A manly man.....

Leo is becoming a little man quicker than I am ready for, but I am keeping up pretty well. We have had new eating adventures this week that has us all enjoying meal time a little better. Leo has decided he likes chicken. Not the baby food chicken, the pureed chicken of which I have a whole bag of homemade in my freezer currently, or even small pieces of chicken. No sir, he wants the whole thing! He was eyeing my chicken breast one day at lunch, and so I thought I would see what he would do with half of it whole, thinking that it would soon be Abby's afternoon snack. He showed me by not even thinking twice about picking it up and savagely ripping pieces off with his teeth and grinding them up with his toothy gums. I am nervous the whole time about choking, one of my all time biggest fears, but he seems to say "finally, some food I can really sink my teeth into, I was wondering when you'd figure that out mommmy!" as he thwarts the spoon with my lovingly made pureed food. He also enjoys eating peeled apples, whole. And now he seems to think that since he can eat like a man, it's time to stand up for diaper changes too, and thanks to the instruction from my friend down the street I am practicing this skill and getting a little better at it. At least it makes the screaming go away. All these big boy actions melt away, however, when he spies his teddy ML and tenderly snuggles with him, it's enough to melt away any stress for sure as I watch him become my baby Leo again for just a minute.