In case you were wondering how much sand a baby will eat before deciding it's not edible.. I don't have an answer for you. We never got to that point with E! Eventually we were able to distract him with pickles and oranges, but I swear that kid would have sat in the sand eating fistful after fistful.
I'm not sure where he'd rate the sand on the list of things he tried while in Florida, but I think I'd put Florida farmer's markets at the top. We spent one afternoon eating our way through one, and I think I'd gladly go every day if I could. For some reason I don't enjoy them as much in New England. Less free samples, maybe? Or less yummy desserts? Tom and I always like to grab a key lime pie while we're in Florida, and this year we tried waffles on a stick for the first time! And I have to say, I was definitely a fan. E on the other hand loved the fresh orange slices, and happily sucked every bit of juice and edible piece out of the rind while we walked around. He'd pause between oranges for a bit of bread, but frantically grab at the next orange slice we gave him.
He also got his first taste of ice cream, sort of. There's an ice cream shop we always visit while we're there, and although kids under 3 eat free, we were mean and didn't give him his own. Instead I offered him a small bit of whipped cream from my spoon. The first time he grabbed at it with his hand, and then wiped it on his shirt. He wasn't sure what is was, and for the first time ever, decided not to put it in his mouth to find out. So I put a bit on my finger and stuck it in his mouth, after which he immediately grabbed my spoon and shoved the remaining whipped cream in his mouth.
As I was taking a bite of my ice cream, I told Tom to give E a bit of his whipped cream. So he proceeded to give him a huge spoonful with whipped cream and sprinkles! I'm pretty sure Tom won E's love that day, since it was clearly the best thing that had ever happened to him. We did, however, create a little monster. When we tried to move on, he screamed at us because he wanted MORE! Although to be fair, I'm still not sure what would win if we put both in front of him: whipped cream or watermelon. That kid loves watermelon like nothing else.
And then of course there's the biggest baby crack of all - puffs! He doesn't eat them that frequently at home, but we gave them out pretty freely on vacation when we were trying to buy some time before a meltdown or nap. One day my mom was in the backseat of the car with him when he was overtired and ready for a nap, but we were still 10 minutes from home. I told her to give him some puffs to distract him.
She opened the container and held it out to him. He reached his hand in, grabbed a puff, and ate it. He asked for more, so she held the container out to him again. This time, he stuck his hand in and grabbed an entire fistful! She couldn't stop laughing as she tried to get some back from him and he kept trying to shove them all in his mouth.
Is it really vacation if you can't enjoy a few treats??
