Food, glorious food

OK, so we've covered sleep. It's about time I penned a word or two about food. One of the (many) other uber important issues in the world of babies.

Rather than go down the classic route when it came to weaning Lola, we opted for the baby-led weaning approach. This meant introducing solid food in its original form - rather than pureeing it and spoonfeeding her - and allowing her to feed herself. However, it wasn't just a case of handing her a slice of pizza. Food had to be well cooked, fruit had to be ripe and items which were a clear choking hazard (nuts and the like) need to be avoided. All common sense really.

She started trying bits here and there when she was about five months, but we began the proper weaning process at about six months. I have to say, it was all very exciting. We were quite lucky in that she tried everything we offered her and she got to grips with the whole food to mouth thing very quickly. I don't think this was a hunger thing at the beginning with Lola, just pure curiosity. Bless her, she does like to know what's going on...

At six and a half months we introduced meat and fish into her diet and by seven months she was eating our meals. For lunch she has what we've eaten for dinner the night before and then I'll rustle something else up for her tea. She has an amazingly varied diet and the nice thing is that we've never had to think too hard about what to buy while shopping, or to plan meals too far in advance. Her appetite is insatiable and I'm shocked to the core on a daily basis by the amount she can put away. Christ knows where she's putting it, the health visitors still tells me she's underweight. It's a good job I don't listen to them...

It's not like me to get massively enthusiastic a baby-related approach or technique, but I really have done about this. It's VERY messy (I used to wear an apron during Lola's mealtimes and still now embark on a serious clean up operation three times a day), but it works for us. I have felt slightly self conscious at times as it's not the most common approach to feeding your baby and some people clearly think you're insane. But it's worth it.

Here's a video of Lola eating her tea today - pasta with cream cheese, prawns and avocados. As you can see mealtimes are an exciting time as they're an opportunity to dance and clap as well as eat. Paul and I have been leading by example...