Just call him Hoover.

So, as it turns out, I don't need to worry about Jr. being a picky eater like J. At least not yet. This boy loves to eat. Everything. We have yet to find something that he doesn't like -- no, scratch that -- we have yet to find something that he doesn't enthusiastically love and eat large amounts of even if it's the first time he's ever had it. I'm not sure if the homemade baby food made a difference. Because at this point baby food of any kind is a thing of the past. At 9.5 months Jr. wants to eat everything we eat, the less like baby food the better.

Bread. Pasta. Pizza. Yogurt and cheese. Any kind of fruit. Carrots. Sweet potatoes. Beans. Burritos. Tacos. Crackers. Cookies. Rice (real rice, not rice cereal). Oatmeal (real oatmeal with milk and brown sugar, not oatmeal baby cereal). Cinnamon raisin bread. BBQ pulled pork. Turkey chili. Grits. Cornbread. Tortillas. Cake and ice cream. Rotisserie chicken. I'm sure you're getting the picture...

Of course we're careful about how we introduce things and there are definitely still some stuff that's off limits (whole milk, peanut products, shellfish, choking hazards like grapes and hot dogs, etc.). It's funny because with J we were so much more strict about letting him eat stuff like ice cream and cookies. It's not that we let Jr. have alot of junk, but we're definitely much more relaxed about letting him have a little bit of whatever we're eating as long as it's within reason. It's interesting comparing the two boys' eating habits. Jr. already eats more than J, who continues to be a super picky eater who somehow manages to subsist on juice, cheerios, and sunshine (or so it seems some days). Last week TH and I finally hired the sitter so we could go out for his birthday, and we ordered a pizza for her and the kids. I told her it was ok for Jr. to have a little pizza crust. When we got home, she apologetically told us that Jr. seemed "really hungry" so she kept feeding him. I can't fault her for that because when Jr. is hungry he is HUNGRY and he makes the most godawful sound until you feed him something. My mom heard him making this particular noise one day while I was feeding him and talking to her on the phone and she said, "Well, that's an ugly sound." So now we call it That Ugly Thing. And if he's doing it, someone better feed him STAT. Anyhoo. The babysitter informed us that Jr. ate 2 full 3oz. containers of homemade pears and peaches, a WHOLE SLICE OF PIZZA with crust (sans toppings), a bowl of soft diced carrots, 1/2 a container of YoBaby yogurt, and "about 50 of those little puff things." Oh, yeah, and an 8oz bottle of formula about 30 minutes later. J, on the other hand, ate...about 1/3 slice of pizza ("mostly the pepperonis," she said) half an orange, and some milk.

Two things make Jr.'s eating habits kind of humorous. First, Jr. doesn't have a single tooth. Not so much as a swollen gum has appeared yet. Lord knows how much he'll be able to eat once he has something real to chew with. Second, Jr. is still a little thing compared to his brother at the same age. At his 9 month appointment 2 weeks ago he had only gaind 15 ounces since his previous visit 3 months before--less than a pound. His head circumference (minus the hair) and length are still tracking in the 50-75th percentile, but his weight is now in the 10th percentile. He has yet to clear 16.5 lbs, despite already eating us out of house and home. When J was 9 months old he was over 20lbs. I'll be amazed if Jr. is 18lbs on his first birthday (only 10 weeks away, can you believe it??).

Well, gotta run, Jr. is at my feet pulling on my pants doing That Ugly Thing, which will quickly turn into That Horrendous Earsplitting Yelling if I don't hustle downstairs and fix him a steak or something...