activity.

I guess that's why I eat with my hands whenever I can. Bruschetta, burgers, prata, thosai, chicken wings, ribs (BBQ, in soups...) are all hand eaten. It doesn't matter if we're eating in a nice restaurant, I'm comfortable eating with my hands. Of course, I don't make a mess. I don't even put chicken/rib bones or prawn shells on the table if I can help it. They inevitably end up on my plate. It helps me control my portion size too hahaha!

But nothing compares to a baby learning about food textures, tastes, how to handle them with his hands and how to feed himself. Just look at his smile!

Most of the pictures I took only show Chris eating mango, but there was also tomato, cucumber and peach.