Our Little Foodie

Bry has made leaps and bounds from the early days of trying out solid foods. He eats three squares a day now, and is working his way through a growing list of new foods. Steve and I have gone all crunchy granola (well, maybe just crunchy) with the feeding process, relying on the crunchiest of all baby feeding books: Super Baby Food. While we don't necessarily share the author's fervor for things like making our own baby wipes, we do use the advice on making some of our own baby foods. So far, Bry's enjoyed (to varying degrees) carrots, green beans, peas, squash, sweet potatoes, avocado, apples, bananas, prunes, pears, oatmeal, brown rice, barley, millet (which I had never heard of), tofu, egg yolks, and yogurt. His favorite, by far, is yogurt mixed with pureed fruits. The food that most often gets the scrunched up, "Is this really food?" face is green beans. The kiddo's diet is definitely more healthy than my own, as it consists mostly of foods plucked directly from the refrigerator that don't require heating of any kind, since time always seems short between preventing Bry from storming the kitty and steering him clear of electrical cords. To be fair, Steve has been doing a great job of cooking up healthy meals on the weekend that we can enjoy throughout the week. So it's really just extreme laziness that's keeping me from eating better.

So far, we've continued with the cautious rule of only introducing new foods to Bry every three days, so that if any allergy signs show up, it's clear which food is the culprit. We haven't figured out exactly when we can relax on this rule (OK, we've consulted exactly nobody about it). Extrapolating, Bry won't get to try burritos or General Tso's chicken until he's about 75.

We also tried "finger foods" for the first time a few days ago. All this really consisted of was me putting a very small chunk of banana on the table in front of Bry, only to watch him mash it in his palm and then wipe it all over the high chair. I guess he still hasn't perfected the "pincer grasp," which is needed to maneuver little bits of food more deftly. Maybe we'll take him to the tank at Red Lobster for some inspiration/instruction.