Christina ~ May 28

 

Eating pizza in Keene, New Hampshire with a three year old: I cut the tip off of a very hot piece of pizza with a plastic knife and fork, make a small triangle, put it on his plate, then I cut another piece and then another and I line the pieces up in the order that I’ve cut them. I tell him to eat them in order, the coolest one is there, I say, they get hotter as you go this way and I point to the hot ones. They look like a mouth, he says, and he eats each little piece of pizza carefully, one by one, as I keep cutting off more little pieces for him. He’s fascinated by the salt and pepper shakers, the glass containers of oregano and cracked red pepper and parmesan cheese, shakes them on to his plate, puts his finger in each one to taste it, makes a face at the red pepper. Drink some water I say and he does. After a while I give him the rest of the piece of pizza, tell him it’s now cool enough to pick up and eat on his own. He puts it on the edge of the paper plate, picks up the plate, and takes little bites from the edge, sort of directing it into his mouth with the plate. It works for him and he finishes the piece on his own.