January 11, 2008

• Oatmeal, yum!

  Drumroll, please ...

  Jack ate his first solid food tonight! Well, "solid" is up for debate ... it was baby oatmeal mixed with warm breast milk, pretty runny in consistency. Jack's been waking up earlier in the mornings crying from hunger, so my pediatrician gave me the OK to give him some baby oatmeal. He says that unless food allergies run in the family (which they don't, in our case), he recommends starting with oatmeal because baby rice is so binding. It was pretty hard to hold out until six months for solids, not because Jack really wanted them prior to now, but because other babies were having them. However, I'm pretty bent on doing this food thing by the book (especially given all the food allergies on the rise), so six months it was!

  While Johnny set up the high chair and took pics, I fed Jack in the Bumbo. At first, he wasn't sure what to make of it. He'd either open his mouth after taking the food, letting the oatmeal run out, or he would close his mouth tight. Or, he'd take the food and look up, then swallow, as though he were still drinking from a bottle. I decided to give him a break and change him into his PJs before trying again. On our second try, he suddenly got it. He started opening his mouth and leaning toward the spoon like a baby bird, then closing his mouth around the spoon, getting the food and swallowing. By the end of the session, there was hardly any spillage -- that's my boy! We went through one "bowl" (one tablespoon of oatmeal mixed with three of breast milk) and then another. He would have taken more if I'd let him, but I thought it best to cut off the initial food experience after two of those tiny bowls, in case he got way bloated. (In addition to the oatmeal, he'd also just had a full bottle.)

  Preparing to feed

  

  

  "Ummm ... what is this? I'm not sure about it!"

  

  "I've got the hang of it now!"

   

  "Give me more!"

  

  I am so excited. This is the start of an all new adventure for us. Johnny and I love food so much, and we're determined to raise a kid with a healthy relationship to food. I'd like Jack to have slightly better eating habits than I do. I think I eat pretty well, thanks to my mom and grandma, but I could stand to like vegetables and whole grains a bit more. Jack was already exposed to some gourmet foods in utero, and since I was pregnant with him, I've tried to take in more veggies, so hopefully he's off to a good start already. I figure that as he begins to eat more "real" foods in the coming months and years, it's also a good reason for me and Johnny to clean up our acts. If healthy, as-unprocessed-as-possible foods are what he's exposed to at home (with occasional treats, of course! What's a childhood without cake and ice cream?), then when he goes to school, maybe he won't be as tempted by the stream of junk food. That's my hope, anyway. Of course, you're also talking to the girl who disdains "low fat" and "low sugar" desserts and who has a weakness for neapolitan ice cream, Goldfish crackers, Swedish fish, Sara Lee pound cake, and all manner of baked goods, especially those made with the supremely evil white flour. So we'll see how long this health kick lasts.

  p.s. For those of you who are curious, the baby oatmeal actually smelled pretty good. The way Jack was gobbling it up, Johnny thought it was full of sugar or something. Well, he tasted some, and reported that it was actually pretty bland. But Jack acted like it was the first time he ever ate anything ... oh wait, it was!

  p.p.s. A random Daddy-son cute moment for you -- the first shoulder ride!

  

  • 2:17 am
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