"Okay buddy," Jamie said as he swirled the impossibly small spoon in the broccoli and sweet potato purée that his wife had made up for their six month old son before she had gone off to the grocery store with Grace to grab ingredients to make a few desserts for a bake sale at her school. "Let's try this again. Don't spit it out on Daddy. I don't think I have any more white shirts left."
Instead of spitting the food out on his father, Conor simply turned his head away when he saw the spoon heading toward him again. Jamie let out a small sigh of frustration as he put the spoon back into the bowl and pushed it to the side. The frustration immediately subsided when the little one looked up at him, adorably scrunched up his nose and let out a laugh. He picked the baby up out of his high chair and kissed his round cheek.
"What's funny, huh?" he smiled, bouncing the baby in his arms.
Since Conor was now six months old, their pediatrician had suggested that they start introducing new foods to him. He was an exclusively breastfed child, just like his sister before him. Grace had taken easily to new foods, happily eating most of whatever her parents offered her. Conor, on the other hand, was giving them a tough time. They'd had small successes with a few fruit purée combinations they'd concocted but other than that, Conor would take nothing else.
Jamie carried him off to the living room and sat him up on the couch. He was able to sit up pretty well just as long as he had some type of assistance so Jamie and Eddie always added a supportive base of pillows around him just to be safe.
"I think I'm going to have to switch up my tactics with you, buddy," Jamie said as he ran a loving hand over the baby's wispy blonde locks. "We know you like fruit but vegetables and proteins have been hard for you."
Jamie leaned back against the couch and let his mind wander. With Grace, she would very rarely refuse any food given to her. She had a versatile palate and even enjoyed foods that he would refuse to touch. She was her mother's daughter. But if he recalled correctly, there was one specific food that no matter how many ways he tried to give it to her, she would not take to it. Kale, it was a vegetable that his wife and daughter loathed with every fiber of their being. Anytime he offered it to them, they would turn the other way. Maybe he'll like it, he thought to himself as he looked over at the six month old. He shrugged, it wouldn't hurt to give it a try.
He picked Conor up and carried him back to the kitchen, sitting him down in his high chair. Then, he went to the fridge, pulled out a few things and got to work. After a few minutes, he walked back over to the little boy with a fresh new bowl of kale purée.
"Let's see if this one is better for you, bud," Jamie said. He dipped the spoon into the bowl then brought it up to Conor's mouth. The baby eyed it curiously then opened his mouth. Jamie quickly gave him a little bit then retreated. He stood back and waited for a reaction. Conor smacked his lips together for a few moments before finally looking up at his father and flashing a wide, toothless green smile.
"You like it!" Jamie exclaimed happily. He fed him a few more spoonfuls until the bowl was nearly empty. He picked Conor up and peppered kisses on his plump cheeks. "Oh buddy! This is great!"
"What's so great?" he heard suddenly. Jamie and Conor turned to see Eddie approaching them with a few shopping bags in her hands.
"Ed! I finally got him to eat something else! He ate it like a champ!"
"Oh really? Finally!" she replied cheerfully. She put the bags on the counter and took Conor from Jamie. She kissed the side of his head. "You're such a big boy, honey! Good job!"
Jamie looked around the apartment in confusion as he realized that his wife's little shadow was no where to be found. "Where's Grace, babe?" he asked.
"Oh, she's with your grandpa. We ran into him at the store. He told her that he was making some chocolate chip cookies tonight so she convinced him that she needed to go home with him to help."
Jamie chuckled, "Oh geez. She didn't want to bake with you?"
"The bake sale isn't until the end of next week and I think she just wanted to dig into that toy box that they have for her and Conor there. I told him that we'd swing by to pick her up around dinner time. He requested that we bring some food from Mr. Luigi's since it's right around the corner from us."
He nodded, "Sounds good to me."
She walked into the kitchen, found a rag next to Conor's high chair and wiped his mouth. Then, she caught sight of what Conor had been fed.
She picked up the bowl and inspected it, "Is this... kale?"
"Yeah," Jamie responded with a small laugh as he came up next to them. "Figures, huh? Grace fought me every time I tried to give this to her but Conor took to it right away."
"Oh buddy," Eddie chuckled as she hugged the six month old close to her chest. "You are so much more like your Daddy than I thought."
"And is that a bad thing?" Jamie replied with mock hurt.
"Not at all," she laughed, running a hand over Conor's head. "If there was anyone in the world that I'd want our son to be like, I'd want him to be just like you."
Jamie smiled gently and pressed a kiss to the side of Eddie's head. "Love you," he whispered.
She smiled back at him, "Love you too."
There was a moment of silence between the pair until it was broken up by a small cough. They looked down at at their son to see that he now had spit up the kale purée and it was running down the front of his onesie and Eddie's arm.
"Oh no," Jamie said. He grabbed the rag and attempted to clean them off. "I guess I gave him too much."
"It's okay," Eddie responded. "You got him to eat something different. I count that as a parenting win for today."
After getting Eddie and Conor cleaned off, Jamie took the baby from her. "I'll go ahead and give this little guy a bath then put him down for a nap. When I come out, we can put on a movie. Sound good?"
Eddie nodded, "Sounds good."
She stood and watched as Jamie started to walk off with Conor. One of her favorite things about parenthood was seeing her husband become a father. He was truly one of a kind. Grace and Conor adored him. No matter what kind of day he had, he would always get home and be fully invested with her and their children.
Eddie called out to him, "Jamie?"
He turned around, "Yeah?"
She walked up and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Thank you for being such a good Daddy to our two munchkins," she whispered. "I don't know what we'd do without you."
He leaned his head against hers and smiled, "There's nothing else I'd rather do."
