I somehow forgot what a messy situation introducing food is.  How did I forget this?  Learning to eat solid foods isn’t just about the food, the flavor, avoiding allergens, balanced nutrition etc. but also letting the baby explore the textures and tactile experience of food.  So Sammy spends lots of time playing with a spoon, mashing banana into his tray, dragging his fingers through lentils, crushing cheerios into his hands, working meat in his mouth, and rubbing avocado between his palms.

I spend lots of time cleaning his fingers and face, picking spoons and cheerios off the floor, and doing laundry.

Lil’ guy is still working on his pincher grasp, so he gets pretty frustrated that he can’t feed himself the way he wants to.  Fortunately for him we give him lots of time to practice.

I would write about Sam’s favorite foods, but if he’s in the mood to eat (and most of the time he is) then he loves everything we give him.  He is always happy to have bananas, peaches and peas but he pretty much eats everything.