We're enjoying our adventures in Baby Led Weaning these days. Though I think it may be a little messier than the traditional methods. Not that we mind. Here's the Baby finishing up a dinner of avocado wedges, cooked carrot spears, roasted sweet potato quarters and a hard cooked egg yolk.
Why the spoon you may ask? (since infant lead weaning is, theoretically about giving them grab-able hand sized food and letting them feed themselves) Well first of all, we give him the spoon because HE FREAKIN' LOVES IT! He adores that little wooden spoon. It is just the right size and texture for gnawing on apparently. And secondly, there are some foods that I'd like him to have that just aren't pick-up-able. Like grains. Rice is very hard to self feed for an infant. And quinoa. I love quinoa and its an amazing super-food, so we eat it quite often. In this instance I cooked it up and mashed it with some cooked carrot. Then I give him spoonfuls of it and he holds the spoon himself and eats it...
...Or should I say, shoves it into his mouth with manic glee, chews on the spoon, spits half of it out and rubs it into his eyebrows. Because that's more accurate.
Either way, he really enjoys eating. And has a remarkable attention span for it, despite the fact that his is only 5 and 29/30ths old. (tomorrow is his half year birthday! Woohooo, 6 months old!) He sits in his high chair and 'eats' for the entire time we have dinner. Usually about a half an hour. Much longer than his three year old brother is interested in sitting still for. And then often he'll continue to sit in the high chair, messing around with the left overs while I tidy up the kitchen. Its very handy.
Its always funny when I take him out of his highchair though, and we discover how much food has found its way down around the sides of him. He usually has a lap full of partially chewed food bits, a gross melange of crumbled egg yolk and mushed avocado etc. One wonders how much he's actually ingested.
He topped it all off with a half a banana for dessert. He went at it with the zeal of a monkey-vampire. As you might expect, we go straight for a bath after this. I'm always amazed by where I'll find just a smidgen more of sweet potato (behind his ear) or a few grains of quinoa (up his nose). Thank goodness for q-tips.
haha he looks like Pickle does after dinner! I haven't tried grains with him yet, and I am not sure why....he's almost 10 months old. I love quinoa too - did you blend it or just mash it with a fork? I guess I am worried about him breathing things in....
Posted by: Lisa Mizeri | 08/26/2011 at 11:01 AM
I LOVE THIS!!! all of it. INDEED!! :)
Posted by: Marcia Van Drunen | 08/26/2011 at 03:39 PM