"Yummy in my Tummy!"

Since Gretchen is past 6 months old, we decided to offer her food at mealtimes. Although we waited until Rosemary was almost 8 months before offering solid foods, we also had Rosemary in daycare where it's easy to overfeed. With Gretchen, we have a nanny who follows our lead to a T. So, now we can try "TRUE" baby-led weaning! That means Gretchen will only feed herself. We offer a variety of tastes and textures from the very start.

If she takes to the foods readily, we will limit the amount so that she doesn't get indigestion or take up too much room in her stomach (breastmilk is still the primary source of nutrition for the first year).

We started with frozen peas on the tray.

Gretchen had a BALL pushing the peas around and was actually able to pick up a few and put them in her mouth!

The kids were open-mouthed with excitement, watching their sister eat food for the first time. Frozen peas were also one of Elliott's first foods and are still a huge favorite.


The next night we handed Gretchen a spoonful of hummus. She loves holding toys in her hands and shows remarkable manual dexterity for her age. "Watch, watch!" Alina told the kids. It was as if Gretchen had been eating all her life! She opened wide and had the hummus in her mouth in a second. These are not the greatest photos since Alina's camera battery stopped working (new battery should be arriving any day!)

The kids spilled out of their chairs and milled all around Gretchen in order to "help". See the spoon in Rosemary's hand? She wanted to feed Gretchen but explained that Gretchen is learning to feed herself (but Rosemary can help clean up afterward! Feeding babies is m-e-s-s-y-!)

Blurry but still cute.

Steve made a comment that we're back in the phase of mopping up the tray, floor, highchair and baby with wet paper towels after every meal. Yep! Time sure does fly as the kids speed through their milestones.

For the past week, we have also been offering frozen breastmilk cubes in the blue mesh feeder seen on the tray. Rosemary never liked frozen breastmilk -- we think she didn't like the cold. Gretchen immediately figured out how to "chew" on the mesh and slurp to get the breastmilk. Maybe all the time she has spent sitting on the table during our mealtimes, watching us, has contributed to her quick dexterity with foods.

Rosemary had to spoon-feed herself hummus on a baby spoon, just like her sister. Yes, sometimes we do have "two babies" in the house.