Eating and Drinking Like a Big Girl

Pin It Now! About a month ago my sister (C) and brother-in-law were in town and my sister mentioned letting Avery start drinking out of a cup by herself.  She has been using a sippy cup for quite a while but C said that in the infant room where she teaches, they start using regular glasses (child sized of course) well before the kids' first birthdays.  Avery was just about to turn 1 so I figured we would give it a try.  We have this little measuring glass that is just the right size for it so we started letting Avery practice, with our help, during meals.  She still uses a sippy cup at other times during the day but at meal time she always drinks out of a regular glass now.  It's so cute and she's getting really good at it, she can even do it by herself sometimes.  When she first started, she would do this crazy thing with her tongue that I can't even describe but it was hilarious!  She doesn't do it anymore but it used to crack Eric and I up.  The other thing that cracks me up about it is that the glass she uses, even though it is a measure glass, it actually looks kind of like a shot glass, same size and shape.  So it always looks like we are giving our 1 year old daughter shots of vodka!

Then a couple weeks ago, Amber at Nater Tot wrote a post on Toddler Tip: Learning How to Use a Spoon so I figured since we were using a glass we might as well start using a spoon too.  She had some great tips, like use two bowls and two spoons and use a suction bowl.  We've been doing it for about a week now and although she's not perfect at it, she is getting much better.  She still has a hard time scooping the food out by herself and she's always wanting to put the spoon in her mouth upside down but she has come a long way.

Since we started, I have been using scaffolding to help her learn how to feed herself.  At first I helped her through the whole thing; holding the spoon with her, helping her scoop, guiding it to her mouth, and then repeating.  She always held the spoon with me but I helped her learn how the process and steps.  As time went on I gradually pulled back support, letting her do more and more of it on her own.  It worked really well and has really helped her learn to eat on her own.  We try to practice at least once a day and she gets so excited when she sees those bowls and spoons come out!

 Look at that smile, so proud of herself!  : )