The diaper says it all

Owen has been doing a little better with food lately - or maybe Mama is doing a little better with feeding him lately. I read a really interesting chapter in this book about how every time you feed your infant - you are having a conversation. Feeding is a time for baby to communicate what they want/don't want and recognize that you let them make choices. I hadn't looked at it that way before. The book said to hold the food you are about to offer 12 inches from their face so they can SEE what you are about to give them (instead of looking cross-eyed down at the spoon). Then offer them a taste on their lips. If they want it, they will open and you can proceed. If they don't, you stop. Also noted to always wait until your child is making eye contact with you to offer food. When they look away, seem distracted, shut their lips or get frustrated they are communicating to you that they are done and you need to listen. Soon this "conversation" will evolve and when they recognize foods they like - the process will go faster. I really appreciated this thought process and it helped me be more relaxed about feeding O.

This week at a baby group, I got to talking with another mother who had a baby two weeks older than Owen. She was telling me how her son loves tofu because its easy to pick up and easy to chew. I've never done much with tofu and actually didn't even know you have to store it in water. I also read that you can freeze it in food cubes (by adding water) and that it takes on the flavor of anything you cook it with. So I cut up the piece I bought and stored some in the fridge. The rest I froze in food cubes - but I mixed half of a small chicken bullion cube into water to make a light broth and froze it in that. Hopefully it will come out with a little flavor. I gave Owen some right out of the package today and he really liked it. He actually had a great lunch of organic firm Tofu and protein noodles. I have to help him put the pieces in his mouth because right now he just rakes the food with his hand and he has trouble getting it from his palm to his mouth. Then I offered him a few yogurt melts for dessert and he wiggled his legs back and forth when he saw the bag. SO CUTE!

These are the things we've tried successfully
Rice cakes (salt free)
Watermelon (he nibbles this with his teeth like a little bunny - I just adore the sound it makes!)
Noodles
Broccoli
Tofu
Carrots
Pita
Hummus
Bagel & cream cheese
Matzot Ball Soup (by far the biggest success)

Today I also gave him an organic wheat teething biscuit. I've done a little reading on teething biscuits and many of them have been taken off the market due to choking. Apparently hunks of biscuts can be bitten off that are too big to swallow. I gave it to him just to see and watched him very closely. He LOVED the biscuit but it made a HUGE mess. Hard crusty film all over his face and hands. And the rumors were true - once he sogged it up enough he was able to bite off huge chunks of it. Luckily, I was right there and swiped it out of his mouth but I had to pay really, really close attention. Eventually I took it from him and traded it out for a rice cake - he wasn't happy. Overall, I have mixed feelings - they were a mess, and I don't like the unmanageable pieces I dug out of his mouth - but he had a blast eating it and the biscuit kept his attention for over a half hour!

Owen had avocado and yogurt for dinner and even skipped his 6pm nursing because he was full - a first for us! Part of me was sad and felt rejected but a larger part of me was happy. This is exactly what is supposed to happen when a little boy fills his tummy with something other than milk. 

That and the other day Jeremy was changing Owen's diaper and motioned for me to come in,

"Check. IT." (pointing to the diaper)

And there it was...

Owen's very first TURD.

It was soft and cylindrical but a turd none the less. I was beaming with pride. That little turd made my week.

** POST EDIT: Books are WRONG Tofu does NOT freeze well. At least for babies. I found that even thawing it on the counter it was way to spongy to feed to Owen, so I dumped the food cubes and only feed him the fresh stuff that I keep in water in the fridge. At least I tried!