Sunday 27th Feb 2011

No food today - Ollie out of sorts and not feeding properly. Stupid teeth.

Day Nine - Saturday 26th Feb 2011

what is this strange food....

 Not so into the food today, but as usual very excited to be in the highchair. Perhaps I should give him time in the highchair without food.... or maybe that would confuse him!?

Grandma & Grandad were here today for foodtime, it was cool for them to see Ollie in his highchair with real food. Tried to give him a banana today, but he was too rough with it, and it and it broke up, so it didn't have a "handle" anynore (handle = skin left on at the bottom). He did get the banana in his mouth briefly, but no munching that I saw. Will definitely try banana again though. He had nectarine though, and did suck on that for a wee while (skin left on as a handle!)

Toast was surprisingly not a huge favourite today (but still probably more than anything else) - again I think he was a little distracted. Gave Ollie a spoon to play with, with mashed avocado on it, he quite liked it as I think it has the same attraction as toast but doesn't get soggy! Only downside is the scoop bit of the spoon is long (designed for puree feeding!) so he kept gagging on it as he shoved it too far into his mouth.

notice - toast still firmly held in his left hand...

I have made hummus and pate (I cannot begin to describe how gross it was making the pate!!) so I will introduce those this week and plus some other "real" food that I can eat with him! Will post recipes at some stage.

Day Eight - Friday 25th Feb 2011

Had lunch in town with a friend today, and ended up in town allll day. Ollie had toast and cream cheese, which he enjoyed as usual! He did gag and vomit again! I'm sure it is because he throws himself backwards in excitement. He was on my knee, and I just couldn't keep him still. He did continue to munch on his toast after the vomit (well caught by me with his bib I might add..) but then he started throwing it around.....

We did intend to give him steak tonight at the BBQ we went to, but he didn't have an afternoon nap so he was mega overtired and didn't get to sleep until late, so I just didn't think it was the right time! I am looking forward to giving him meat though!

Day Seven - Thursday 24th Feb 2011

Had a coffee group today, so offered ollie some toast, cream cheese, and avocado while we were picnicking at the park. He wasn't really interested - too many exciting things to look at (aka other babies!!). I did intend to offer some more food later, but it just didn't happen! Still really upset about the earthquake.....

I did have a chat with another mum in my coffee group who has also signed up for the university study. We should be able to share tips! 

Day six - Wednesday 23rd Feb 2011

Feeling a little shellshocked and really upset about the earthquake. Ollie didn't eat a huge amount.. I didn't introduce anything new. He, as always, had fun smooshing it up.

Day Five - Tuesday 22nd February - 11am & 2pm

Well we tried solids twice today!! Ollie still teething and not so interested. Don't think he really ingested anything today - and mainly only interested in toast! Fruit was too slippery and I just don't think he was in the mood today. Broccoli will be good I think - the stalk is a fantastic handle. I don't think he is a big fan of the taste though! haha. He did enjoy mashing it about though.

We took the foot rest off his highchair to try and get him to sit still a bit more, but no luck, he just swings his legs around!

I have to keep reminding myself he isn't meant to eat anything much yet! Its all about the playing....

Day Four - Monday 21st February - 4:30pm

Weird day here. Ollie is teething and has had whacked up sleep times. Toast is the favourite. Today we had avocado and cream cheese with toast, both went down well, often he had both in his mouth. Didn't seem to really ingest much, bit of toast. Still banging like a madman with his right hand, and pushing off the footrest. Think I'll take it off...

Tried cucumber, seemed to be too slippery, even with some skin left on as a handle.  He did gag on a bit of toast, but thankfully no vomit this time.

Food time ended with a suddenly overtired baby - into bed! Trying to find the "right" time to give him solids so I might try a more purist approach and just give him food whenever he seems interested....

Monday 21st February - 7am

Evidence of toast, avocado, and kumara contained in poop! Hoorah!

Day Three - Sunday 20th February - 3pm

Toast was a roaring success! I made crunchy toast fingers in the oven - they were really hard which gave Ollie a good handle! I spread avocado on the toast and he sucked it off, and also bit into the toast as it got softer. It was as messy as day one! Ollie was very happy the whole time and loved having Daddy home. Ollie's right hand banged the high chair (in time with his feet!) and his left hand held the food. We may have a lefty! Ollie bounced most of the time - pushing off with his feet up and down. This wasn't so helpful to avoid gagging, as it meant the toast finger got shoved further into his mouth!

Ollie did have a couple of gagging sessions on a piece of toast too big, which resulted in vomit! It was surprising how many chunks of food (mainly toast) were regurgitated! He was clearly swallowing! I think we might have had solids too soon after mama milk because there was a fair bit of milk too! (Though, he has vomited a lot over the last few days... I'm hoping it is just the teething!)

Ollie preferred to pick the food up himself rather than us hand it to him. He had fingers of toast with avocado, fingers of purple kumara, and a slice of avocado. He was much more receptive to food this time, picking up the kumara finger before I'd even put the toast on his highchair. I got some photos of his great facials, but sadly my camera is just not fast enough and there was too much blur. I also got a video of the first gag (and vomit) but I'm not really sure people want to see that....

 

messy boy! note the green sleeves!!

Learnings:

* Roll up sleeves of white bodysuit before applying avocado to baby

* Purple kumara is far superior to orange

* Wait longer after breastmilk before solids...

Day Three - Saturday 19th Feb 2011

No food today :( Oliver is not a happy camper! He has some serious teething action going on and I struggled to even breastfeed him without him getting upset, so I didn't even try food! Tomorrow is a new day.....

Day Two - Friday 18th Feb 2011 - 11:45am
Ollie was much less interested in his food today. I gave him orange kumara and avocado again, and had intended to try toast fingers, but he wasn't really interested. I think I waited too long (40min after breastfeed - should have been more like 20). He did purposefully pick up a piece of kumara and take it to his mouth, resulting in a chunk sticking to his lip, but otherwise distinterested. It ended in a bit of a meltdown and I quickly realised he was tired, so off to bed!
I have been reading online that a less structured approach is good - rather than one set meal a day - offer them when you eat! Might give him another go this afternoon....

 Day One - Thursday 17th Feb 2011- 2:30pm

Food is fun, til you're one! That seems to be the motto of baby led purists and I can see why. Today was our first day of "real" food! On the menu was orange kumara (steamed), and a wee bit of avocado. I don't know that Ollie actually ingested anything, but he had a LOT of fun smooshing (and banging on his highchair!). Ollie normally puts things to his mouth very quickly, but he didn't seem to be in the mood to at food time. I think this was partly because I made the kumara too soft and it squished when he tried to pick it up. (Or it could have been his superbaby strength?). He did seem to suck a little off his/my fingers towards the end, and pulled a funny face (camera too slow to capture) but not his "sour" face that he gets when it is something that he doesn't like! I then saw some sucky/tongue actions... so maybe it was swallowed! By the end, his hands were coated and he had a bit of a food moustache. He was VERY VERY happy the whole time, and thought it was hilarious when I washed his hands with a flannel at the end. I also spoke to our contact at the university today, who gave me a few tips! 

Things I learnt/need to do:

* Buy a tarp to go under highchair (to protect carpet and allow food retreival)

* Cook kumara a little less to give him a better grip

* Try crusty toast with spread - better handle

* Make some pate and hummus

* buy some kind of sippy cup so Ollie can experiment with water

Rock on tomorrow!