Perhaps he's just looking for a little time to explore doing it himself. Which gets extremely messy, but it's a learning experience for them. It helps if you have dogs, as they help keep the floor clean. As for the rice cereal, the only way my daughter would really take it was if I made it with formula and then mixed about half of one of those Gerber tubs of fruit into it. That was her breakfast most mornings: a bottle of formula and some rice cereal with fruit in it. I don't have a picky eater, but I have a very sophisticated eater. She always has been. My toddler does not like mac & cheese, nor hot dogs. Give her a brat or some italian sausage, or perhaps something spicy and she is in heaven. I about flipped a lid when my little darling climbed on the counter and helped herself to the crushed red peppers in the shaker. She liked it. Of course, round two will be different to be sure.