Foray into Food

Cecilia seems to be ready to begin experimenting with solid foods. She had all the readiness signs before six months: sitting up unsupported, grabbing and mouthing things, her first teeth had come through, she was able to bring things to her mouth... I wasn't in any rush to get her started - breastmilk should make up the bulk of her diet for at least the first year. She still seemed content to sit and watch us eat, playing with toys and spoons at the table... but lately she's not. She is always trying to snitch things from my hand. Here she is at about 6.5 months with her first-ever solid food - a little chunk of banana that she smushed and dropped in her lap. Ah, well... that's what solids are for at this point, learning and experimenting, not nutrition.

Here is the second thing she tried: avocado. I thought this slice might be easier for her to pick up than a tiny chunk. It wasn't though... too slippery.

Here she brings it to her mouth for a taste. She didn't end up swallowing bites of it, but she got an idea of how it tasted. After smashing it up on the tray, she sucked some of the residue off her hands.

Aerial shot of the avocado. These pictures were all taken at the beach in August, by the way. She also enjoyed gnawing on a thick slice of cucumber while I prepared a salad one evening. It probably feels nice and cool on her gums.

And now, more recently, she has tried pear and plum, which she gnaws on until she makes a mess of the fruit and gets down to the skin... and then mean ol' mommy takes the skin away. She also tried a little sweet potato. Since it was so mushy, I put it in a spoon, which she shoved into her own mouth, but only a couple times... one simply cannot experience one's food when it is mooshed up on a spoon! She had fun grabbing it off the spoon after that.

Here she is a few days ago with some banana. I broke off a large chunk for her and she went to town with it... she took some really big bites, then self-regulated by oozing most of it out of her mouth. That's why it's all over her bib. She chewed a lot of it pretty well this time. Most of it is on her bib and tray, of course!

This is what happens when you let a baby with two bottom teeth hold the whole banana:

And her she is this evening after her first broccoli experience. I wasn't planning to give her any, but she was being grabby and clingy, so she was in my lap while I ate. I gave her a piece to keep her busy while I ate. She brought it to her mouth several times, smushed it up, and got all the little bits (what are those things called, anyway?) all over her hands and then sucked them off. I found that while broccoli makes a mess, it is not a sticky mess - it can just be brushed off. That's a plus!

Enjoy this new learning experience, Cecilia! Happy experimenting!