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!

Oh, Brother!

Ethan tried Weetbix this week. I mixed up a little bit of formula and drizzled a tablespoon or so onto one in a bowl and let it soak in for a while. It softened the Weetbix up enough so that Ethan would be able to pick it up with his hands to eat it. I popped it on his tray and he poked it for a little while, then had a taste. He also mushed a fair bit up and rubbed it well into the tray! It was a whole new kind of mess! He seemed to enjoy it though! Of course, his brother Josh was watching him do this, and being a Weetbix Kid himself, the next day while he was eating his breakfast he decided to do it Ethan style!

Josh finds it quite interesting to observe Ethan eating. He must have been watching closely, because I have caught him imitating his little brother on more than one occasion! He will chew his mouthful of food and then dribble it down his chin!

Ethan has also had his first couple of tastes of meat. We cooked a nice, juicy steak last week, and gave him a strip. He tried that first out of what he was offered on his tray, chewing and sucking on it for quite some time, until it was completely flattened and looking pretty grey. That is a good sign - while he didn't break any bits off and swallow it, the meat juices contain a good amount of nutrients, in particular iron.

Over the weekend I did a roast chicken in the slow cooker, which is always a favourite in our house! I pulled strips of the breast meat off along the grain, so that it wouldn't fall apart when he chewed it. He didn't seem to enjoy it quite as much as the steak, but he did give it a good enough go. We will try again next time!

We have had a bit of a heatwave the last few days, so have been eating a few salads and stir fries. We had 3 different coloured capsicums (peppers) so we let Ethan try a few strips of each. And from that we have discovered that the red one is his favourite! Nigella Lawson would be pleased!

Motoring along

Happy Australia Day everyone!

We have tried a few new foods this week, each of them being a big hit with Ethan. First was toast for breakfast. I decided that I would spread a bit of avocado on it, since he has been having a bit of trouble picking that up on its own - slippery little suckers they are! So I toasted a slice of wholemeal bread, spread a thin layer of lovely ripe avocado on it, de-crusted it, and sliced into soldiers. Before I had even placed it on his high chair tray he grabbed it out of my hand! I was a bit concerned he might bite a chunk off and swallow it without chewing it, but he sucked on it for a while, got the avocado off, and then a few bits started to come off. He was a little startled when it got stuck to the roof of his mouth at one stage, and I had to help him out a bit, but he seemed to get the hang of it pretty quickly!

The next new food was yogurt. I make my own yogurt, using an Easiyo yogurt maker. According to the manufacturer of this yogurt maker, freshly made yogurt has around a billion healthy bacteria per spoonful on the first day it is made. The bacteria will diminish as each day passes, which makes homemade yogurt a lot more beneficial than shop bought. Also the yogurts don't contain any artificial flavours, colours or preservatives. So I decided that since Ethan officially hit 6 months last Saturday (the 22nd), I would let him have a taste of yogurt, and rather than go out and buy him the "Baby Yogurt" variety he could have some of the delicious home made stuff! So i popped a bit into one of his little bowls (well his brother's bowls - hand me downs from the puree days 2 years ago!) and dipped a rusk into it and he put it straight into his mouth. The look on his face pretty much said it all - he loved it! He didn't really understand the dipping concept, so I helped him out with that, but he definitely understood the sucking it off the rusk part! By the end of the meal he looked chuffed with himself, and happy with his achievements!

Aside from the nutritional benefits down the track with BLW, I have already noticed another benefit - it is helpful in developing motor skills. Last night for dinner I made him some chip-shaped roasted potatoes. I placed them in front of him, and straight away he picked them up and started chomping on them! Then he did an amazing thing and used his thumb and tips of his index finger and middle finger to pick up one of the 'chips' and take it to his mouth! Already we have evidence of him developing the pincer grip! Pretty good for a 6 month old! At lunch time I had offered him half a banana with a bit of the skin peeled back and cut off so he could eat the top of it like a lollipop. Just a couple of weeks ago I had tried this and he was having difficulty holding onto it. Yesterday he had no problem at all!

He is also getting a lot better at chewing and swallowing. He was gagging quite a bit last week, but just in the last few days he has been chewing for a little while before I can visibly see him make purposeful swallowing movements (and usually i can hear him swallowing too - very cute!) After his meal he always gives me a huge grin, as if to say "Thanks Mum!".

Lucky Dog

Baby-Led Weaning is a messy business. Mess on the high chair. Mess on the floor. Mess on the baby. Mess on me! As we are experimenting with different foods, Ethan is deciding what he likes and dislikes. If he likes something, his eyes will widen and he will stuff it in his mouth - then of course gag on it because he hasn't quite figured out how to deal with all that food just yet. He is slowly getting better though!

On the other hand, when he dislikes something there are a few different ways he will show us. One of these is releasing his grip on the item of food in his hand and it will fall into his lap, only for us to find a pile of food on his seat when we remove his tray. Another is that he will put it in his mouth, take it out, and then scream very loudly. And finally he will shoot his arm out over the side of the high chair and throw the food away! This very final method means that piece of food is gone forever - the other methods we can retrieve the food and put it back in case he changes his mind. But once it goes on the floor thats it - even if we were to use a drop mat, we have no choice - because our dog Barney is there in a flash, cleaning up the mess! I think no one could be more pleased than Barney that Ethan has reached the age of solid foods. It means he will be getting all sorts of extra treats through the day!

So in the last few days, Ethan has tried a couple of new foods. Banana - he has been offered it before but was having trouble picking it up. I decided to mash it up and give him a pre-loaded spoon. He couldn't get it into his mouth fast enough! Zucchini - steamed until just soft. It wasn't one of his favourites, it ended up being donated to Barney pretty quickly. That doesn't mean we will  never offer it to him again. Sometimes it can take 10 to 20 tastes of a food before they decide they like it, so I won't give up on the zucchini just yet!

In the next few days i am hoping to let him taste some more fruits, since his diet so far has been mostly vegetables. We will have a go with plums, nectarines and apricots. I am forecasting that he will love those, given how well watermelon and banana went down! Ethan is turning 6 months old on Saturday, so I am also going to start introducing him to foods such as yogurts, cheese, bread, cereals and meat. Not all at once of course, just gradually as he improves his skills with firmer foods.

Anti-aging properties of potato

We were having Shepherd's Pie for dinner tonight, so I decided that Ethan could try some mashed potato. There were two ways I figured that he could get the potato into his mouth: scooping it up with his fingers, or with a pre-loaded spoon. I was interested to see what he would do with the spoon, so decided to try that. 

We sat down to dinner, and I put about half a teaspoon of potato on a little baby spoon and held it out to him. He immediately grabbed it with both hands and took it straight to his mouth, removed the potato and started making chewing movements! Clever little lad! He kept sucking on the spoon even after all the potato was gone, and had such a tight grip it was hard for me to get it back! He was so keen on the potato that he started putting it into his mouth faster and faster, getting a little bit ahead of himself resulting in getting it over his face, and all over his nose! It was quite amusing to say the least! He was having a good time with it though! Maybe he knows something about potato that we don't? It might have some sort of anti wrinkle properties for all we know!

 

Exhibit A

Ethan definitely loves his roast veges. He really went to town on them the other night. He also had his first gagging experience. It was a bit nerve-racking, but he managed to sort it out himself. He got a little over-excited and stuffed the whole stick of roasted sweet potato in his mouth all at once, chewed for a little while and then attempted to swallow it. He went a bit red and coughed and spluttered, eyes watering, but then it went down. He then got on with things and picked up his next piece of vegetable as if the gagging episode had never happened! Needless to say, it did get our hearts racing, and caused his Dad to jump out of his chair, pull the tray off the high chair and started to get Ethan out, but before he did Ethan had sorted things on his own! Hopefully the gagging is a rare occurance! 

We have been trying to figure out how much Ethan is actually eating - not that its really a big deal this early in the piece, but it would be interesting to know. The next morning, we found out that he has actually been swallowing some of his food - we had evidence! Its funny how before kids you wont go anywhere near a dirty nappy without making a huge fuss. Once you become a parent, you can spend a fair amount of time analysing the contents of them! On this occasion, I was probably a little over-excited to find evidence of some sweet potato in there! So much so that I yelled out to let Steve know, and he came in to inspect for himself! At least I am not the only one inspecting the contents of dirty nappies!