I have been experimenting more with the texture and flavour of the foods I offer Thomas. I’ve read that now is the best time to try lots of different flavours as he is more likely to try them gaining a variety of taste which will hopefully prevent him from being a fussy eater when he is older….I will have to let you know about that one! I do enjoy cooking homemade meals from scratch for him so experimenting with different ingredients has been fun. I have also been sneeking a few lumps into his food to get him used to chewing, now he has 3 teeth and I must say it is going quite well. I used to puree everything in the blender but now I use a potato masher to mash the food up – So for example I would steam a couple of potatoes,  some broccoli, carrots and cauliflower until soft, then use the masher to mash the vegetables together adding a small amount of butter to help bind them together and give them a creamy taste, Thomas loves this.  I leave a couple of the vegetables whole and put them on the side of the plate to offer Thomas throughout his meal to get him used to picking up the food himself and trying them he loves carrot sticks and is getting better with the broccoli but mashed up to a lumpy texture he has no problems with now at all.

An alternative to butter to give the creamy taste I have also made my own cheese sauce to put over the mashed vegetables. Its really easy to make a cheese sauce, I was daunted by the idea at first but there was no need to be All you need is:

• Whole milk
• Grated cheese
• Cornflower

Add some whole milk into a small pan, heat the milk whilst adding a handful of grated cheese Cheddar or Lancashire make tasty sauces and add a spoonful of cornflower to thicken. Keep stirring the sauce it will thicken and possibly become lumpy but that doesn’t matter as long as it tastes like a creamy cheese sauce your baby will love it and not care how it looks when its mixed into their yummy vegetables.

One thing Thomas is becoming very practiced with throughout our lumpy food stage is picking bits of food from his high chair tray and launching them on the floor when he has had enough. I don’t mind this though as its all part of the learning experience he is going through Its all worth while when I see an empty plate and a full belly in the end with bags of energy for more fun.

I started giving Thomas a small amount of solid food at 4.5 months, I felt he was ready for a little bit more he had good head control and was intently watching me eat, making the mouth movements with me. I feel like I always have to explain exactly why I started Thomas on solids early, personally I feel like I was frowned upon by the health care providers for starting solids before 6 months – I have read all the justification for waiting until your baby is 6 months, and felt that by giving Thomas a very small amount of homemade fruit/vegetables he would appreciate and enjoy the flavors and it would help him progress with eating a variety of foods.

The first food I gave Thomas was puree sweet potato, sweet potato is a fantastic first food as its naturally sweet and a great texture for baby. I pricked several holes into a sweet potato and placed on a baking in the hot oven for around an hour. When the potato is soft allow it to cool and scoop out the inside placing them in a blender, add a little cool boiled fresh water as required to thin the puree allow to cool then serve. To begin with I did blend the sweet potato with cool boiled water to create a nice consistency, although now I have progressed onto using just the scooped potato without any further blending. Thomas loved it!

A great tip I learned is to place the puree into individual segments within an ice cube tray, preferably an ice cube tray with a lid to prevent freezer burn. Once the puree is frozen, pop them out of the individual ice cube segments and place into a freezer bag, label the bag and place back in the freezer. This will then free up the ice cube tray for you to freeze other purees and repeat the process. Its a good idea to spend one afternoon cooking a variety of puree foods and freezing them for the week so you not cooking every day.

I started Thomas on an ice cube amount of sweet potato around tea time every day, we progressed onto two ice cube amounts as his appetite increased. He loves the flavours in foods, and I love making them for him, I make my own vegetables and fruits  – I really enjoy making them, it makes me feel good I know exactly what Thomas is eating and it tastes really nice. I get a buzz watching him enjoy his food and I know he is getting the best! I think part of me is still upset and gutted that I couldn’t breastfeed Thomas, so I am making up for it by giving him the best in what I can control.