FOOD FIGHT!

My grandson has adopted the habit of pursing his lips and turning his head when offered anything other than what he has decided he wants to eat. His head bobs from side to side as I follow his mouth with a spoon. Smiling, offering, making yummy sounds...but still he refuses. He wants cherrios. I began sprinkling cheerios onto his tray and every time he cradled one between two tiny fingers and guided it to his open mouth, I would pop in a spoonful of whatever I determined he should be eating. Aproximately a half bowl into this process, he got wise. He began to open his mouth only as soon as the cheerio was at his lips and only wide enough to accomodate said cheerio.
Exasperating!
Of course he has always won the battle. My fear of a hungry baby superceded my will to force him to eat what I deem to be a nutritonally balanced meal...but not today!
Today, I heated the Gerber graduates meal his mother had packed for him, peeled back the plastic wrap, grabbed the Winnie the Pooh spoon and made my very best yummy sounds!...he refused. Lips pursed tight, head swiveling. "Okay, I say...then you must not be hungry...I'll guess we will just go nite nite." I offer again and again he refuses. I remove the bib from him and him from the high chair, pop in the binkie and lay him down in his playyard. I shut the door and listen as he protests. I figure that if it goes on for more than a couple of minutes, it may be that he is hungry. I sit in my chair and fret and try to remember the last time I was this overwrought about something. I try to remember the last time I had to think this hard to outwit anyone!
It's exhausting!
The crying stops after about 45 seconds and I take a deep breath. I think about his father and what I did when he was small but I am convinced that most of it was probably not right anyway and I so want to get it right this time. I cover the graduates meal and put it in the fridge. Round two will begin in about an hour....the blue eyed, rosy cheeked baby with the chubby finger pointing to the pantry that holds the yellow box or other grandma with her steady spoon and yummy sounds. Any bets?