Tale of an Avocado

We decided to take on a lazy version of baby led weaning (BLW) with Emiliana. If you are unfamiliar with BLW, it essentially means skipping pureed baby food and at the age of 6 months give babies whatever you are eating. Let the baby decide what and how much they want to eat, and let them feed themselves. No mush.

I say that we are doing a lazy version because I didn't follow all the rules. I gave Emiliana tastes of babyfood, and let her gnaw on a banana before she hit six months. Now Emiliana is 5 1/2 months and this week we have really gotten into solids. She shows all the signs of readiness (including -but not limited to- being able to sit unsupported and grasp things and efficiently put them in her mouth) and I have really enjoyed giving her new things to try.

This morning we tried avocados. I just cut off a chunk and gave it to her, but they're hard to hold on to so I stuck it on a fork and let her chew on it for a while. She did manage to squish some in her fat little fist and ingest it, though.

She really seemed to be enjoying it so I mashed it up and attempted to spoon feed her. The only thing I have successfully gotten her to eat off a spoon were some mashed sweet potatoes. Everything else she refuses. She did the same with the avocado. She refused to eat it off a spoon. I was getting ready to give up when she grabbed the spoon out of my hand and stuck it right into her mouth. She ate a good bit of it that way, I would scoop up the avocado and she would stuff it in her little chubby mouth. Or eyeball. But mostly mouth.

She played in it a little bit, too

We had fun. What an exciting new milestone in the life of a baby. Something to eat BESIDES breastmilk.