As our family sat for BBQ dinner at our summer cottage, 5-month-old Sakari cried out to be a part of the action. I obligingly held him in my lap, as he can't sit unsupported quite yet. My fork and knife went to rest until Risto could take him, and so I reached out for the only finger food available on my plate--corn! It's crunchy and sweet, with the memories of family barbeques in every bite.

I raised the cob to my lips a few times and crunched down into those yummy kernals. And then, just as I was about to enjoy another bite, Sakke's chunky little hand reached up like a bandit and diverted the corn towards his gaping, gummy mouth instead. My first motherly reaction was to begin to tug it gently away, but I relaxed as I felt him pulling back. He eagerly latched onto the cob and gummed at it, his gums squeaking against the kernals.

I let him suck on he cob for a bit before gently taking it for another bite, and then he again took it on his own, gumming and sucking on it. My husband saw a few little bits of kernal actually make it into his mouth and go down, but he mostly just spent time tasting and gumming it. I wouldn't say he ate any of it, he just seemed to be enjoying the exciting new taste and texture. We were all pretty amused by his eagerness to get the cob into his mouth--even his big sister giggled at him.

Luckily, the corn wasn't dripping with salt and butter!