Starting Solids

On Wednesday I had Gideon on my lap as I was using the computer and eating apple slices. As usual, he was frantically grabbing at the undoubtedly fascinating objects I was shoving in my mouth, all the while opening and closing his mouth mimicking my eating process in an attempt to prove to me that he had what it takes to try one of those incredible mystery sticks. He had refused to eat his cereal that morning. I think he just may not be impressed with the whole utensil thing. Like it's just an unnecessary step that only makes the food-to-belly process all the more complicated. He is very interested in watching me eat. And always wants in on the action. He refuses to believe me when I tell him that he's only 5 months old and really should still only be eating breastmilk, and that he should just be thankful that I gave in and let him eat cereal before I wanted to. He insists that things such as whole fruit, perogies, and veggie burgers are perfectly acceptable foods for him to try. Enough of the bland cereal crap already.

Anyways, so the desperate pleading for an apple slice, after having already worn me down from a day full of teething-related screaming (my life lately has been laced with the constant sound of teething baby), drove me to cave and let him have one. I didn't know his eyes could open that wide, as his hands tightly grasped his treasure and brought it slowly to his mouth. He was shaking with excitement. Upon tasting it, he didn't make a funny face like when he eats cereal. He looked at me as if to say "THAT'S MORE LIKE IT!" The coolness of it probably felt nice on his gums too. So he gummed away at it while I finished off the rest of the slices. I had a firm grip on his apple of course, so he couldn't shove it in too far. Then, as I was observing him in his bliss, it occurred to me that he could bite a chunk off and choke. Then sure enough, just as I thought that, I hear the crunch of his bite. I took the slice away and attempted to fish the small piece out of his mouth. THAT brought back memories of constantly retrieving objects from Judith's mouth - a stage I'm not looking forward to going through again! Gideon was livid, and was not giving up without a fight! He earned that piece of apple fair and square! Well, the turd won and somehow managed to swallow it. I held my breath for a second, but his breathing went on unaffected. He squinted his eyes really tight a few times, surely at the new sensation and sour taste (it was a Granny Smith). Then looked up at me as if to say "SUCKER!" and started whining and reaching for the rest of his slice on the coffee table.

Turd.

I did let him try banana the other day. I was eating one and he was frantic for it, so I mashed some up with breastmilk and fed it to him. He didn't seem to like it very much. Probably the whole utensil thing again.

I have this unofficial rule right now while we're in the 'introducing solids' stage that when he eats his cereal, he has to poop before I feed him more the next day. Judith became extremely constipated when she started solids, so I just kind of want to monitor it. So far he's been fine, pooping a couple times every day as usual, so he's had cereal every day. Although his poop is starting to smell. It's not too bad, but no longer the sweet breastmilk smell.

He didn't poop after eating the apple, or all day yesterday though. I was starting to get a little concerned. I make his cereal very liquidy, so a chunk of apple was probably not so good. He was fussy, but no worse than the last few days. Finally, today he pooped. And it smelled like apple! It looked fine, healthy and yellow, with no chunks or anything. This is not helping my case.

Soon he will be asking for a steak...

After telling friend of mine this story, she directed me to this website, which I find interesting. http://www.borstvoeding.com/voedselintroductie/blw/engels.html