The Muffin Man

I decided it was about time I cooked something for Ethan. So I had a look through my copy of the BLW Cookbook and decided to try some of the carrot muffins. Josh had a great time helping me make them, which was an added bonus! He is a little Masterchef, after all! Ethan sat in his high chair while we mixed up the batter, but by the time they were in the oven it was time for his next nap. So when the muffins came out of the oven and had cooled enough to be picked up, of course I had my own little food critic Josh waiting to try one! He liked them so much he pinched another one when i wasn't looking!

When Ethan finally rose from his slumber, he had his lunchtime milk, and a while after that I sat him in his chair and let him at the muffin. He loved it! It's a great feeling when something made especially for him is received well! All that was left at the end of the expedition were a few crumbs on the tray and bits and pieces on his chair. The remaining muffins have been frozen, ready to take out whenever we need. They should be good little morsels to take out and about with us when required.

This morning at breakfast time I thought I would try something a bit different to his usual weetbix or porridge. He hadn't had toast at breakfast for a while, so instead of spreading on some avocado, I decided to give french toast a whirl! The crusts were nice and soft and didn't need to be cut off, so it was quite a large serve. I cut it into 4 soldiers and at the end of his meal there was only one soldier left! Another hit with the little munchkin.

Green Capsicums, Red Tomatoes

Sounds like an episode of Ready, Steady, Cook!, but it was actually what Ethan enjoyed for dinner last night. We were having soft shell tacos, and Ethan had a selection of the salad for his dinner. We gave him wedges of tomato (with the seeds and watery bits removed), strips of capsicum, cucumber and some grated carrot. The big hit of the night was the tomato, he finished off almost 2 wedges. He chewed on it and left behind the skin, swallowing most of the flesh. 

He is really getting into his Weetbix for breakfast too. I have figured out just the right amount of milk needed to make them soft enough that he can pick it up and take bites out. He has also tried traditional oats, made quite thick. I tried to give it to him on a pre-loaded spoon, but it kept falling off - it didn't seem to have enough sticking power! I knew what would happen if I gave him the bowl on his tray, so I saved that step and just tipped the whole lot on there and let him go for gold! He got his hands right in there, mushed it around for a while, then started eating it!

One of the things I remember reading about in the BLW book is how BLW babies tend to keep bits of food in their mouths occasionally - stored between their gums and cheeks, in the roof of their mouth, under their tongue. Mostly because they are still learning how to get their tongues into the right spot to dislodge it. So it is a good idea to do a spot check after a meal just to make sure there isn't anything lurking about in there! After dinner last night Steve thought he saw a flash of something in his mouth, but couldn't see it again when he had a quick look. I proceeded to start Ethan's top and tail (we only give him a full bath every second night) and as he was lying on his change table laughing at his brother i spied a little square of capsicum right up in the roof of his mouth. It was quite an effort to get it out! It seemed that offending piece of capsicum was bitten into the exact size and shape of the roof of his mouth, so it was sort of wedged in there. I managed to get it out in the end though!

Something to chew on...

Ethan is definitely getting better at chewing already! He uses his gums quite well, and we can see him moving the food around his mouth with his tongue very effectively. He really gets a serious look on his face and concentrates on what he is doing. Its very cute to watch! I might be a bit biased, but he is a very clever little man!

New foods that Ethan has tried since last week include corn on the cob, plum, peach, drop scones (small pancakes) with spreadable cheese and pasta with bolognaise sauce.

I cut the plum and peach in half (removing the stone) to make it easier for him to manage. He sucked and chewed on them for ages, swallowing most of the pulp (the rest ended up on the bib). At the end of it all that was left was the skin! I did find out afterwards just how much plum juice stains though, we definitely won't be using those bibs outside the house!

The first time he tried pasta I put a little pile of spaghetti bolognaise on his tray. he picked the pile up in his fist and got a few bits in his mouth. He seemed to like it - I was quite impressed that he managed the lumps of minced beef easily enough. I remember Josh (who was weaned with purees and spoonfeeding) struggled with swallowing it until he was about 12 months, gagging on it every time! 

Later in the week we had pasta spirals and bolognaise. He found the spirals a lot easier to pick up than the spaghetti, which I guess was obvious, but keeping with the BLW theory we were just giving him what we were having that night!