I would try not to worry (easier said than done) about cutlery versus finger feeding versus spoon-feeding, as in my (limited) experience when it comes to feeding they do what they want - the phrase 'you can take a horse to water...' comes to mind. As long as you are offering your baby the opportunity to explore and have a try themselves then they will get there in their own time. From what I have seen of babies of a similar age to my own (approx. 17months), they are all good at different things - for some it's fine motor skills, others it's gross motor and others it's language and then a combination of the three. To me, it sounds like your son is quite smart and efficient - why bother with all the effort of using a spoon when hands are much easier?!