I just watched an important moment in my children’s development:  I watched them outsmart Laura, or at least beat her at her own game.  They have long since outsmarted Katie and I, but that was inevitable, what with the sleep deprivation and advanced age and vegemite-free diet.  But Laura – we expected that she’d stay ahead of them.  Alas, it was not to be.

Laura sat the boys down for second breakfast (don’t ask).  They ate their yogurt with a minimum of spitting, and ate some crackers, but then it was time for banana.  Nic is usually a big fan of the bananas, but Dexter is much more picky.  She slided the bananas and put them on each boys tray.  Nic ate his, but Dex was disinclined to acquiesce.  Strike one.  Laura sliced his into smaller pieces.  Dexter continued to display his indifference.  Strike 2.  Laura finally went and mashed the bananas.  No joy.  We’ll call this Ball 1, though, so the analogy doesn’t break before we finish.  Finally Laura went and got some peach puree.  She took the spoon of mashed bananas, dipped it in the puree, and fed it to Dexter.  He sucked off the peach, and spit out the banana.  I think we’ll let that be Strike 3.

Our tricks are starting to fail.  I used to always be able to get Dex to take his bottle by covering his eyes with his snugglie.  No longer.  Or to get Nic to cheer up by growling at him.  Or to get Dex to take a bite of anything by putting a cheerio on top.  I don’t think I’m smart enough to keep up with these boys…