More on feeding the Big Guy

So now that Xander is 8 month old, he has expanded his delicate palate beyond just boring 'ole formula. It's been fun experimenting with food to see what he likes and watching his facial expressions when he tries something new. But in reality, he likes everything...I mean, have you seen his thighs? This boy doesn't say  no to much.

So much like the story here on what type of milk he ate, I decided to break even more "rules" and started attempting to feed him solids around 4 months. I suppose this is one rule that is changing more than the 'breastfeeding is a must' rule, but plenty of people would tell you that starting solids before 6 months will give your kid food allergies.

Whatever...I just decided to let Xander tell me if he wanted to eat some solids. In the beginning, he definitely said NO. I started with bananas, and he would just kinda sit there and look at me like - "you're crazy lady, where's my bottle?"

About 4.5 months, he would actually swallow some bananas, and around 5 months, he'd actively open his mouth for the next bite. To me, this showed me he was ready for solids. So around 5.5 months, I started trying other stuff....mostly the pouch baby foods from the store.

Around 6 months, my friend shared some of the homemade stuff she'd made for her son. She told me how simple (relatively speaking) it was, so I decided to give it a try myself. I've ended up really liking making Xander's food. Now, don't get me wrong, he still eats those pouches .... they're PERFECT for traveling or really eating anywhere  but your own house.

I started slowly....by doing simple stuff like mixing up a banana with avocado as seen here:

 

 

 Then I decided to get a little adventurous and made a baked pear/banana mix. Started off easy enough: peel and place fruit on baking tray:

 

Bake for 20-30 minutes until they look ooey gooey like this:

 



 

Then throw in food processor for your desired consistency. At the time, this was mine:

 

 

Now that he is 8 months and had several teeth, we've started giving him more whole (soft) foods to try - stuff with more texture. Last night, here's what happened with the avocado:

 

 

 

By the end of dinner, the entire tray was green.....as was his bib and face. A long bath promptly followed!

 

I've been using this site as my guide - anyone know of any other good ones?

Father's Day...and the rest of June

It's been a busy couple of weeks...keeping up with all the spots and stuff. After getting all that cleared up and back on a better sleep schedule,  I realized I missed an important holiday in June....Father's Day! I'm certainly not sure how single parents do it because I know I'd already have lost all my hair if Simon weren't around! To celebrate, we went to lunch and spent the day being lazy. 

 

 

At the end of the month, we hit the beach to visit with Nanny. On the way down, we picked up a cousin and visited with the others....we think they look more like siblings than cousins:

 

When we could tear him away from the sand (eating it), he did seem to enjoy the water.

 

 

And speaking of water....he STILL loves the bath...even when mom plays with his hair:

 

 

The very last weekend, we headed to Canada to visit Mamina and our other family there....more on that trip in a different post.