First Foods

I'm not the person that gives my babies table food or cereal at 3 weeks old to help them "sleep through the night."  I actually want to smack people in the face that do that.  I am pretty by the book when it comes to feeding, and I do nothing but breast milk for the first 6 months and then slowly start introducing solids.  Actually with Sage, they said 4 months then, but with Jaggar and Costner, I did the current 6 months of milk only.  That, in itself, is a full time job.  I'm not the person that can't part ways with breast feeding and wants to do it forever.  On the contrary, I pretty much force myself.  Yes, it's sweet, but it's also a huge sacrifice and commitment.  I had more freedom in almost everything, even wardrobe, when I was pregnant.  Not to mention, Costner refused a bottle until um..last week.  BUT the health benefits and the huge amount of money saved is my motivator.  Not to mention, Costner could have a breakdown if I stopped. The emotional comfort to him is sweet, but after 1/2 a year of no sleep....sigh, ask me when that's a memory.  I'm sure I'll remember it fondly.  ANYWAY, even though he's 6 months today (next post!), I started his introduction to solids a few days ago.  He's been smacking his lips as he has watched us eat.  He even tries to grab what we have.  So, I've been reading that the traditional baby food of rice cereal and bland foods aren't necessary.  It just needs to be pureed.  So, I decided to go with an avocado as his first taste of the good stuff.  Unconventional, I know, but they're already mushy, and they're really good for you.  I read it was a great starter food for babies.  I also got one of those mesh teethers that you can put food into so that the baby can get the juice out of something that would normally need to wait until they were older. SO, we were all excited to see Bleu's reactions.

FIRST, I put some ice in the teether.  I know, not food, but it was definitely something he'd never had.  Reaction?  He loved it.  And it buys me some time if he's not in the mood to sit but I need him to.

 Next step?  The avocado.  I ground it up and mixed it with breast milk to make it soupy since he's never had any kind of solid.  He was ready.

And...it went really well.  He opened his mouth for the spoon and never pushed it back out.  I was pleased.  Was he "Mmmm"-ing and flapping his arms, excited for more?  No...but he seemed to like it.

 It was difficult to take pics and video and feed all at the same time, so I asked for help from Sage.

 Here's the video of his first meal.

I would like to say that since then, we've tried (insert whatever food or foods you want) and how much he loves it...but that would be a lie.  Costner has since decided that he wants nothing to do with food, and I'm not sure why.  A few days later, I tried oatmeal (for babies, of course)...and I got this reaction.

Notice how he shuts his eyes and turns his head lol.  He HATED it.  Now?  That's been his reaction to EVERYTHING...well, oatmeal, the avocado and the sweet potatoes that I tried out of desperation to find something he liked.  I don't know where I went wrong exactly.  I've never seen how a child that's never had anything to eat can think food is awful.  My other kids loved food.  They loved squash, which is what I started them on.  Costner?  Hated it.  Here's our try (2nd  one at that) with sweet potatoes this morning.

He's not turning his head for lack of control.  He's turning his head away.  And don't you love that look when I put the food in his mouth of "DEAR GOD?!  What is that?!" If you put a spoon towards his mouth now (it could have ice cream on it), he closes his eyes and turns his head away.  lol.  SO, we started solids and now...we attempt them because as of today, if that's all we're offering, he'll just stick with liquid.  lol