Tag Archives: baby food

Beyond Breast Milk Part 1: Non-food Tasting Notes

05/16/2014 R.C. Liley 1 Comment

Baby peers, I made it, I’m now half a year old! For you younger, less experienced babies, that means 6 months. Yep, no more counting by months for me, now I can count by half years!

I have a feeling things are going to start changing around here now that I’m half a year old. For one thing, I hear mommy and daddy saying things like “solids”, “food”, “high chair”, and “big poop”. I’m not sure what it all means except that food is mommy’s milk and poop, well it’s poop. Oh no, I hope poop isn’t what they are going to make my food now!

That sure would stink (ha ha, see what I did there?). Nah, they love me to much anyway!

Another thing I’ve noticed is that in the past few weeks, I’ve been trying to eat everything around me! I don’t know where the urge comes from, but I could just be hangin’ in my jumper next to a toy like the worm in an apply G-Ma got me….

….and next thing I know, I’m trying to eat it!

Then I caught daddy looking and quickly had to pretend I was just rubbing it on my cheek.

Phew, I think he bought it.

And that’s not all, I’ve tried several other things that, having found out the hard way, are not food. You’re probably thinking the things had to of at least looked like the typical boob or bottle we currently get our food from, but they didn’t!

So, I’m taking it upon myself to share with you my tasting notes on these non-food items. I hope it helps you make a wise choice when you are presented with similar things and feel “the urge.”

First off, the obvious one is your hand. My hand is what started me on trying other things and I can’t seem to get enough of it anymore!

Tastes like fresh breast milk at first, but can be gross if you put your hands somewhere before your mouth. When I’m not craving hand, I opt for just a finger to hold me over.

Same taste, just not as intense. Be careful here, if you stick your finger in your mouth too far, something weird happens and it doesn’t feel good. Trust me, I know….

So the hands, I recommend them for any baby to start with, and then you can move on. For me, I figured if I like my hands so much, maybe daddy’s will be just as good, or even better! Given the opportunity, I tried it out…

Initially, it didn’t seem too bad, but it still wasn’t the same. It tasted like something, but I couldn’t quite put my finger (ha ha) on it.

Then it hit me, spoiled breast milk! Yuck!

I won’t be trying that again anytime soon. Thinking that maybe daddy just has bad hands, I decided to try Uncle Preston’s hand as he held me one day.

Nope, no good either. That was a first and a last for me!

Take it from me, only eat your own hands, everyone else’s just don’t taste the same! Ready to move on to non-hand items, I tried a taste of the teddy bear sitting next to me one day.

It was hard to reach his neck, so I tried for the paw instead.

Yum! This is a keeper, I highly recommend teddy bear for a tasty treat. Tastes like fresh breast milk.

With how delicious the teddy bear was, I figured I would enjoy all stuffed animal toys I have. That was, until daddy put this thing next to me…

Is it a dog, alien, or some weird baby? Mommy and daddy call it a dog, but I’ve seen a dog and I’m pretty sure they don’t have hands like it says on this one.

I didn’t even try tasting that thing.

Once daddy took it out of my crib, I sat up in joy!

Yeah, I’ve seen our dog, Abby, and I’m pretty sure she just has four paws, not hands and feet!

After having enough of the soft, fuzzy toys, I decided to move on and try my smooth, shiny toys. I’ve been playing with these rings for a while now, and just lately, they seem appealing.

The obvious first choice was the orange one since it was on top.

Yep, this was like breast milk from the bottle. Not bad, but nothing great. That said, I still go back to it.

And daddy always talks about the blue one being his favorite, but it seems no different to me. I’d like to see him try it once!

Bottles seem to be something I can’t get away from since that’s all daddy can give (trust me, I figured out the hard way), so I’m okay with these shiny rings. If you have some, give’em a taste.

While in my jumper (which is a lot!), the red bird hanging to one side caught my eye and I just had to eat it!

Holy yum, this thing is great! It can’t even be compared to milk, it’s in a league of its own and I like it!

Seriously, I just can’t get enough of it now!

By all means, if you have a plastic red bird hanging anywhere around you, eat it!

Speaking of things around you, I bet you have some sort of cloth with arm holes pulled over your head every day. Right? Well, just happens you can eat that too! Seriously, I just figured this out several days ago and can’t believe I’ve been missing out on chewing something attached to me. No work needed, just put in mouth and chew.

Depending on if I just ate from a bottle or from mommy, the taste can range from fresh milk to not so fresh milk. Either one is okay with me, just as long as it’s not like daddy’s hands!

In sum, when you start having these random cravings to put things in your mouth, choose your hands, no one else’s, at first. Then move on to things like what you wear, hanging red birds, and colorful rings when you have to.

I’m still trying to figure out what mommy and daddy are up to with their “new food” talk, and I have a feeling I’ll find out soon. I overheard them talking about this weekend and setting up a “high chair” while I pretended to be busy working on something.

How many chairs do I need, really? I’ll let you know how it goes if I make it through whatever is happening. For now, I leave you with some words of wisdom; always cry long and loud when you poop and make sure to blow raspberries to really make your point!

This post is part of a link up from Love All Dads with other outstanding dad bloggers. Click on the link below and check them out; you won’t be sorry!

Parenting, Pinterest Picks

Going Dad’s Top Ten Pinterest Picks (5): Baby-Led Weaning

05/15/2014 R.C. Liley 11 Comments

Well, it’s here, Avery’s half year mark. I can’t believe our daughter has already been with us for 6 months! So much has happened and there is so very much still to come!

Scratch sitting up off the "to-do" list! — Scratch sitting up off the “to-do” list!

Going Mom was adamant about strictly breastfeeding until the 6 month mark, and true to her word, she has held her ground. So many babies miss out on the best source of nutrition (and free!), and I am glad Kelley forged through the rough patches to make sure Avery was fed well!

Now the time has come to introduce solids to Avery since at this point her digestive system is developed well enough properly breakdown and utilize various foods. Breast milk will still be her main source of nutrition up to her one year mark, but now I get to take part in “producing” food for Avery!

In my last Top Ten Pinterest Picks post, I shared links related to homemade baby food purees, but baby-led weaning is something different. Baby-led weaning (BLW) is simply letting your child feed themselves at the very start of introducing solids.

Many parents stand by this style of teaching their little ones how to feed themselves and love that they don’t have to fret over steaming, pureeing, and storing food in ice cube trays. Of course, things will get messy, and we accept that…..I think.

Although I was all for and ready to puree away, I started to get more and more into BLW as I read about it. So now, I might do a mixture of both, but we’ll be starting Avery with the BLW method this weekend and I hope to have a successful report next week.

I have green beans, baby carrots, and avocado to start with; all organic. I’ll steam the green beans and carrots to make sure they are plenty soft for Avery’s toothless mouth, and the avocado is fine as is. I plan on sticking with veggies and savory fruit like the avocado at first just to try and keep Avery from developing a sweet tooth right away.

If these prove successful, I’ll happily start giving her mango slices and bananas as a nice treat. Big things happening here in the Liley household, and we’re excited to watch our daughter experience another first soon!

Check out my top ten Pinterest picks for Baby-led weaning and share any thoughts/advice you may have in the comments section.

1. Starting Baby-Led Weaning – This is an informative post with tips on what to start with as well as covering any concerns you may have. I felt better after reading this one.

2. Getting started with baby-led weaning – Going with the “always get a second opinion” motto, this is another post on the same site as above, but it’s reassuring to read positive comments from another source, and then another, and another, and…well you get the point.

3. These might start feeling redundant, but I promise, you feel more comfortable after reading about BLW from various authors/parents. This one shares good foods to start with as well as how to properly prepare them.

4. I’m not “paleo”, but I know many are, and I assume they’d want the same for their little one. Just so happens, there’s a parent blogger who felt like sharing their experience. Paleo or not, this is actually a good source of info and is worth the read.

5. I plan on just using single ingredients to feed Avery, but if you feel like cooking, here’s a 100 recipes to get you started!

6. Unless you’re on an all liquid diet, I’m sure you know what happens when you eat solid food; poop with substance. We’re a cloth diapering family, and since we need a way to remove the “big deposits” before putting in the diaper bin, a diaper sprayer is our chosen way. Some people dunk their diapers….no thanks.

7. Since I prefer not to paint our bathroom walls with poop, this Spray Pal will keep the poo from splashing everywhere when you are spraying. I just received one free of charge from Spray Pal to review, and I’ll share my experience very soon!

8. Just another option if you don’t feel like making one yourself. Nothing wrong with it, and this is the one we just purchased.

9. Again, just making myself comfortable be reading about BLW from multiple sources. We’re all different and it’s good to get many different opinions!

10. A simple site on why these parents love BLW and a list of benefits over being spoon-fed.

What are your thoughts on baby-led weaning?

Do you prefer the traditional spoon-fed method or like BLW better?

Parenting, Pinterest Picks

Going Dad’s Top Ten Pinterest Picks (4): Homemade Baby Food

05/03/2014 R.C. Liley 10 Comments

We’re almost there; Avery is approaching 6 months and we’ll attempt to start feeding her food other than breast milk!

I’ve read a few signs to look for to know your baby is ready is for them to sit up on their own and that they lose their reflex to push out with their tongue. Right now, Avery does not sit up on her own and I’m pretty sure that tongue reflex is how she rejects the bottle every day. But we’ll start slow and take it from there.

She still has 12 days before she’s officially 6 months anyway, so maybe an intense core workout will build up her strength to sit on her own. Bad idea?

Well, what’s not a bad idea is making your own baby food. Those little jars of pureed grain and produce can and do add up fast, so it only makes sense to make your own. It’s healthier, puts you in control, and saves money!

Here’s my top 10 list of recipes, tip, tricks, and helpful tools to have you on your way to making a nutritious puree!

1. This is a long one but a good one!

2. Gotta have the tools!

3. If you don’t know it already, homemade costs less and is healthier!

4. If I had a printer, this would be printed.

5. This is great for any left over breast milk bags. They also make bags like the little fruit squeeze pouches that cost an arm and a leg, but they are reusable for your homemade food. Here’s the link.