Annabel Edrie has decided that she'd like to be the earliest eater of all of my babes, and well, that she is. Passing all this Mama's marks of readiness - does she have teeth? Is she using a pincer grasp? Can she sit up? Does she have interest? - she recently joined us at the table, at just over eight months old now. At first, it was with bowl and spoon to mimic what we were doing (her bowl and spoon are from here), then a little bit of water in a cup, and then it wasn't long before she got louder (and louder) asking for food - just like the rest of us.
We acquired a "new" high chair since Harper was in one. Some dear friends passed on this lovely chair, no longer in use by their big and growing grandchildren. It's such a sweet and funny thing - high chair, rolling chair, and potty (yes, potty) all in one! Oh my. See how it folds onto itself up there? I imagine we'll use it just as a high chair, but still...so very sturdy, functional, sweet and full of the good energy of many babies who have sat here.
In the beginning, I slipped a sheepskin in here for her comfort, but once food entered the picture, that got a little ridiculous to clean after each meal. So Annabel and I headed into the studio for a little bit of making in the form of chair pads for her seat. I used a piece of high-density foam chairpads (like this) as the base for each, and a sturdy linen/cotton blend fabric from the Echino collection. The cover has snaps on the back for easy removal and washing, with contrasting fabric for the ties. Simple and good.
(Her cup is a mini version of the bigger kids cups, which I bought locally at Nest in Brunswick. But the mini one I found online here.)
With that done, now my little girl can eat in comfort and style. For there's a whole root cellar full of squash that she herself is putting quite a dent in (I simply bake it and cut it into chunks she can pick up and eat), and all that applesauce I made her. We've been telling her all about the garden, too, and all the goodness that she'll soon be eating from there. I think she's excited about that. We're excited to share it all with her, too.
