Using a spoon by himself

Calvin has entered the oh-so-fun phase of starting to feed himself. He has been fussing lately when I've tried to feed him things that require utensils (oatmeal, applesauce, yogurt, etc) and the only thing that will calm him down at meal time is if he can help himself by putting his hand on the spoon as it goes into his mouth. He has tried poking pieces of pancake with a fork and been successful in the past few days, but using a spoon requires a different kind of dexterity. I got some suction bowls and special spoons for him to start using, so tonight I bit the bullet and let him go for it. He didn't do too bad! Violet was excited to see him do it by himself. Of course, she demanded to use a special spoon and a suction bowl, too. And she had to have applesauce just like Calvin. I was trying to take a little video clip of him using his spoon successfully, but in the background Violet was whining really loudly about wanting her OWN bowl and her OWN spoon that I get annoyed when I watch it back. First the spoon was like a dipper. He would stick it in, get a little applesauce on the end of it, and lick it off, but soon he figured out how to actually scoop some and get it in his mouth with out turning the spoon upside down (which happened a lot, too). I remember this phase with Violet, and it was just a few days before she was an expert at it. I hope he gets good fast, too, because I am not crazy about the messy food everywhere.