Kaia as a three-year-old exhibits a lot of personality traits of both Chris and me. She is very cheeky, stubborn, and opinionated. She loves food, and she especially loves all the attention, all the time, every time. When she was a 6+ month old baby, I loved all the moments I would introduce new solids to her. I got so excited every time I saw her mushing something in her hand, each time she put new foods in her mouth and reacted. It is likely (and very predictably) one of my all-time favorite experiences in early motherhood: introducing new foods to my child and watching her react and embrace most of the foods. Some people said that I might get sad that Kaia embraced baby-led weaning so readily because it meant that I would be able to directly feed her less, as in I wasn’t spoon-feeding her each bite. But I honestly didn’t mind it at all because I was so engrossed in watching her experience new foods for the first time, while also simultaneously taking endless photos and videos to document the entire experience so I could eventually relive it all (and share with very curious grandparents). Now, the funny thing is: now as a three-year-old, she actually wants to be fed all the time. She demands that Chris and I feed her food, so oftentimes to get her to finish her dinner, Chris will stand above her, feeding her each bite; I will also spoon or fork feed her, bite by bite, while sitting in front of her. I sit in front of her the same way I sat in front of her as a baby feeding herself. Except now, she’s technically no longer a baby, but I am actually feeding her a LOT!

I’ve also found that the tip to cook with your child to get young toddlers into food that they normally don’t like or care for really does work. Since becoming a wee toddler, Kaia hasn’t loved string beans much. She liked them as a baby, but once she got to about 1.5 years old, she decided she didn’t like them. I made a Vietnamese-style stir fry of king oyster mushrooms and string beans today while having her watch me cut up the mushrooms and stir fry the whole dish, and she watched eagerly and intensively as she asked to try the blazing hot food. Before the food was even out of the wok, I took single pieces of it by hand, blew them to cool them down, and handed them to her. And crunch, crunch, crunch! She ate more than an adult-sized serving of string beans along with her favorite mushrooms just like that. Every time she asked for a mushroom, I said she could have it as long as she also had at least another string bean. And so, she went for it!

I’m happy that she enjoys watching me cook because it not only means she’s more likely to embrace even more new foods, but it also means I can keep her occupied and entertained while simultaneously cooking for the whole family to eat. I hope she embraces cooking and that we can do it more as she develops more fine motor skills. I’ve envisioned us in the future baking lots of different treats, and also making dumplings and spring rolls together.