Up until now, Natasha has been acting like a little princess in the feeding department. We've been feeding her from a spoon or a fork ever since she was 4 months old, but around her 1st birthday we've attempted to teach her to self-feed. It didn't work. And I don't think that she didn't "get it", but rather that she preferred to sit and be fed. Easier, right? But a few days ago, we put out a few Gerber puffs on her highchair tray, and surprisingly enough she started shoving them in her mouth. It was really funny, almost like she changed her might overnight. Silly girl. Now she can sit and feed herself puffs, but she still needs lots of practice as quite a few of them end up on the floor.

I sometimes see videos of babies her age feeding themselves pasta with tomato sauce and I can't help but cringe. The sight of the messy pasta and tomato sauce all over the highchair, the baby's face, hair, and clothes, and even on the floor really disgusts me. I don't understand why parents would go through this mess on a daily basis which would also require giving the baby a full bath afterwards. I would rather use a fork and feed her myself - nice and clean. I could see her feeding herself drier foods that would require me to wash her face and hands, but the whole messiness is simply not for me.

Here's a little video we recorded last night of Natasha eating Gerber puffs: