Family Dinner

Yesterday we had our first family dinner. Now, it’s true that Mayuki has gone to restaurants with us, as this weekend, and that she has been sitting at the table with us for breakfast and dinner since her high chair arrived a couple of weeks ago. Yesterday, however, was special. Mayuki ate at the same time we did. She had a slightly different menu, of course: no salmon, and the carrots were pureed. But Yuriko fed her a bit while we ate.

Mayuki is not wildly enthusiastic about non-milk foods. She’s not violently opposed to them, either, although the face she made when she got the pureed carrots in her mouth suggested that she loathed the taste. She still ate them, and came back for some more, which makes me wonder whether the link between that expression and a horrible taste is not yet properly established. Still, she only ate three spoonfuls or so, before pushing the spoon away. According to Yuriko, she does that a lot; once she is pushing the spoon away, it’s very difficult to get her to eat any more.

On a slightly different topic, I put Mayuki to bed last night, as usual. At 9:30, she was lively and happy, her eyes wide open, kicking her legs. (She kicks her legs when she’s happy.) By 9:35 she was sound asleep. I suspect that this is because we are pretty good at getting her to bed between 9:30 and 10:00 every day, so that she’s ready for bed at that point, and I always put her to bed in the same way. I carry her round the bedroom, without looking at her, and sing to her. I always sing the same songs: first, “Dear good night”, then the Skye Boat Song, then “When a knight won his spurs”. Normally, she’s asleep by that point. It doesn’t always work, but it works far more often than not.