Back to the Baby

  By focusing on what I am feeding the whole family, it has been really easy to incorporate healthy foods for J and not stress about her nutrition. Part of the appeal of BLW is that your baby has meals with the rest of the family, eats what the family eats (within reason), and this makes life so much easier!  So instead of having to keep track of all the foods J has tried, I just add foods in for all of us that she can eat!  I suppose this is made simpler by the fact that she has yet to refuse anything I've put in front of her! 

  The two foods that she is not too sure about are peaches and watermelon.  For some reason the watermelon was giving her some trouble and she gagged on it a few times.  I think maybe the consistency allows her to squish it into a harder piece, and then she has trouble swallowing it.  She will still eat both the watermelon and peaches, though.  She just doesn't seem as eager about them as some other foods, like banana and avocado.  Avocados were on sale last week, so we have had avocado every day, and banana is certainly an every day food.  We tried carrots finally; I was cooking this recipe, which we all loved, and I just boiled J's carrots a little longer and she seemed to enjoy them!  Strangely, though, when I reheated some in the microwave a few days later, they caught fire.  What is it about carrots that make them spark in the microwave, can anyone tell me? 

  J has had the pleasure of trying graham crackers, and she did superb with them.  She is really good now about knowing what is ready to be swallowed and what needs to be gummed a bit more.  This allows me to relax a little more at mealtimes! 

Rice and Beans!

  When I cut that cantaloupe last week, it was the perfect amount of squishy for J.  She loved it!  The first time I put it on her tray there was a mix of cantaloupe and peaches, which she eats but doesn't seem to favor.  She ate every piece of cantaloupe before touching the peaches!  I was impressed that she could tell the difference.  I know they don't look the same, but it just reminds me of how smart these little brains are even at such a young age! 

 

  She has toast with cream cheese for breakfast just about every morning because she loves it and it is easy, and we have been eating cantaloupe all week.  We always have bananas on hand, so we use those when we go out or I don't feel like making anything else.  I also bought some Gerber cheesy poufs, since we were at the store one day and I knew time for lunch was going to be tight.  I thought she could try something with a different consistency.  For some reason, when she crunches on them, it makes me laugh.  Maybe it's because she doesn't have any teeth yet, I don't know, but it cracks me up when she crunches on those things!

  The other night we were having jerk chicken with saffron rice and red beans, one of our favorite dishes, and since J shovels everything in her mouth no matter what size, I thought she could try some rice and beans.  (I am not ready to give her meat, but that is another post.)  I was thoroughly impressed with the amount of rice and beans this girl consumed!  She is great a great eater - M never really got down the rice eating thing!

  I still have not gotten around to roasting carrots or broccoli - that is how much time I don't  find in a typical day to do this stuff.  But I must!  We spend so much time eating, it is important to make sure we are eating good food!!

This Week's Buys and Tries

  Today was grocery day, I bought new stuff for J to try, and I can't even remember what I got.  That is why I desperately need this documentation.  I know I bought cream cheese for something else to put on her toast. 

  I should mention that she had avocado and sweet potato tonight for dinner, and she ate just about all of it.  After months of finding M's food either in his scoop bib or next to him in the high chair, I am still amazed at how much J actually consumes. 

  Ah, here's my grocery list.  Peaches were on sale, although they are still a little hard.  Maybe later next week we can start those.  Despite the fallout of cantaloupe last summer, we bought one.  I expect I will cut it up this weekend and let it get softer before I give it to J.  We will be trying carrots this week, and broccoli.  I have not decided whether I will roast these or boil them, but I will let you know!