Teaching Jane the joys of eating has been one of my favorite things about motherhood thus far. It’s really fun to introduce new foods, especially those that are favorites of mine. What follows is a brief explanation of the past few months in the riveting world of baby rearing.
Six months. I will admit, it totally snuck up on me. When we went in for Jane’s 6-month check up, I was asked what foods she had tried so far. (Just as an aside, I lie to the doctor a lot. When they asked me if she was smiling, rolling over, sitting up, etc. etc., I always answered “yes”. I don’t want them thinking my baby is behind. I know, awful habit to get into. But I’ve probably lied more to Jane’s pediatrician than to anyone else in the world. Except maybe my mother.) I lied and told her she had been eating infant cereal mixed with breast milk for about a month. The Doc told me it was a good start, and now I needed to start introducing fruits and vegetables. I told her I would.
On the way home, I stopped at the grocery store and got yams and green beans. I boiled them, then blended them with an immersion blender. Jane fell in love. Instead of trying to pump and mix milk with cereal, I just put the cereal into whatever fruit or veggie I had prepared and continued nursing as normal. Success.
Nine months. Transitioning from baby food puree to real meals was a little tricky. Admittedly, the adjustment was difficult mostly because I am lazy. It is so much easier to carry around jars of food than little packs of cut up cheese, chicken and zucchini. So far (knock on wood), Jane isn’t a picky eater at all. The only thing she doesn’t love is peas, and let’s be honest: who does? Above is a picture of her post- lunch with avocado and yogurtness all over her. Check out that piece of hair standing on end. She really spreads the love.
Clothing. Jane’s laundry has quickly transitioned from a quick and easy chore to a lengthy task. Raspberry, blackberry, avacado, banana, lima beans, and crackers can be found crusted to her clothes at any given moment. I have even had to pry her fists open before naptime to remove a few snacks she’s taken for the road. It has become exponentially harder to keep her clean, and most importantly, smelling presentable. I can only imagine it gets worse from here.
Teething biscuits. These are simultaneously the most amazing and awful invention. Basically, a biscuit is made of ingredients that will disintegrate in the baby’s mouth without breaking off in large, choke-size pieces. One biscuit can hold Jane’s attention for up to a half an hour. However, little slimy biscuit pieces penetrate every surface within a five-foot radius of the highchair. I swear, the mess that a teething biscuit leaves behind is scientifically impossible. Normally, eating a biscuit renders an outfit unwearable, and I am forced to change Jane into yet another clean ensemble.
In some ways, I feel like Jane is my pet when it comes to food. I totally sneak her things that she shouldn’t really have (like a little piece of McDonald’s hash brown) and I get way too much satisfaction out of her reactions to things. And, also like a pet, she will crawl over to the couch, pull up on my leg, and make sweet little noises and nuzzle on my knee in hopes of some “people food”. Hopefully she doesn’t start doing that to guests… they will think we don’t feed her.
