even though odin has been enjoying the merits of relatively solid food for quite some time, whenever we tried to introduce anything as thick as even mashed potatoes or anything with the slightest bit of chunkiness, he’d – well – gag. and while this might not normally be a cause for concern for parents of “normal” babies, as a parent of a micropreemie it’s often hard to know if the behavior is an indication of an Impending Issue related to his microprematurity.

sure, all kids like to gag occasionally on foods they don’t care for, but sometimes it can be an early indication of oral-motor delays that can reveal themselves when you least expect it.

so, today we decided to give him an impromptu therapy lesson and see how he did with that classic first finger food – cheerios.

we didn’t have very high expectations and thought that maybe he’d get a few of them in his mouth before bringing them back up again.

but apparently he had other plans.

while odin loves to put anything and everything in his mouth, he discovers that it’s a little tricky to get a single cheerio from the tray on his highchair to his mouth without dropping it.

and, of course, there’s still the complicated bit about coordinating one’s mouth and tongue with one’s fingers. all things considered i think he picked up the requisite skills quite quickly.

soon enough, he’s shoveling them in his mouth forgetting what meager table manners he might have acquired from his pops ( the emphasis being on meager ).

and tada! the cheerios have disappeared! without the slightest hint of gagging.

maybe next time we’ll have to try french fries again 🙂