BLS: YOGURT

What happens when the Baby Led Solids baby decides she's ready to use a spoon all by herself? You go right ahead and let her try, of course.And when she gets frustrated that she can't get enough yogurt onto the spoon, then successfully into her mouth, you are a sweet parent and you offer your assistance. Which is met with much rejoicing. Obviously.

So then baby tries again. And again. And again. And eventually she gets a few tiny spoonfuls into her mouth before everything falls to the table. And then she's happy. And now the kitchen table gets filthy at two places settings each meal instead of just one...

BLS: STRAWBERRIES

Cora had strawberries for the first time last night, and she liked them so much I gave them to her again tonight. Luckily, she made the sour face again (since I didn't take any photos or video last night):

Let's see, other than strawberries, what's new in Cora's diet?... Grapes. I cut them VERY small (into eigths). She's not a big fan though and mostly just spits them out. She's been eating jasmine rice and black beans and LOVES it. She likes peas, especially if they're mixed with carrots. She's tried James' vanilla coconut milk (because she's fast and grabby, not because we gave it to her), as well as his V8 Fusion juice (peach mango - YUM). She's doing well drinking out of a regular cup (held by me) and sips from her own sippy cup on occasion. She's tried sausage and bacon and french toast and biscuits. She loves toast, especially with a little butter or cheese melted on top. She's even had hamburger a couple of times. We think she's a good little eater!

Her average daily food consumption now consists of a full container of YoBaby with Cheerios for breakfast, veggies for lunch (7-10 chunks), and whatever we're having for dinner (really, ANYTHING we're having we let her try, and most nights she eats better and is more experimental than James!) Sometimes they give her Puffs in the afternoon at daycare, but we don't do snacks at home. She only drinks water at dinner and so far hasn't had more than a few "tastes" of juice (I've given her some of my orange juice, in addition to the V8 she steals). The vast majority of her liquid intake is still breastmilk, and we intend to keep it that way for at least a few more months.

SPAGETTI NIGHT!

Cora has had macaroni-and-cheese a few times, and she tried wheat linguini without sauce on Italian night, but last night was her first experience with spagetti. It was whole wheat spagetti (Jay's favorite) with ground beef in a spicy tomato basil sauce. And she loved it. James too. They both made a huge mess, of course...

(and yes, he can slurp his noodles perfectly, noises and all)

...so spagetti night was promptly followed by bath night!

BLS: MARBLE?

We tried a new(ish) Mexican restaurant in Flowood this evening. Cora ate cheese, rice, guacamole, and refried beans. Oh, and the table...

BLS: BREAKFAST

I know it's been a while since I've done a BLS post, but I promise we're still feeding Cora. And we're still introducing new foods a few times per week. We just don't often remember to get out the camera. 2nd child syndrome...

Lately we've been focusing on breakfast foods. Cora has had pancakes, eggs, blueberries, apples and applesauce, and peach yogurt (YoBaby). She loves pancakes! Jay makes her the cutest little baby-sized pancakes and she gobbles them up. Eggs were a hit, especially with shredded cheese on top. Blueberries we cut into quarters (so she can't choke on them) and she picks them up one at a time, works them around to get the "meat" off, then spits the skins out. We went from sliced apples, to just giving her the center to gnaw on, and she loves it. We also tried spoon-feeding her some applesauce. She's not a big fan of being fed, but she'll let us give her a few bites. Since it worked with applesauce, we tried yogurt again this morning. Jay fed her about a quarter of the continer of YoBaby. As for new dinner foods, she's been joining us at The Hat, eating tortillas, refried beans, and guacamole. Next time we'll try the rice too.

I think it's getting harder to remember to post about her new foods because we don't really plan for them, we just give her bits and pieces of whatever we're eating. It makes feeding her SO very easy. Not that we minded taking the time to buy special foods for James that we could then steam and puree in mass quantities on the weekends, but BLS is definitely faster, simpler, and more fun. And I think Cora's fine motor skills are improving quickly with all the practice she gets while feeding herself, so it's really a win-win situation for all of us. Now, if only her good example would get James to eat HIS veggies...

BLS: YOGURT, CHEESE, AND APPLES

Cora had some plain Greek yogurt for breakfast this morning. She didn't like it much. It wasn't the flavor, it was that she wasn't able to feed herself. I tried handing her a loaded spoon (while holding onto the other end for support), and it worked, but she became more interested in taking the spoon and playing with it. When I tried to spoon-feed her myself (a BLS 'no-no'), she was none too happy with me encroaching on her space. So we gave up the yogurt and moved on to Cheerios.

Last night, at the party, she sampled some cheese and apples. They were cut into hors d'oeuvre size chunks/slices, so I just held them up to her lips and let her suck/chew/scrape off what she wanted. She ended up eating 2 cubes of colby-jack cheese and half an apple slice.

BLS: GREEN BEANS AND PEACHES

Green beans were another hit. She eats them easily. Of course, I often see her squeeze the bean out of the casing, then dump the casing. She's mighty crafty, this one.Peaches were a much-loved flavor, but another food that was difficult for her to eat. She could handle them well enough (though they were awfully slippery), but they didn't mush as well as her other foods. She ate some, but most of each piece just seemed to fall into her lap repeatedly.Or into her new catch-all bib:I like that it keeps some of the mess out of her lap, and she likes fishing around in the pocket for more to eat. Especially if I'm not handing over new pieces fast enough!

Finally, here is a video (since we haven't posted one in a while) to demonstrate how far she's come over the past month and a half. She's definitely eating 1/2-3/4 of what we serve her, losing less and less to the abyss that is her highchair. She hardly ever gags anymore, and is really good about spitting out bites when she gets more than she can chew. And her pincher grip is almost there already! (Here she is eating butternut squash and Puffs)

BLS: BEEF STEW, FRENCH FRIES, AND WAFFLES

Not all served at the same time, of course.

Jay and I found some beef stew in the deep freeze when we did inventory this weekend, left over from when Jean was here last, so we defrosted it for dinner on Friday. After Cora finished her butternut squash and banana, she was still flapping her arms and squealing for food, so we handed over a few juicy strips (not chunks) and she gummed them right up. If only we hadn't already finished all the carrots and potatoes...

On Saturday night, we went out to our favorite restaurant with our friends the Kennedys, and it ended up being a cheeseburger and fries kind of night. And Cora decided that she would help herself to my plate. I think she only ate 3 or 4 fries, but it was more than enough grease to cause a rumbly belly all night long. BAD move on Mama's part. No more fried food for this chica until she's much older!

Then, this morning Jay made waffles. And since Cora still had a bubbly gut and hadn't produced anything to show for it, we decided against letting her have banana (which can slow things down, if you didn't already know). Instead, she ate waffles (no butter or syrup, obviously). She ate many, many waffle pieces.

And as we gave the kids their duel bath tonight, we couldn't help but notice that Cora is quite the chunk. We could be wrong, but she sure looks like she has more rolls and all-over thickness than James ever did...

BLS: CARROTS, CHEERIOS AND PUFFS

They were so good, she doubled-fisted them.
(Those teeth are getting long, eh?)

Yesterday we gave Cora some Cheerios and tonight she tried Puffs. She doesn't have the pincher grip down yet, but she can "rake" them up into the palm of her hand, then she somehow "Fushigi's" them into her mouth. It's quite impressive, actually.

BLS: BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND TOAST

We've been slacking a bit lately on introducing new foods to Cora (she's been eating lots of banana, broccoli, and avocado), so tonight we gave her two new tastes: butternut squash and oatmeal toast. We sliced the squash into thick "fries" and steamed them in the Beaba, then cooled them in the fridge. She really liked them, and they held together just long enough to get to her mouth before she mashed them to bits (we might need to steam them for slightly less time next time we cook them).
The toast was lots of fun for her. We served it up plain. One little stick. No crust. She chewed happily on it for a few minutes before shoving the last chunk in and sucking on it. I watched her do it and knew it was too big a "bite", but it was too late. She gagged, then gagged some more. When she seemed unable to work it out on her own, I picked her up and leaned her forward a little, and the goop slid right out. Yuck.

BLS: BABY MUM MUMS

Although Baby Mum Mums are not "recommended" with the Baby Led Solids method (because they're basically just rice husks and a bit of sugar, so they have zero nutritional value and almost no calories), we decided to let Cora have them tonight. Her combo of broccoli florets and crushed-Cheerio-covered avocado slices last night caused her to be quite gassy, so we wanted to give her a night off. But then she was unhappy watching the rest of us eat. So she got some crackers. And she loved them, and did great with them (no gagging), finishing every morsel of each cracker, enjoying the crunch that her new teeth make.

BLS: AVOCADO

Another hit! Cora loved her avocado at dinner tonight! All we did was cut thick slices, leaving the skin on for gripping purposes. Little stinker managed to tear off a few bits of skin (those new teeth are already coming in handy), but she spit them right out. Only one gagging episode tonight, and she went right back to eating. It's SO hard not to intervene when she gags, but it's important for us to let her work it out. As long as she's not choking (which is very rare, and the signs would be obvious), it's better to let her learn how to work it out. Sometimes she bites off more than she can handle, sometimes she gets a stringy piece (or bit of peel), and someday, she'll likely have something that she just doesn't like the flavor of. It's pretty cool to know that she's actually learning something at mealtime, and we're pretty shocked with how quickly and significantly her fine motor skills are improving. Today marks 4 weeks since we started BLS with Cora, and we think she's doing great so far. We even think she got some good calories with this meal!

BLS: ASPARAGUS

On the menu tonight was asparagus, so that's what Cora had too. She seemed to really like the flavor, because she sure tried hard to eat the 2 spears we gave her. Even though we overcooked it a bit, she wasn't able to munch much into her tummy. We were impressed that she was able to pick up the leafy ends after they broke off and get them back to her mouth (they were small pieces by that point). She sure has good hand-mouth coordination!

Last night we tried banana again. Cora had much better success when we simply handed her half the banana.It got slippery after a while though, so I think next time we'll try leaving the peel on half of it so she has a better handle...

BLS: LEMON

I so wish I had gotten video... Betsy gave Cora a taste of lemon at lunch, and she actually liked it! About a minute later though, she had a delayed reaction. It looked like she had the chills. Twice. This baby is too cute!

BLS: BANANAS

Even covered in crushed Cheerios, the banana strips were slippery and hard for Cora to manage. She didn't eat much, but it wasn't for lack of trying! We think she'll be a banana maniac, just like her brother.

BLS: MASHED POTATOES

We served Cora her standard sweet potato chunks while we ate our Christmas meal, and she made us feel guilty by staring longingly at all the goodies we were enjoying. Her Ma-Maw took pity on her, and (with our permission) plunked a scoop of mashed potatoes on her tray. And Cora thought YUMMY! I honestly think she licked her fingers...

Preparation for the mashed potatoes? As they were not intended for Cora, we made them the usual way. Boiled Yukon Golds, mashed with butter and milk, and seasoned with pepper and a little salt. Oh well, it was a small scoop...

BLS: PEAR

Cora tasted her first fruit today. We were planning to just do veggies for a while, but since James wasn't interested in the slices of pear on his breakfast tray this morning, we handed one over to Cora. All she did was suck on it, but she enjoyed it.

(Check out those few "long" hairs on the top of her head...)

BLS: BROCCOLI

If you recall James' first taste of broccoli, you'll understand why we were so shocked to see Cora munch happily away on the little green trees tonight. This Baby Led Solids business is pretty awesome so far!

All we did to prepare the broccoli was cut off a few florets, steam them in the microwave, cool them in the fridge, and hand them over. Easy.

BABY LED SOLIDS (BLS): SWEET POTATO

Did you know that you don't have to puree food when introducing solids to your 6-month-old?

I recall reading a bit about baby led solids (AKA baby led weaning) when I was pregnant with James, but as a first time mom I was too scared to break from the "norm" and try it. Steaming and pureeing all James' foods worked really well for us, for a really long time. He had a great appetite from the start and was willing to eat all sorts of things. And it was cool to know exactly how much he was eating at each meal (since when I nursed him, I had no way of knowing how many ounces of milk he was drinking). The problem arose when he was older and was "suppose" to be eating foods with more texture. He didn't LIKE texture. So we kept on pureeing his fruits and veggies. Forever. OK, not really, but for a LONG time. Then he went through a phase where he wouldn't let us feed him, yet wouldn't eat any fruits or veggies that weren't pureed and couldn't use a spoon successfully by himself, so then he wasn't really eating much of anything (nutritious) at all. Not fun. In fact, he STILL won't eat veggies unless they're cooked to mush and hidden in sauces or other foods...

So, now that we're "experienced" parents (ha!), Jay and I have decided to go the baby led solids route with Cora. There is more information (and examples, and recipes) available about the practice these days (for example, the Adventures in Solid Food blog, KellyMom.com and BabyCenter.com, WholesomeBabyFood.com, and even Wiki). It works for all babies, but is especially well received by breastfed infants, as they are already experienced at controlling the pace and portion of their meal, and have already been exposed to many different flavors through the breastmilk. I admit, I was shocked when I watched the video of tiny little Buttercup (of the Adventures in Solid Food blog) eating slices of pear with no teeth, but I was also intrigued. Could Cora do this to? Would she be better about eating textures if we skip the purees? Will she learn to use a spoon earlier if we let her start feeding herself sooner?

Well, we figure it's worth a shot. If she (or we) don't respond well to the method, we can always do purees at that point. For now, Cora is starting solids at her own pace. And her first taste tonight, at 5 months and 28 days old, was sweet potato:

Getting excited about all this sweetness!

Double-fisting those slippery bites:

Learning to eat solid food is hard work!

We have absolutely no idea how much she ate, but it probably wasn't much. I suppose we'll find out in her diaper tomorrow! We baked a whole, huge sweet potato, let it cool, then cut off the end for tonight (saving the rest for another meal, or three...). We peeled and quartered it (cutting it into the recommended "strip" form so she could grip them better). We ended up giving Cora 3 of the "slices". As you saw, she busted them to pieces immediately. I was pretty surprised to see her use her finger and thumb together a few times (we didn't know she could do that). And she didn't gag once, which was certainly a relief to me, even though I know it's likely to occur at some point as she learns to chew and swallow food. We knew she was done when she started hanging over the edge of her highchair and fussing. Easy enough cue, eh? Then she came right over to me to nurse (again, since I had just fed her before dinner). The next few months are going to be very interesting as we go through this adventure with her!