Feed me!

First of all, Kylie discovered yesterday that she likes cantaloupe. The first bite wasn't too sure, but after inspecting the bowl to discover that there were no additives or preservatives, Kylie approved and ate it whole-heartedly.Now I come to the part where I must brag on my darling child for a minute. She has been eating table food (with gusto I may add) for about two weeks now. She has been discovering new colors, tastes, and textures daily and still hasn't come across any strong "No, I'm not going to ever eat that again!" foods.

Last night we took our mothers out to dinner to celebrate Mother's Day early (yes, because we are scum and have taken their granddaughter out of town for their first Mother's Day as grandmothers...). We went to our favorite Greek place, Gateway to Athens. (By the way, if you like Greek, or would like to try it, I highly recommend it! It is locally owned by the nicest woman, and the food is AWESOME!) I wasn't sure if Kylie would be a fan of Greek, so I brought her a 1/2 cup serving of steamed broccoli with 1/2 slice of American cheese, a stage 3 size herbed chicken with pasta meal, 5 cut up grape tomatoes (a new favorite to add to the list), 14 mandarin orange slices, and a container of banana baby food. She devoured her broccoli, chicken with pasta and bananas with my help ~ to messy to navigate on her own ~ but I decided to let her feed herself the tomatoes and oranges. While I turned my head for a second (after the diaper/dishwasher incident you'd think that I'd learn...) she grabbed an extra fork and started chasing a bite of tomato. Instead of being a vigilant mommy, I decided to grab the camera and see what happened.

"Mommy and Daddy don't seem to have this much trouble getting stuff on their forks."

"Now a tasty morsel is on my fork, what do I do with it?"

"Hey, look at me! I did it!!!"

I suppose that every day children figure out how to use a fork on their own, but yesterday was the day that my girl did it! She had never even held a fork, and look what she did! Oh, I'm so proud!

I do have a question here that I'd love to hear some advice on. Our pediatrician told me that Kylie is at an age where she won't overeat. I hear that, but let me tell you how she can pack food away! In addition to what I already listed above, she ate four of my Keftethes (a super yummy Greek seasoned meatball ~ proof that you don't have to take McDonald's to ethnic restaurants for kids). Then when we moved on to Coldstone Creamery for dessert, she managed to beg some chocolate devotion ice cream off her grandmas.

How do you know when your child should stop? Is there a basic calorie intake I should be aiming for? I just don't want to over (or under) feed Kylie and cause eating issues that will rear their ugly heads later. I'd really appreciate input!