Dog food & a parenting YUCK night.

Owen is fast. Which is why the new gate normally stays closed:

But sometimes I leave it open so he can crawl up the step and into the kitchen. So tonight, he actually bypassed the water bowl and headed straight for the island…which is where the dog food is. He was fishing in the bowl, which made Maggie come running because she thought she was getting something good. It was funny because she saw him in her bowl, and suddenly she wanted to eat her food! I actually called Tom to tell him, and while I was talking to him, I saw a piece of food go in Owen’s mouth. Stinker! I wasn’t terribly worried, but I did try to get it out—to no avail. So Owen has officially eaten his first (and certainly not last) piece of dog food! He seemed no worse for the wear and I laughed about it.

Fast forward to dinner, when he becomes Mr. Crankpot. I am sure it has to do with him teething right now…but he’s fine ALL DAY and only turns cranky in the high chair. So he’s either becoming a fussy eater (some nights I’ve had to open three or four different jars of food to find something he’ll eat) or there’s something about eating while teething that’s the problem. Regardless, he’s just been off kilter for a few days—but he always ends up eating his normal amount (it just might take longer…and more patience).

So tonight I tried homemade carrots and that was a no-go for the second time. Then he finished the Zuchinni and Squash Stage 3 jar we started at lunch. Then I tried to give him some itsy bitsy noodles with some butter, and he ate a few small bites but he didn’t like that (although he has been okay with those same noodles mixed IN something). All this was interspersed with puffs, cheerios, freeze-dried corn, and veggie straws—all typical meal snacks. He still needed to eat more, though, so I got out some green veggies.

And he was eating just fine.

And we were almost done.

When he started coughing.

Which turned into almost choking.

I was just starting to get him out of the high chair when he started vomiting. There was nothing I could really do except let it happen. Yuck. The only good thing was that it stopped the choking. But it was all over everything: him, his clothes (jeans, onesie, and socks), the high chair (tray, seat, and foot ledge), me (jeans and shirt—he missed my shoes), the dining room chair cover—and as I learned later while cleaning it up…there was spatter in the entryway to the kitchen, the wall behind where I had been sitting, the floor under the high chair (and the inside underneath of the high chair…and the dog. Yes, the dog. And it was all green.

And speaking of the dog, yes, she cleaned it up. I didn’t want her to, but I was too busy taking care of and cleaning up Owen to worry about her. So I got him in his PJs and he was no worse for the wear. He was sitting, playing, and watching Sesame Street while I went to clean up the dining room. Egads, what a mess.

Definitely a parenting YUCK day.