Solids, Already?!?!

I can't believe Ruthie is 6 months already. It still feels like I just had her, but I guess I can't really use the "I have a newborn" excuse anymore.

She has been wanting to eat what I'm eating forever. It probably doesn't help that I usually eat with her on my lap, so she has watched me her whole life. When my Mom and Grandma came to visit back in May, my Grandma was sitting with her eating a piece of banana bread, and Ruthie swiped a handful of it, and had it in her mouth before anyone could blink! Then, another day I was at a friend's house, and she managed to grab a handful of grass and clover, and shove it in her mouth in the half a second it took me to go from squatting to sitting. She actually managed to swallow, and successfully digest it...

So I guess it's time. So far, she has tried (and LOVED!) banana, avocado, potato, blueberries, peas, chicken, and water. And of course, grass and banana bread. I know, it's kind of a random list. But I like to follow baby-led weaning, and well, I'm just not as uptight about this kind of thing as I used to be. Sometimes I help feed her, sometimes Judith helps, and sometimes Ruthie does it all on her own. Yesterday I mashed up a banana with a fork and put it on her tray, and she ate the WHOLE thing all on her own, I was amazed. This girl is SERIOUS about food! I was surprised that she didn't start sucking on the tray to get every last molecule.

She doesn't have any trouble eating either, she never pushes the food out of her mouth with her tongue like most babies do at first. And with the chicken and peas, there were good chunks. She has never choked. She just gummed them and swallowed, no problem! I can't be bothered to make purrees and sit and spoon-feed her like I did with Judith. I don't think there's anything wrong with that, but if Ruthie doesn't need me to, why bother? I don't leave her alone with the food, of course, I always supervise. She hasn't had any trouble digesting anything either. I was hoping that solids would help cut down the number of poops she has, but nothing has changed so far. She still poops multiple times a day.

So anyway, that's my latest adventure in parenting Ruthie. Here are some pics:

First taste of banana.



Judith feeding her banana, can't get it in fast enough!



Avocado.



We do use a spoon sometimes to gather up the mashed mess and get it in her mouth, but Ruthie likes to assist.



She downed about 1/4 of that on her first try, then lost interest. She also is very good at drinking from a cup.



All of my kids so far have been really excited about solids. My milk must get boring after a while, haha.