First Bite

So we've been doing Baby-Led Weaning (BLW) for about a month now. The Yummy Baby was a bit of a slow starter, and didn't actually put anything in her mouth until Day 16. Even now, there are meals where all she'd do is wave the food around and yell at it, before dropping it to the floor. But that's okay, because as the BLW mantra goes, "food before one is just for fun!"

I've read that avocado was an ideal first food, with lots of good fats and nutrients. So a day after TYB turned six months, I carefully peeled and sliced an avocado into the prescribed chip-sized pieces, while The Yummy Daddy set up the video camera, the digicam, and his iPhone to record the momentous event. And then, nothing. TYB refused to even make eye contact with the fruit. She did touch and squeeze it though, which was enough for me. I was actually relieved that she didn't eat any. Mommy's boobs were still The Only One, at least for a little while longer. It was the same routine for the rest of that first week. On the second week, we switched to broccoli, which she enjoyed mashing and smashing. Still, she never took a bite. At that point, she was barely even mouthing her toys. It seemed that she wasn't ready yet, and I was fine with it. 

Since we weren't making much progress, I decided it would be okay to take a few days off. Okay, truth is we got busy and didn't get to do the grocery. I figured we'd start trying again the following week. But a few days into our BLW break, TYB grabbed Sophie the Giraffe and started sucking. I knew then she was ready, even if my mommy heart wasn't.

So the next day, we bought avocado and repeated the same routine slicing, peeling, setting up, except this time she actually picked up a piece and started gumming it, as my husband and I fumbled over various gadgets to document the milestone in our baby's life, while muttering under our breath, "ohmygodohmygodohmygod," and trying not to pass out. Imagine how I reacted when she produced her first poopy diaper with avocado bits. Yes, I was teary-eyed. Yes, I took a picture. No, I'm not uploading it.