
I recently noticed that it is physically impossible for me to feed Adelle without opening my mouth. Every time I move a utensil toward her mouth, my mouth involuntarily pops open in hope that Adelle’s mouth will also pop open so that I can shovel some food in. When I first discovered this, I tried to stop this reaction, but have since given up. I found that the only way to resist the reaction is to clench my jaw closed and focus. Even then, my jaw muscles start to relax when I am spooning food into her mouth. Once Karen or Adelle distract me, my jaw will pop back open. Since I have given up, I have started studying the reaction. One characteristic of this involuntary reaction is that my mouth opens increasingly wider as the utensil gets closer to her mouth. This can become quite painful if she doesn’t open her mouth or pulls her head back.