chloe eats (sort of)

With her 7 month birthday just around the corner, you would think that Chloe would be well into eating her solid foods by now, enjoying a variety of foods in her daily menu, as opposed to exclusively eating Mommy's milk. I would assume so, too, especially since her sisters started eating solids at 5 months and never looked back. Chloe, on the other hand, has a different idea of how she wants to handle the whole "solid food" thing. That being, she wants nothing to do with them. Chloe knows that she's the baby of the family, and as the baby, she has rights. She always gets her way. Especially when she flashes that beautiful 6-tooth smile and says "Ma-ma" with her hands flapping in the air. I simply can't resist.

I decided to wait to introduce solids to Chloe until she was about 6 months old. She never showed much interest in it and I didn't feel the need to push it. The first few introductions were typical. Chloe grimacing and spitting and only wanting to play with the spoon. I took a little break and introduced the rice cereal again a few days later, only to get the same reaction. I continued this pattern for over a month, throwing in some bananas and carrots along the way, before I realized my attempts at feeding her baby food were completely futile. I decided to back off for a while and wait until she seemed more interested.

Yesterday, I was reading a pamphlet about 6 month old babies, and how, if they're able to sit on their own, they should be capable of eating finger foods. I'm not sure if this little tidbit of information was assuming the baby already eats baby food, but since Chloe had been sitting on her own for well over a month, I figured I might as well try it and see what happened. Better to try and fail then not try at all, right? We'll see if Chloe agrees...

I tore up a few pieces of whole wheat bread and placed them on her tray. She seemed very happy about the idea of trying something new....

She ever-so carefully picked a piece of bread up between her little pinchers and her expression changed...

Chloe thinks, "Mommy, I'm not really liking the texture of this bready, smushy thing in my hand..."

"...Do I really, really have to do this?"

"...Fine. I'll do it because I love you and because you said please."

Chloe chewing on her bread and thinking, "There. I did it. You happy? Because I'm not."

I guess the attempt at giving her bread was a failure of sorts. But I gave her little banana pieces and carrots for dinner and she actually really enjoyed them. I haven't decided if I'm going to continue giving her table food or just keep nursing for now. I'm sort of just going with the flow for now.