Food Adventures!

Madilyn has been eating solid foods for about 4 months now! I might be an absolute nerd (okay, I know I am an absolute nerd), but I think it is SO fun to watch her try and eat new foods. I literally get super excited about it.  I have no idea if this is normal or not. I'll just tell myself it is :)

We first tried giving Madi solid food when she was 4 months old.  She was sitting up pretty well on her own, so we thought she might be ready.  I mixed up some rice cereal and tried spoon feeding it to her. She just kept spitting it back out! I knew this meant she wasn't ready yet.  We tried a couple more times, but the same thing kept happening.

When she was a few days shy of 5 months, a light bulb switched! She acted like she was a pro and had been doing it for months. What a goober ;) During that month, I gave her different types of plain cereal and held off on any other foods.  I wanted her to be comfortable eating from the spoon and getting her tummy used to solids before I introduced more.

When she turned 6 months, we brought on the fruits and veggies! I was hoping for this amazing reaction or facial expression, but I got NOTHING. She just ate it like it was no different than her cereal.  She definitely didn't protest though and always kept leaning her head in and opening her mouth for more.

A couple weeks after we started giving her fruits and veggies, I decided I really wanted to try out making my own baby food for her.  I had been giving her jarred baby food. At first, I figured certain foods might be more economical to make instead of buying jarred, such as sweet potatoes. And of course I wanted to do it for nutritional reasons, so she would have some food without preservatives and additives. So, I whipped up some sweet potatoes and butternut squash.  "Whipped up" meaning time consuming! It took so much longer than I thought. However, I couldn't wait to have her try what I worked so hard on!

I sat her in her highchair and gave her a first spoonful of some homemade butternut squash. And guess what?! I got a reaction....SHE GAGGED!!! She hated my homemade baby food :( I was beyond bummed! I tried giving her some jarred squash afterwards to see if it was just mine or if she just wasn't into eating that day.  She gobbled the jarred stuff down! What the heck?! I even tasted the jarred and then mine.  Mine was SO much better! I totally didn't get it.

I kept trying to give it to her for a couple of days and kept getting the same gag reaction! However, she started to do it less and less and eventually was eating it and liking it like it was the jarred food.  FINALLY, success! Persistence does pay off :)

Once she actually started eating the butternut squash and sweet potatoes, my need/want to make more baby food took off! I now make everything for her and it makes me feel so good and proud :) I know I'm giving her the most nutritious food possible.  And now that I make it so often, it isn't as time consuming as before.  I definitely have a system down and know what I am doing now. I also love the fact that I can give her so many different kinds of foods that aren't offered when you buy it jarred. I make so many fun combo creations for her too! Also, at first I thought we would only save money on a couple of things, but it actually  turned out to be cheaper to make my own baby food for almost every kind of food! I just wait until the produce is on sale and stock up!

I would like to note, I don't think there is anything wrong with jarred baby food. It's easy/convenient, it's still nutritious (you can even get tons of organic baby food), and it's come a long way.  I think the reason I have such a homemade baby food obsession is because it makes me feel good. Breastfeeding didn't work out like I had so badly hoped, which made me extremely devastated.  I saw numerous lactation specialists, saw my doctor, and got prescribed medication to help my low milk supply and nothing worked. I also tried multiple other things such as Mother's Milk Tea and certain foods.   I barely made any milk and tried everything possible.  I would give Madi what I could, but then had to supplement her with formula after each feeding because I didn't make enough for her to healthfully grow.  It literally took about an hour for each feeding and then an hour and a half later (if not sooner), I had to do it all over again. I did this for 2 months.  After multiple breakdowns and extreme sleep deprivation, I decided I couldn't do it anymore. She has been on formula ever since, and I am FINALLY okay with it. I tried everything I possibly could, and it is not my fault.  Making my own baby food helped me fill the void for my inability to successfully breastfeed and gives me the control I didn't have. So in part, it has helped me finally (after 7 months) be okay with only breastfeeding her for 2 months.

Here are some pictures of Madilyn's food adventures!

Almost 5 months in this picture, and first time successfully eating rice cereal :) She looks so young!

After a couple of weeks of eating cereal with a spoon (5 1/2 months),  she started showing some excitement when I would come with cereal in hand :)

Trying some cereal mixed with fruit (6 months old)! See...NO REACTION  

Food pro (7 months old)! Mmmm blueberry breakfast

First time eating "finger food" (7 months)! These are little rice rusks called "Mum-Mums", and are the greatest things ever! They dissolve so quickly and I didn't panic that she was going to choke.  Always a plus for any mama :)

7 months in this picture, eating frozen bananas out of her fresh food feeder.  These things are also amazing because I don't have to worry about her choking.  The mesh lining has little holes so large chunks of food don't come out.  The only thing that I hate is that they are SO hard to clean out! It takes like 20 min depending on the food that was in it..not even kidding.

Big girl drinking out of her sippy cup (almost 8 months)! 

Eating an applesauce "popsicle"! These are so great for teething! Another lifesaver! 

The first time we let Madi eat her dinner all by herself (8 months)! Messy baby covered in broccoli :) Not for sure why we waiting so long to do this! 

Eating lots of finger food now! You can't tell but she is eating steamed, cut up carrots and some shredded cheese, which she LOVES! 

Eating her first real meal of Shepherd's Pie...the exact same thing that mommy and daddy had for dinner! She ate more than I have ever seen! Needless to say, I think she absolutely loved it! 

Again... first real meal! It has been so nice that she can feed herself for the most part now.  For almost a month, we have sat down at the dinner table and have all eaten together every night :) 

And....my beautiful freezer stocked with homemade baby food! I'm extremely proud of it :) 

I can't wait for more food adventures to come! Bring on more finger foods! :)