Finishing Quin's yogurt with a baby spoon has given me time to ruminate on these topics.

We've been running. We've been busy and surviving on whatever Quin doesn't eat. Not too long ago Quin wasn't eating much grown-up food. He dabbled in string cheese and fell pretty hard for tomatoes, but for the most part we got to eat the majority of our meal. His binge began the other night when we were out at Champps, a brewpub with some decent food in rather large servings. I ordered a hamburger, a break from my Caesar salad and necessary protein preparation for the next few days of working with my father. I gave Q a couple pieces of beef and soon he was ripping hunks of flesh from my meal. That was with his left hand. His right dug around in Sarah's noodle bowl for more artichokes. Sarah, who usually has plenty left over for lunch the next day, said, "I'm out of food, what have you got?" I was down to parsing the garnishes into infant bites while being heckled by a one year old.

That was a few weeks ago, and now I'm finding half eaten food everywhere. He got into Sarah's lunch this morning and helped himself to whatever he could open. Quin would take a bite of Sarah's string cheese and then offer a bite to Paco, who'd wait while Quin took his turn. I glowed the way a parent does over two siblings finally learning to share. Of course Paco does have a legitimate beef. The first solid food Q ate was his.

My favorite course of action is in the morning. I hand Quin a whole apple, and he's content walking around stabbing at it with his three teeth. You wouldn't believe the damage he can do. The bad part is that he often comes back with no apple. Only a few have ever been recovered.

I have to be honest; I've felt a little resentment sharing my food with him. Sometimes I break out some baby cereal just to distract him from whatever I'm eating, but it doesn't work anymore. He wants my apple, he wants my ravioli, and he wants my sausage.

Let me just say that the biggest scam on the planet (at least for today) is the American Express Gift Card. Having our cupboards ravaged by a 20-pound omnivore, we decided to go out on a card given to us at Quin's birth. (We hoard gift cards. You might get a gift from one you gave us.) After the meal the waitress came back with the ego-neutering message that our card had been declined. For once my disbelief was earnest, as the stated balance was far greater than the tab. But here's what we found out when we got home. Every month you don't use the AmEx gift card they deduct two dollars. And when you do finally buy something you're charged a $4.95 processing fee. Someone paid twenty-five bucks cash to buy us a gift, and we spent twenty without ever buying a thing. Seems scummy to me. It's like a Hickory Farms gift basket that evaporates the longer you wait to eat it.

Comments

[VFE]

Be grateful that quin is so prolific in his tastebuds. Your nephew Nicholas (my brother) eats only mac n cheese, corn, and the occasional bread roll at age 14. Your son at age one already has him beat as far as how much he's willing to savor.

Also, maybe you should consider Quin as your own personal tummy tuck. A lapband system that prevents you from overeating. Of course, you cant exactly REMOVE him. I dont think Quin would LET you remove him now that he's gotten a taste of solid food and it's much more interesting than boring milk. And i'm sure that your food is much better than his.

And as for the gift cards-- I go with Visa. They give you 13 months before they start deducting.