Wexford strawberries!

Béibhinn and I went to visit my Granny, her great granny in Wexford today and everyone knows that Wexford have the best strawberries. So I bought a punnet on the way home and they were on the menu for today's breakfast. There is mixed advise about strawberries before one year, but if there is no allergy history in the family most people have nothing to worry about and it is just as a precaution you would hold off. Anyway, what fun Béibhinn had with her new red and juicy friends. I have never seen her so animated when eating before. I don't know if she found it bitter but her face was a bit scrunchy, she continued murdering the little strawberry and ignored her old friend the rice cake! She gagged quite alot with the strawberry much more than any other food she has tried, but she was fine and sorted it out and swallowed quite alot of it. A bit hit and a big mess!

Meatballs!

Meatballs and spaghetti.... now that's looking for a mess. Béibhinn looking rather like a boy in this one! Mince, oinion, parsley and thyme all rolled in to little balls with chopped tomaoes. Simple but oh so yummy and so our little tike thought also. She looked like we fake tanned her!

A selection of veggies!

For a little snack we tried our hand at some red pepper, steamed for a few minutes. Not much was though of this red friend, it was sucked, nothing much was taken off but it was a great drumstick to bang on her high chair.

For dinner last night, we were having meat balls and vegetables so I put a selection of what we were having minus the meat balls so she have a choice! Once again Mr carrot came out trumps, with Ms broccoli coming a close second! I just love the way she is starting to chose her food, it's just brill.

Breaky!

This morning we had banana on rice cakes for breakfast. I bought unsalted, organic rice cakes in the shops, just normal brand, not a big fan of formula companies here!! So I mashed banana on top, halved the rice cake and left them on her table while having one myself. Well, seeing that the idea is baby eats what you eats, I had to skip the fry and have mashed banana on rice cakes too! How healthy am I?
Béibhinn was having trouble with trying to pick up the rice cakes and kept on looking at me munching away on mine and put her hand out, mine was considerably smaller as I had munched away 3/4 of it and I handed it over. What a clever little girl. Yes, mashed banana on rice cakes is a hit here. Yet when she had thrown all the reaming bits of rice cake and banana over board she just sucked and gnawed on her highchair table. Which may I add was a lot messier than it was 10 minutes prior!

Dinner anyone?

Last night Philip and I were having chicken fillets with roast baby potatoes and carrots in olive oil, thyme and parsley. I am just introducing fruit and veg for this week, so I popped a few potatoe halves and carrots on Béibhinn's table and let her do what she would with them. Carrot was the first victim and sucked to an inch of it's orange little life. All the other carrots I had given her before were either steamed or boiled and no way did she enjoy them as much as the roasted ones last night. All bits of thyme and parsley on her face, just perfect. She took a little chunk off and played with it in her mouth, practicing her chewing skills, she spat some out and swallowed the rest. Next the potato, I was very excited about this, seeing as it was a new food. She picked it straight up and into the mouth... chomp. Her face was priceless. I love baby led weaning so much as she gets to explore her food, seeing different texture to foods, how to hold slippery foods and softer foods. How sometimes she needs to use both hands for the more tricky foods. She's just like her daddy and loves her potatoes. After a while she got bored and her bib and strap of the highchair were just as yummy, she thought!

Baby led weaning

I thought I'd share on our next step to growing up!

Well Béibhinn is hitting the 6 month mark this week and with that comes the introduction to food other than boobie milk! Like everything else to do with my pregnancy, birth etc.... I have read, read and read some more and I came across Baby led weaning; no spoons, no mush just self feeding from the start. Have a read of Gill Rapley's book, Baby led weaning. It will explain it much more eloquently than I ever could.

The traditional way of weaning is the road most take, if you wait until the recommended 6 months to introduce solids you can by pass all the puree. Béibhinn's first introduction to food was broccoli, more ended up in her hair, creases of her neck and the floor but did she have fun?! One of her favorites is cucumber sticks, especially when they are just out of the fridge, she chops away, while singing and blowing raspberries! Banana is also a favourite, well her favorite thing is squelching it in her hands!!

In our first week we have tried broccoli, carrot, melon, pineapple, banana, cucumber and pear. All of which we have seen bit and pieces in her nappies, so something must be going in. Eating isn't the objective for the moment!

Remember !!Food is just fun until they're 1!!