This is the part, as a Mom, I need to let go on......letting Mackenzie self feed. It's so much easier, and cleaner, to do it ourselves. Don't get me wrong, I would very much enjoy being able to eat my meal without interruptions of feeding her. But I know the day will come very soon that she will be shoveling down her own food on her own.

The times I do let her feed herself I end up having to take her to the tub afterwards to get the food out of her hair, etc. Working during the week, who has time to give a bath every single night. And to clean up all the extra mess on the chair and floor. I've noticed with these self milestones it's best to try and if it doesn't work, hold back and try later. So that is what we've done. She's been given the spoon in the past but she gets more food elsewhere then in her mouth and since she doesn't have the patience for a 3 hour meal it's just better for us to feed her.
Last night we again gave her the spoon and she seemed more confident and ready and got a lot more easily into her mouth. Of course she loves to use her fingers too. Here she is during her meal being silly...