Will walk for food

A baby's first steps must be a scary thing. Venturing out on your own, unsteady and unknowing, doing this thing you've only watched the big people do. So what did it take for Henry to gather his courage and take his first wobbly steps? Hunger. This is true to form for our dear little boy with the big appetite. And I have never been so thankful for his appetite in all his ten and a half months. Not because it motivated him to walk, but because we've had a few unsettling days of Henry eating and drinking very little. Naive, new mother that I am, I never thought I would see a day where Henry wasn't interested in food; but now I've seen three days of no interest in eating. Henry's on the heels (I hope!) of a nasty cold, throat, ear infection combo that left him a shadow of his healthy self. This afternoon Henry began to rebound from his sickness, and finally ate some lunch. I'd offered him bananas, thinking they were a bland, inoffensive food for an unhappy little tummy. Did Henry want bananas? No, he wanted my lunch, which was a pungent garlic and spinach pasta dish. So, garlic pasta it was. Later in the afternoon I grabbed a few cheddar flavored rice crackers for a snack while I watched Henry play. Not one to miss a snack, Henry picked right up on the sound of the crinkling bag and came to investigate. Since I had spent the past three days fearing that Henry would starve and whither away to nothingness, I couldn't turn down his pleading glances toward the crackers. Yes, I'm a sucker. I squatted down and gave him one small piece. And then another and another. Eventually he was standing up before me grabbing the pieces faster than I could break them off. Seeing my opportunity, I backed away a few steps, and the hungry babe slowly creeped one foot forward in my direction. He fell on this attempt. But a few minutes later, success! Henry took four tentative little steps toward me (okay, toward the rice crackers that I happened to be holding)! He repeated this feat a few more times before satisfying his hunger and wandering off to climb the stairs. Watch out world, here comes Henry!