Hey it’s been a long while since I posted. I’m back here to talk about food. But not my food. Lily’s food. She turned 6 months this week and we celebrated by giving her her first taste of banana. Yum. It was an incredibly proud moment for us parents. I mashed up some banana and mixed it with breast milk, until it was the consistency of half-and-half or cream. Maybe a little thicker. First I dunked my finger and and let her suck on it. She wasn’t really into it so instead I tried one of those little baby spoons. Boy, she was all over that! She had been watching us eat for weeks now, and every now and then I would give her that same spoon to sort of play with. I’d pretend I was giving her something to eat so that she would put the spoon in her mouth. So yesterday, when the time was right, she knew just what to do.

Atta girl!

So so proud. We decided to try banana as a first food rather than the standard rice cereal that every doctor mentions. We went to a First Foods class that recommended this. In fact, we learned in class that if Mom (that’s me) eats the same food every day for 14 days, that the food will be come a familiar taste to the baby. Well, it just so happens that I eat a banana nearly every day. So, why not go for it? Bananas are chock full of nutrients and are filling. And they are tasty, to boot.

What foods are up next? How about avocado? Sweet potato? Or something in season, maybe peaches, nectarines … What do you suggest?

Here are some resources, if you’d like to learn more about first foods:

• Cooking for Baby by Lisa Barnes
• Feeding the  Whole Family by Cynthia Lair
• First Foods class with Ann Keppler