Nasty no more!! -- the discourse on baby food continues

Baby food, baby food. Ah, the joys of jar food. I talked previously about all the different sorts of baby food. And, i still stand by my statement that BANANAS ARE THE GROSSEST THING EVER! i love real bananas; but i'm not sure what they do to them when mushing them up; it just tastes gross. She's had several new things since: blueberries, strawberries, pinapple, chicken, turkey, ham, etc etc etc. But bananas are still the worst.

With erica's growing ability to MUNCH, she is leaving the realm baby mush. Occassionally, she'll still eat jar food. Mainly just the meat/vegetable mixes. She hasnt mastered the ability to chew meat. So, she gets it ground up and mixed with sweet potatoes, peas, etc etc. And sometimes she still gets fruit in a jar too. Really, it just depends on how lazy i'm feeling and what i am eating.

she's growing a MAJOR personality, and along with that is the urge for some independence. She likes feeding herself. Since she cant handle a spoon, the best thing is to give her chunks of food to pick up.

~She started off with cheerios. We had to break them in half at first-- even that made her gag in the beginning. But then she got the hang of it. She had several kinds of "cereals": cheerios, alphabits (which have no sugar added), and the little gerber veggie and fruit puffs.

~Once she realized that she could feed herself, she started revolting from being spoon fed. So (as shown in the picture) i cooked carrots and green beans. I cut them in bite-sized pieces, and she fed herself. She really enjoyed being able to do that.

~I believe the next thing then was wheat bread. Oh my oh my... the little darling LOVES carbohydrates! Yup, she's Pennsylvania Dutch thru and thru. [side note: soon to come will be a series on all things PA dutch.] I try to limit her intake though. I know that fruits and veges are more important.

~Erica then had some REAL bananas. HALLELLUIA! she and i could now share a banana, and i no longer have to smell that putrid stink of jarred bananas. Sometimes she likes it; sometimes she doesnt. If i cut it with a knife, its too slimy and slippery and she cant pick it up... So i have to break it into pieces with my fingers.

~Upon Clairissa's suggestion, Erica then tried cheese. SHE LOVES IT! aunt abby is proud-- abby loves eating cheese. i dont; i hate eating chuncks of cheese. its gross. But erica loves it. yum yum. For a special treat (if she hasnt had bread yet that day), i'll melt some cheese on top of bread and let her eat it. She loves it.

~I started buying canned peaches, pears, and mixed fruit. BUT NOT in the heavy syrup; its no-sugar-added, so its mixed with pear juice. Sometimes she likes it; sometimes she doesnt... Like the bananas, it just depends on how slippery it is.

~She eats tomatoes. Over holiday get-togethers, i would share my salad with her... She would have tomatoe, cheese, and lettuce.

~I WAS REALLY STEPPING OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE ON THIS NEXT ONE... Erica was introduced to eggs. Well, just egg yolks. I started making French Toast for erica. YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY! let me tell you about this... I got the recipe from "what to expect the first year." You mix two egg yolks with some jarred fruit mush and formula (though now i started using milk). Dip the wheat bread in it. Then you cook it on a skillet just like normal french toast. Its SUPER GOOD! I'll make two pieces for me and one piece for her.

~Another recipe that i took from the book is Baby's Tomatoe and Cheese Pasta. You fry tomatoes, then melt cheese in with it. Mix that in with some small pasta. She enjoyed it. And it really was good.

~I dont want my little darling eating junk food. i've discussed that before. But, over the holidays, i mayed an applesause cake. (well, i made cupcakes, not a big cake.) And i let her have some. There wasnt a ton of sugar in it, cuz of the natural sweetness of applesauce. And she didnt have much. But, it was the holidays. Its not like she's eating it everyday.

I must say, i'm so glad that she's graduating to real food. In several ways, its going to help me eat better. If she needs fresh fruits and vegetables, i'm not gonna go thru the hastle to just prepare them for her only; i'll get me some too. I cant eat crap food in front of her either.

AND I LEARNED HOW TO EAT-OUT WITH HER. we were out shopping, and so i stopped at Wendy's for lunch. Erica and I shared a baked potato and cup of mandarin oranges. Well, i wouldnt say we shared the oranges-- she ate them ALL, except for three that a managed to take for myself! with her along, i make wiser decisions for myself as to what to order. Next time, maybe a salad-- cuz she'll eat that stuff too.

have a wonderful day everyone!