Adventures in Eating

We started introducing Sam to more "solid" food over the last few weeks. He never really fell in love with the rice cereal, so we wanted to add stage 1 fruits and veggies. Chris wanted to start with applesauce, so we bought a few jars of that. We went by the book store after we bought the applesauce because I wanted a few tips on introducing babies to food. The first book I picked up said to start with vegetables. When I told Chris, he told me to keep looking at books until I found one that said to start with fruit. I laughed, but it only took two more books to find one that agreed with him! We're mixing rice cereal into his applesauce because it's a good source of iron and zinc. It also thickens it up a little bit, so we can actually keep it on the spoon.



As you can see from the pictures above, we've also tried sweet potatoes. I wish I could say that Sam loves this stuff, but he doesn't! He makes the funniest face when I put the first spoonful in his mouth. I only get a few spoonfuls in before he starts turning his head. I think he eats better for the ladies at day care. He's also hungrier in the middle of the day. Bananas are next on the list. Maybe they'll be his favorite. They sure are Cleo's favorite! Maybe we should take a vote for the next veggie.

There are a few different theories on this subject:

1. start with vegetables so the baby doesn't develop a sweet tooth and reject vegetables later
2. start with fruits so the baby likes it and gets used to eating from a spoon faster
3. start with yellow foods, then orange, then green (this advice comes in different orders with no real reason why)
   

The options for stage 1 foods are applesauce, bananas, pears, peaches, prunes, carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, peas, and green beans. We can also try other single grain cereals, like oatmeal and barley. You are supposed to wait from 3 days to a week after introducing a food to try a new one to watch for any sensitivities. Then when he can sit up on his own, it's time to switch to stage 2 foods.

I'm thinking, "Oh fun -- a new food." Sam is thinking, "Oh no! A new food!"



We're still feeding him out of his bouncer. He can't sit up on his own yet so he doesn't really need a high chair. The new high chairs actually have different reclining positions, but I'm not ready for another piece of furniture in the house yet! How can something so small need so much big stuff?



Here's a shot of Sam on a mat in our bedroom. We've taken to putting down little mat areas in each room of the house. We have wood floors in every room which will come in handy when he's ready to stack blocks and race cars, but it isn't so great for a wee one still on his tummy.

One more bit of news ... believe it or not, we all had a stomach virus again this weekend. Sam was sick Thursday/Friday, Chris was sick Saturday, and I was sick Sunday. Chris bought disinfectant wipes to wipe down the whole house. Chris says if we get sick one more time, he's hopping in a plastic bubble. Our doctor says that's just what we have to expect with a baby in day care. Great!

-- Emily