babies can gum food, even if there are no teeth. My daughter is starting to fight the spoon, slap it away (and make a huge mess!), pull her bib up, just causing a huge ruckus. I find it helps to have some finger foods out for her to self feed, and I sneak in more on the spoon. Breakfast, she fights the cereal (she loves her cereal, I put fruit and yogurt in it) so I try to get as much in as I can, but also dice up bits of a baby cereal bar, and give her the puffs too. Lunch, I give more cereal (depending on how much she ate at breakfast) with a hard boiled egg and fruit, all mixed up, smooth. I give her avocado bits and cheese bits to self feed while I again sneak in the spoon. She loves watered grape juice so I give her 3 ounces after she eats, then bf. a snack after her nap, is usually fruit, puffs, cheese, kind of whatever, I try to do sampler plates when she eats for variety, then dinner, again some cereal with fruit, peas, carrots/ squash/ or sweet potatoes, a fruit for dessert, plus some of our food, which is really what she wants. She loves chopped up spaghetti. I always watch to see whats in her mouth to make sure she doesnt stuff up like a hamster, and keep whats available limited on the highchair to 3-5 bites, less if its cheese or chicken, more if its avocado or bananas. Keep him busy and interested, and allow him his independence. Good luck, I know it can get frusterating!