A World of Taste & Texture

Well, we officially introduced Mary to baby food. She has nursed up to this point and been quite content with it. In fact, she often refuses the bottle when I am out and can't get home in time for a feeding. But after her allergy testing, and results, we felt confident in opening her world to the value of taste!

We began with bananas. We won't be buying them again for some time. Besides the hilarious "raspberry" action of blowing the food off the spoon, she generally pursed her little lips closed and simply refused to eat them. If the closed-mouth version of "no" isn't quite clear enough for you she also offered us this charming rendition:

So we moved on from bananas and next tried squash. What a winner! She also likes applesauce, pears, and sweet potatoes. She eats like a champ, and happily gums the spoon while learning the swallow technique necessary for taking food from a source other than Mama. Her tongue sometimes gets in the way, and we all laugh as she tries to figure out exactly where she should put the dern thing during a bite. See Figure B:

But I think the following picture shows her agreeable nature and joy at the new found world of texture and taste (if you can use those words to describe some of the blandest, and smoothest foods in the universe). She is bulking up and no longer seems like a peanut. She has settled into two jars of baby food at dinner and still nurses four times a day. Hannah and Bethany are eager to begin feeding her themselves, and I imagine in the not-to-distant future that will become a reality. But for now I thoroughly enjoy this new adventure with my baby and am not ready to hand it off to anyone. Life is sweet.