More of Evan Eating Food

Evan had his first taste of banana today.  He loved it, of course.  I know all the rules about starting foods and only giving a very small amount the first time, but, um, Evan ate the whole banana.  (Smallish banana, granted, but it was still more than a tablespoon.)

I quickly abandoned the chunk-of-banana-in-the-fist idea, though, due to imminent airway obstruction.

Then there was the frustration (for him, that is... amusement, for me)  of chasing slimy little pieces of banana all over the tray until he finally got hold of one, only to have it slip out just shy of the target area.  He did manage to get the whole thing down, anyway.

As a baby, Jonah would projectile-vomit the entire contents of his stomach only minutes after consuming banana.  Ideal baby-food it was not, for him.  Actually, Jonah pretty much couldn't eat anything at all until he was older than Evan is now.  I'm so grateful that these two are so different.  Evan is pretty much doing fine with food, and I'm very thankful for that.  My milk production is rapidly decreasing (yes, I did just talk about my own milk and the making thereof in public.  Apologies to my brothers.) and I'm very bummed about that, but at least I can give him other things.  I've known people who can nurse a baby right through pregnancy, but I don't seem to be one of those, unfortunately.  I'm also very glad that we have goats and will be able to have plenty of fresh milk for Evan. I haven't yet given him any, though Evan does eat lots of yogurt made with that milk.  I reeeeeally don't want to give him a bottle, but he's not big on cups, so we might have to go there.  We already have a thumb addiction to deal with.  Oh well.  He won't be sucking on those things when he gets married, right?

I'm very paranoid about starting solids with babies.  The experience with Jonah was... harrowing.  I'm happy to report that Jonah seems to be food allergy/intolerance-free now, but starting him out was not easy.  I have a very unconventional (but not unresearched, and quite methodical) method to starting solids.  In my book grains come last.  Evan most likely won't have any grains at all until he turns one.  For now, it's fruits, veggies, yogurt, egg yolks and yes, meat (even liver!).  He seems to be tolerating everything just fine, except that he tends to have red, chapped cheeks.  That could be from some food, but I haven't been able to track it down to anything.  It could also be from teething, which he's deep into, or from having had a cold and rubbing snot all over his face for two and a half weeks.  He also has a little spot on his thumb above where he sucks (right where his hand touches his nose), so for now, I'm going with the snot theory.  See how paranoid I am?  I look for every possible sign if intolerance.

I'm also really lazy about starting foods.  I would actually rather just not do it at all until he's big enough to mostly feed himself and not choke.  It's just such a hassle to make special food and spoon it into his mouth.  I know, lazy.  I honestly cannot imagine feeding solids to a 4, or even 6, month-old.  It's just so much easier to sit down and nurse. 

It looks as though those days are nearly gone with Evan.  I'm hoping and praying that we can continue to nurse once or twice a day, indefinitely, but I guess we'll just have to see.   For now, onward and upward!