Adventures in Baby Food Making: Just Getting Started

Well friends, at Claire's 6-month check-up this week we got the clear from our pediatrician to begin solids! More than any milestones thus far, starting solids is the one I've been looking forward to most. Is that strange?  I'm chalking it up to my passion to give Claire the best, healthiest start possible that's been driving my giddy excitement over making her first foods!

Homemade baby food has been something I've thought about since pre-baby planning! I had always assumed I would just use my trusty Vita-Mix for this, but then I was generously given the awesome Beaba Babycook at my baby shower! It's a steamer, blender, warmer and defroster in one, making the process so simple! While it's certainly not necessary to have something like the Beaba, I am really glad I decided to keep it, as having an appliance designated specifically for this purpose is wonderful!

Since Claire is now well-versed on rice cereal, we decided to start her off with carrots, a vegetable I've been told that babies really love because of their natural sweetness. With the expectation that we would start them this week, I purchased a bunch of organic baby carrots from the farmers market last week. After getting home from our appointment and putting Claire down for her nap, I was so excited that I immediately got to work on pureeing the carrots.

The Beaba made it very simple! Once they were washed thoroughly and diced, I placed all the carrots in the steamer basket. Once steamed, I used the handy little spatula to pull out the steamer basket and pour them into the processor. Pulse until desired consistency and scoop into individual jars. Voila, easy as pie!

 Once my carrots were portioned and stored away, I went and got my happy, rested baby girl. Since we've made this a routine, she knew (or at least she thought she knew) what was coming when I strapped her in her high chair and snapped on her bib. She gave me a big smile and I just couldn't wait to give her the first bite of this new food!

 Unfortunately, she was not such a willing recipient. She excitedly took the first bite, mulled it around in her mouth and then looked at me as if I had offended her! Uh, break my heart, I remember feeling the exact same way when my mom first made me try canned green beans (bleh!). But I pressed on, hoping she just needed to get used to a new flavor. Sadly, after several bites (and several sour faces), we called it a day. 

Now I've been told that babies can take a few tries to like certain things, so I'm hoping she changes her mind since we are currently on day four of carrots and she's now learned that I can't get the spoon in her mouth if she purses her lips real tight. That sweet child has got a mind of her own! And I am quickly learning that this journey is going to take a lot of patience as Claire is learning about this whole new world of food.

This weekend I plan to give sweet potatoes a try! Fingers crossed she has a better taste for those. Stay tuned as we make our way through this exciting, messy new adventure!

Claire's First Bites

Our girl tried rice cereal for the first time today! At our 4 month check-up we talked to our pediatrician extensively about when to start solids and all agreed that it would be best to hold off on them until 6 months, per the newest recommendations to exclusively breastfeed until then.

However, she did suggest that if Claire started showing interest in food between 5 and 6 months, that we could go ahead and try rice cereal since more than any nutritional value, it would be more like practice for eating solids. At the time she had absolutely no interest in food so we figured it would be a couple more weeks. And then sort of overnight she started grabbing at everything we put in our mouth and staring at us while we ate. So we decided to give it a try and let me tell you, she LOVED it! The whole thing was messy and hilarious and I'm so glad we were able to capture it on camera!

From her first bite you could tell she wanted to eat the cereal, but had no idea what to do with it. After giving her a minute to get the hang of it we gave it another go and boy was she ready for more! I can already tell this next phase of starting solids is going to be a hoot! Lookout because we're about to have an eater on our hands!