After the thumbs up from the doctor to try rice cereal again, we waited for the boil water alert to be lifted last week and then dove back into the culinary world of a nearly 6 month old. We did a few days of watery rice cereal and while he would occasionally lick what was on the spoon, he didn't seem interested in opening his mouth for a whole mouthful. I tried to make it fun (singing, funny faces, and sound effects), but when he'd had it, we cleaned up and moved on. We also tried some oatmeal which seems only slightly less gross than the rice. On Monday, I boiled and mashed a sweet potato for the little monster. As my friend Mary would say, "it went over like a lead balloon." We tried it straight and mixed with some oatmeal, but his lips stayed pursed. Finley's got willpower, I'll give him that. In fact, it was clear that he preferred to eat his own hands than any more of my sweet potato concoction.
Moving on...we did straight oatmeal for a few days, extra watery. Not sure who I was punishing for the sweet potato refusal, me or Fin! Yesterday after a little reading on the subject, I mushed up some banana and let him lick it off my finger. He seemed to like it (another words, he didn't spit all of it out) and so we alternated between banana on finger and oatmeal on spoon. I was shocked that he began to actually open his mouth when my finger AND the spoon were approaching. Hooray!
Some might tell you that bananas are too sweet and babies will develop a sweet tooth and reject less tasty foods, but we ran into my friend Gretchen (mom of 2 and pediatrician-in-training) at the supermarket who said that bananas are a great first baby food. Phew! As soon as we got home, I mixed and warmed the oatmeal while Finley played in his high chair. Then, I peeled 1/4 of a banana and mushed in our food mill (what a great thing!).
Again, I fed him some banana on my finger and he was quite interested in it. I then stuck to only using a spoon while I alternated between straight banana, straight oatmeal, and a mixture. Geez, how high maintenance. It sure was great to see him enjoy the big boy eating experience!
Here he is warming up his chops with his play spoon.
I didn't have the heart to tell him he had it backwards.
But soon we both got the hang of it!
We ended our "meal" with Finley's favorite part: a drink of water! Much like in the bathtub, Finley looks for any opportunity to snag a drink of H20. I first showed him this Nuby sippy cup last week and I was surprised that he knew just what to do with it. Not only did he know what to do, but once the cup is in sight--that's all he wants. I now keep it out of sight until the end of the eating process and he reaches his arms out as soon as it comes into view.
And if I try to take it before he's had his fill...
Okay, okay, just a little bit more is fine! We'll keep plugging away on the food front, but at least the kid will be well hydrated as the warm summer months are approaching :)
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