Appetite(s) for Destruction

Appetite for Destruction: Little Bit Wants to Bite

Bub loved baby food, and I mean loved it. Loved it so much that, as I've mentioned many times on this blog, he still ate baby food peas and sweet potatoes until a few months ago and, when our babysitter is here, continues to eat them (he accepts them from her, but not from me, not that I've still been pushing them). Little Bit eats his baby food just fine, but I can tell (or at least I think I can) that he really wants food that he can pick up and eat on his own. I am a little nervous about this. Bub was spoon-feeding himself baby food before he ever wanted to feed himself much table food. Little Bit, perhaps because he sees Bub eating "real" food next to him whereas Bub just saw me wide-eyed and holding a spoon, looks at that food with longing. Even though he has six, huge teeth and a pretty good pincer (?) grasp, I have been waiting until his next check-up to ask about moving forward with more foods. For now, the only things I feel safe letting him eat are little, itty, bitty pieces of banana that I pre-mush a bit for him, and puffs. When I pour a little pile of puffs on to his tray or on the exersaucer while he's "exercising," he gets super excited at first. Then, pretty soon, he realizes, "Oh, these again. Not what I was hoping for." He eats some of the puffs and others inevitably end up on the floor where they are accidentally stepped upon by me or intentionally pulverized by Bub.

Appetite for Destruction II: Tornado Bub

I'm not a neatnik, never have been. I do like things neat and tidy, but I seldom manage to keep them that way for very long. Daily, I attempt to straighten our place up as best as I can, just trying to achieve a baseline semblance of order that keeps me feeling somewhat in control. Since Bub and Little Bit are typically only asleep at the same time for about twenty minutes a day, nothing is ever too tidy during the day. But even if they slept for two hours, I know that with Tornado Bub in town, I could spend all of nap time picking up and nothing would stay orderly for more than ten minutes or even ten seconds. Honestly, he has an appetite for destruction. It's like if he sees that I've straightened the pillows on the couch, he feels compelled to go over and toss one of them on to the floor. If he notices that I'm sweeping, he has to grab his little broom and "help" and by "help" I mean go directly to the pile of crumbs I've gathered and scatter them with his broom. If I am foolish enough to leave a pile of folded laundry in his reach, it does not stay folded for long. If I ask him to get me a "Little Bit diaper," he often gives me half the bin. Bub does have to clean up after making these messes. When I have the energy, it's immediately. More often than not, it's after Little Bit is in bed. Then, we "work together" to put all the crayons back in the tin, all the Megablocks back in the bin, or all the shoes back under the shelf where we keep his footwear. I'm not concerned about him being unhelpful or incapable of picking up, I am concerned about his seemingly physical need to bring disorder to order. I hope it's just a stage.

Do any of you have a tornado in your home? Any tips? What about ideas for what to feed Little Bit? Just please, don't tell me avocado. I know it's mushy and he might like it, but I don't like thinking about all the avocados that will go brown in my fridge so I can use enough of one to satisfy the Bit. Despite their healthy fat status and my love for them, I don't want to see myself eating an avocado a day before it goes bad.