Six months today! One big six-month milestone is the introduction of solid foods. Lily's been watching us eat pretty closely for several weeks. She has also started making chewing motions when we eat and reaching for our food. AND she's really good at grasping objects and bringing them to her mouth. All these are good signs that she's ready to start the process of eating like a big girl. And even though she's only my first baby, I can't say I'm thrilled with how quickly this is all happening. It feels like the beginning of the end of her babyhood (as well as, let's face it, glorious lactational amenorrhea).
We've decided that baby-led weaning is the way to go. Breastfeeding is so ridiculously foolproof--nature's orginal supply-and-demand system--that I don't want to start really complicating my life with cereals and purees that Lily doesn't actually need for nutrition. Transitioning to solids right now is about her learning how to feed herself, not about getting more food stuffed in her face.
Monday night we sat her in the high chair with food for the first time. We happened to be eating some potatoes, so I put a few specks on her tray.
I quickly realized (duh) that said specks were a little too tiny for her to grasp at this stage in her fine motor development.
So she was more interested in her surroundings, including this tasty tray.
The next day, she was getting bored and squirmy, so we tried some toast. That was really fun to play with!
And once I demonstrated to her that it was for eating, she started putting it in her mouth. At least a few crumbs got swallowed.
Finally, yesterday we had some cauliflower and broccoli, of which I gave her a piece of each. Another slice of toast rounded out her collection of high chair tray toys:
"Yay, toys!"
"Still not sure this is really food. But it is a crumbly toy."
"Must study. Must concentrate."
(This broccoli was actually a little too al dente for actual baby consumption. Next time will be better!)
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