Cheerio Consequences

As reported here, Cheerios have become a new favorite for Baby J. She eats scads of them at each meal and clamors for more. Well, as I am finding out, she doesn't always eat these scads of cereal.

After we're all done eating and I remove her form her high chair, a few renegade Cheerios that didn't quite make it into her mouth fall to the floor in a quick flurry. A mini hailstorm of uneaten cereal. Sometimes, after she's been plopped back in her play area, still more Cheerios tumble out from the hidden folds of her outfit. We find errant Cheerios all over the place now. A few times Baby J's even had them in her diaper (whole Cheerios that have somehow slipped under her onsie and into her tightly fastened diaper!). More often than not, Baby J is happy to pinch one up off the floor and pop it in her mouth. I haven't quite figured out how to discourage this yet.

The stray Cheerios are about the same color as our carpeting and, on more than one occasion, I've stepped on these teeny land-mines plunging bursts of crunchy powder deep into the carpet fibers.

Just like anything in life, the introduction of Cheerios into Baby J's daily routine has pros and cons. As of right now, there seem to be more positive benefits to them than negative consequences. I can deal with a few devious diaper Cheerios so long as Baby J keeps enjoying their conventional counterparts at mealtimes.