Before Madeline was born I had several fantasies about what life was going to be like with a new baby. Most of them, for some reason, included me wearing her in a sling while she slept peacefully and I went about my day-to-day life much as it had been before plus a new, real-life accessory. These fantasies were quickly shattered when, as a newborn she barely tolerated said sling for a brief period, and then went to flat out hating it.
One of the few notions that has worked out is that of making my own baby food. As it turns out, making baby food, once you get the hang of it, is actually easier than it was in pre-motherhood fantasy land.
Before I started this project I was not sure what I was getting into. Did I need to buy special equipment? How was I going to know that I had achieved the right texture of puree so that I did not accidentally choke my baby? How was I going to know what to feed her if there was not a number on a jar telling me that this was what I was supposed to be giving her?
The day Madeline turned 6 months old was one that I had been waiting for in anticipation because it meant that I could actually start on the solid food journey. Being a good, Neo-Earth Mama or whatever you call my kind, I had done my damnedest not to let a drop of anything but pure mother's milk pass through her lips before this day. Now it was here and I could give her...rice cereal. Not as exciting as it sounds. Ignoring the advice of websites and baby books I did not wait the requisite three days between trying a new food lest my daughter have food allergies. I figured if she did not break out in hives or have facial swelling within the first few minutes of trying something she was probably going to be OK. Obviously, I am not a pediatrician, so do not take my advice on this. We tried bananas, sweet potatoes, and applesauce all in the course of a week. She loved all of these foods! It was so much fun to feed her and hear her "mmm" with pleasure as she experienced each new flavor for the first time. I had read that some babies took a little while to get used to the physical act of eating, not sure of what to make of the food being put in their mouths. But not Madeline. She has loved solid food from the get-go, her mouth grabbing each bite from her BPA free spoon with a decisive chomp.
Unfortunately, the combination of the bananas, rice and applesauce created a kind of a cement in her poor little intestines. I took drastic measures and majorly dialed back the solids and put her on a prune and prune juice diet. It took close to a week for her to get things back on track. But I hadn't choked her due to improperly textured puree and I had managed to prepare food for her using either my trusty Cuisinart or my Braun hand blender with mini-chopper attachment rather than the $150 Beaba Babycook sold exclusively at William-Sonoma that I was not sure how I was going to live without. Everything was going to be alright.
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