Finger foods!

8 months, 2 weeks

Well, I feel like we were totally behind the ball with Brock's eating. We did one food a week thru all the veggies and some of the fruits. Since we didn't start food until he was 5 months old, it took quite a while to get thru everything. So, in the last week or so, we've sort of kicked it into overdrive. Nothing crazy - he's not eating pizza slices just yet, but I've been letting him try more and more of our food.

In just over a couple of weeks, we've gone from only having fruits and veggies, to now having cheese, crackers, mac n' cheese, a couple bits of meat, yogurt, etc. He LOVES yogurt!! We get him Yo Baby organic yogurt and he's a big fan! We also have started giving him steamed veggies and he really really likes them! He's gotten pretty good at 'gumming' (like chewing, only w/out the teeth, we call it gumming). I still am nervous so I give him pretty small bites of things for now. He's totally gotten the hang of picking up foods and putting them in his mouth, but sometimes the pieces are still too small for him to pick up b/c Mommy's a little paranoid.

We usually feed him his dinner while ours is in the oven, being made, etc. He still has mostly purees (sweet potatoes and apples this week!), but I try and give him at least one thing he needs to 'gum' on at dinner. The steamed veggies are great b/c they are still soft, but they are nutritious and he LOVES them. I figure there will come a time that he will HATE veggies so as many as I can get him to eat now are welcome! After he eats, we sit down at the table for our dinner and pull his high chair over to sit with us. Usually I'll give him a bite or 2 of what we're having. He's had mac n'cheese, spaghetti, french fries (baked, not fast food), taco meat, etc.

I never knew it could be so much fun letting him eat the things we're eating! He usually makes a funny face when he first gets the food in his mouth and it's hilarious! But I'm also just so proud of how quickly he's picked up on the chewing motion and being able to pick up food and put it in his mouth. He's a smart little guy and he picks up on things so quickly!!