This post is materializing because of a mishmash of several motivations: me itching to use my new Nikon, the fact that purees have been a tremendously fun thing for me, and a desire to get back into writing. Introducing my baby to as many flavours as possible before neophobia sets in is incredibly important to me.
We struggled for eleven brutal weeks to finally find our groove breastfeeding. While I’m beyond grateful that we finally got there, I’m also grateful we’re at the solid food stage, too. It’s been a true pleasure for me to share my love of fresh food with my son. We also have some concerns about the genetic factor in food allergies and early introduction is recommended now. Our allergist has had us introduce all the major allergens and A will go for a blood test later this week to see if anything comes up positive. Right after introducing solid food, he started getting hives to pretty much everything which was terribly confusing but hilariously it turned out to be his very sensitive skin reacting to the straps on his high chair. So far, it seems only that mango and peanuts are on the possible list. Even if they’re a positive, I think that’s manageable compared to Devon’s list of allergies.
Baby food doesn’t have to be bland! Here are some of the foods A is enjoying these days:
Baby peas with mint
Zucchini with basil
Parsnips with fennel seeds
Brussels sprouts with apple
Carrots with cilantro
Silken tofu with toasted oat bran
Apples, cranberries, and cinnamon
Green beans and chives
Mung and toor dal with cumin, coriander, and garam masala
Loquats
Curried Jamaican pumpkin, apple, and chickpeas
Broccoli and ginger
Cherimoya and honeydew melon
Leek, a bit of potato, and tarragon
Blackberry, blueberry, and mint
I steam some; others are raw. The texture is up to you and what you’re comfortable with and where your baby is at developmentally. (I am not a doctor etc etc etc Please don’t feed your baby solids until they are ready etc etc etc)