they grow up so fast . . .

First, Liam has been doing really great with sitting up . . . he still teeters a lot, but is getting stronger by the day. He loves to be up -- he's gaining some independence and loves playing with toys in front of him. : )

And then this weekend, we gave Liam food for the very first time. Up until this point he has only had breast milk, and I've been super nervous about giving him food. It's not that he's not ready for it, but my fears were more about things changing . . . I'm kinda like, "but this breastfeeding thing is going so well, and now it's not going to be so easy to feed him, and is my little boy really growing up this fast??" 

Anyway, here are a few pictures and a video of his first meal!

Hmmm . . . not sure . . .

This isn't that bad . . .

Oh, hey, Dad!

What a ham : )

Look at me!

YUCK!

Haha, that last one is my favorite! He actually did really great and kept smiling at Keith once he figured out Dad was taking pictures. : ) 

And here's a quick video of his first bites . . .

As of right now I am using several different resources to help with making Liam's food (once he starts eating more foods than just rice and bananas!). First are two books recommended by friends: Super Baby Food and Top 100 Baby Purées. 

 

I also signed up for BabyFood101, a website designed by two parents who wanted to find a way to feed their baby nutritious foods that were also incorporated into their own healthy meals. I get an email each week with two new foods for Liam to try that week, directions on how to prepare it, plus a recipe for how to use the food in an adult recipe so it doesn't go to waste (and even a grocery list!). For example, although this week Liam's two foods were just rice cereal and bananas, it gave me a recipe on how to make a simple banana bread so all those ripe bananas don't go to waste. Over the course of the next six months Liam will have tried 52 different foods (and I will have too!). 

Last but not least, my latest purchase is the Béaba BabyCook -- basically a food processor that blends, steams, defrosts, and reheats . . . perfect for making his baby food. I looked at other food processors but after reading many customer reviews and talking to different store employees, this is the best bet for every day use. I did find a travel food processor that looked good, too, but would wear down quickly if used all the time. For right now I'll just be mashing bananas, avocados, etc. by hand, but will soon enough be using this to make all kinds of purées!

Anyway, so that's the latest developments in the Coffey household! Stay tuned for next week's episode . . . 

~Jessi