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!!

J's Progress - Week 2

  This week has progressed a little more slowly than I anticipated, but thank goodness 'food before one is just for fun!'  I did start putting a little bit of cream cheese on J's toast.  It made the toast stick to her fingers, so when she was done with a piece and opened her hand to grab another, she would fling it off the tray, making things a bit comical!

  J ate lots of bananas this week, and I think we can safely say she likes her bananas like her daddy.  To combat the effects of so many bananas, we decided to go ahead on the peaches ('P' fruits help with pooping).  While she kept putting them in her mouth, there were definitely times when she seemed not quite sure about the taste.  To me they were a little tart, so maybe that is what caused all the hilarious faces!

We did not try carrots or broccoli, but we have been eating leftover sweet potato.  There have also been several meals this week that we skipped for her because either she was asleep, or needed to be asleep quickly. Even though she seems to eat a lot (most of what we give her!), when we miss a meal it never seems to bother her.  She still sleeps 12 hours at night without a problem.  Thank goodness!

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!

In Practice - Larger Wedges

  What a steep learning curve there is when you've never had any culinary instruction!  Fortunately, I am determined to stick through and get better at this for the health of my family.  In the past I would have given up by now and made a quesadilla. 

  Not that I don't still make quesadillas - we actually had them for dinner tonight.  But now instead of just tortilla and cheese, they usually contain some source of protein and a vegetable, tonight ground beef and corn.  But I did roast some larger vegetables for J today.  My 'note to self' about larger wedges was right on for the yellow squash and zucchini!  I am pretty shocked at the amount they shrank, actually.  I cut pieces a little larger than my fingers and now I know not to cut them any smaller than that!  I also cut a sweet potato into larger chunks, but those didn't shrink as much.  They were actually harder for her to grab, and slipped out of her hand more easily.  I could go smaller on those, but not much.

I cut most of the skins off of the zucchini and squash, but left them on the sweet potato.  This worked pretty well; the little bit of skin held the mushy zucchini and squash together.  The skins of the sweet potato are really easy to peel off when cooked.  After cutting, I tossed all the wedges in some vegetable oil and baked at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, flipping them every 10 minutes to avoid any one side getting too browned.  The squash and zucchini could have used less time.  They were VERY squishy.  But J liked them!



To try and help with the avocado, I mashed some and put it on toast.  This backfired, making the whole thing harder to grab, slipping out of her hand very easily.  She was also very tired tonight, so this may have contributed to her difficulties. She still enjoyed sitting at the dinner table with us and participating!

Gag Me

  Friday is grocery day, and because I was unprepared to start J on solids until next week, the poor girl has had toast for breakfast and dinner since Tuesday.  She is just as eager when being strapped into the chair, though.  Tonight was somewhat momentous because it is the first time she gagged.  Since Daddy has been out of town all week, Nana has come over every night to help with this kids, which has been a blessing.  However, Nana has not read about BLW and is not comfortable with the gag reflex.  When M started solids, I think Nana had about 18 mini heart attacks.  Tonight was her first in a while, then!  As if it is not unnerving enough for me, I have my poor mother freaking out!  Of course J was fine, and I watched her move the piece of toast back to the front of her mouth.  I can't wait to become more trusting of her reflexes!  I'm sure Nana can't wait, either.

Getting Started... Again

  At 6 months old, we started M (now 19 months) on rice cereal, because that is the only thing I read to do.  Plus the side of the cereal box said something like "Cereal is an important part of your child's diet until age 2."  He took to it really well, but all I gave him was cereal for several weeks.  This was mostly due to the fact that I had planned to make my own baby food, but we found out we were pregnant with J right about this time, and I was sick, and just generally lazy.  I read a few mom's discussing BLW in a forum I belong to, and when I finally figured out what BLW stood for, I got the book.  I purchased The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook, not because I was excited about new recipes (I'm not much of a cook) but because that is what I found at the bookstore.  It gives the basics of the program, and, of course, some recipes to try.  Although, because I am not much of a cook, most of the recipes, even as simple as they might be, are just too complex for me to try.

  So, we gave M toast.  Occasionally we gave him some fruit as well.  At the beginning, he just wasn't that into it.  He would play with some of the strips, sometimes try to eat it, but usually not.  So after his cereal, he had dry toast.  No wonder he didn't eat it!  *This is not BLW.   The purpose is to give your baby a variety of foods.  However, remember that I was lazy and sick, and he didn't care about it any way!

  Around 8 months old or so, M suddenly one morning started biting pieces off the toast and eating them.  I was so excited!  From then on, I started putting things on the toast, like a bit of butter, cinnamon, cream cheese, etc, and giving him more fruits and veggies.  He now has a very healthy appetite at times, and doesn't eat much at others.  But he has always been in charge of how much he eats, and he never goes hungry.  This no-pressure style of family eating suits us very well.  

  J is now 25 weeks old, and she has been showing signs of readiness for a while.  She can sit on her own for a bit, and she is fine if she has support.  If she is awake during meals, she sits in the high chair with us.  She has been gnawing her lips, watching us take food into our mouths, and trying to grab anything she can.  I planned to wait until next week to get her started, but yesterday she seemed so ready, so I gave her - you guessed it! - a piece of toast.  She just about ravaged that thing!  Every piece made it into her mouth.  Some several times.  If a piece was out of her reach, she banged on the tray until she either got it, or moved on to another piece.  It is clear to me that she will really enjoy BLW, and so will we.  But we'd better move on from toast quickly!