"Spoon feeding in the long run teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon."

Opeie enjoying his FIRST ever beans and chips- stolen from his big brothers plate....

 Opeie has always been a messy eater. I guess you cant really expect great table etiquette from a 17month old, but lately it seems to have gotten a whole lot messier.... to the point where the beautiful cream carpets Mrs M prides herself over are starting to look like the aftermath of a zombie apolocalypse. Part of this is due to Opeie being adamant that he is going to eat beans, spaghetti and pasta with his hands, 1 piece at a time.

Because we mostly feed the boys fruit and veg, those stains are the hardest to get out... so we've started looking for some really inventive and fun solutions to what we are currently using for their daily dining.... 

I'd love to stick with Super Hero themed cups and bowls etc but lets be honest they never make these items to a high standard and i don't think they ever truly have children's habits in mind, they are more about cosmetic element. Its becoming ever more apparent that we need to bring in the big guns and move to using companies and products that specialize in the eating habits of children.

Opeie enjoying a rare treat.... Dairy Egg Soya free Cake!!!!

We've been using our fun Spider-man bowls up until now, but we really could do with something that has Spider-man's webbing on the bottom to glue it to the high chair tray as Opeie has a habit of catapulting any plates or bowls from high up... any ideas on how to find something like this..... ? Anyway, it's come to my attention (after Mrs M constantly hoovering Cherrio's and picking up fruit that we need to put the spidey bowls and cups away until Opeie is a little bit wiser in regards to the direction of which way he puts his food....

I started looking about when deciding to write this post and found these cool and bright baby feeders and also a cool teether that Opeie so desperately needs as he has two of the nastiest teeth coming through (His gums are looking a lovely shade of Hellboy red) and doesn't Mrs M know about it going to work on 30mins sleep this Saturday! (Poor Mrs M!) 

Standard Feeders and Teether's aside i stumbled upon this great item by Nuby UK, it's a monster design storage pot that your little superhero can put their hand in and grab fun nibbles (for us I'm sure it would be cheerio's,Raisins or grapes etc) feeling brave that they got past the monsters nashers! Kind of reminds me of that scene from Flash Gordon...

(We've tried number 2 by Ikea and they were rubbish for Opeies age, as were the cups (no 3) they leak terribly! Plus Opeie prefers to drink through a straw these days! I am going to pop to boots this week and get him one of the Nuby beakers (number 6) because they are indestructable.. we took one to Florida and it was great (Not really sure what happened to it)!

I will always love Paperchase though for their designs, because Mrs M bought me some goodies from there when we first met... so cute. I love the tray in the picture above (no1) would come in handy for picnics (British weather permitting)!

I'm hoping to find some really handy plates that suction to the table.... does anyone out there have kids that are extremely messy eaters if so any ideas would be most appreciated? 

 Opeie cant keep looking like an extra from the walking dead!!