Baby Foodies (with Pictures!)

Niles and I love food.  So it should be no surprise that our kids love food, even Anduin who's only five and a half months.  Someone asked me whether this was early, but we always figured our kids would let us know when they were ready to move beyond the completely liquid diet.  First, they watch you eat...  It's how I imagine a limping zebra feels in front of a pack of hyenas.  Second, they just took the food out of your hands.  For Owen, it was a banana.  For Anduin, it was a chocolate croissant.  She especially enjoyed licking the chocolate off her fingers.  And minutes later when I tried to kiss her chubby little cheeks, she licked my entire face, searching for chocolate croissant crumbs.  Now Anduin, my super happy baby, will cry if I am not shoveling food fast enough into her mouth.  Instead, she reaches for the bowl.

In fact, while most parents scold their children when food's tossed onto the floor because they're making a mess, we're more likely to say something like, "You're wasting really delicious, perfectly cooked bacon, Owen!" and then make him eat it off the floor.  Not only do I want his immune system to get stronger, but it physically pains me sometimes to see him waste fresh baked cookies or the mochiko chicken Niles made for dinner the other night.  Niles was personally repulsed the other night when I ate udon noodles out of Owen's cup -- they only had a little cranberry juice-water on them -- because they were the last udon noodles in the house.  And I LOVE udon noodles...

We did, unfortunately, turn Owen into a blueberry snob.  He'll only eat really sweet ones.  All the other ones, he'll actually take out of his mouth, half squished, and give you a look of complete betrayal for trying to serve him that "slop." 

First quick confession: With Owen, we weren't particularly diligent about following the rule where you introduce a single food to a baby and wait five days for an adverse reaction.  With Anduin, we just threw the rule out the window.  After all, despite our complete disregard for the rule, Owen's still alive. 

Second quick confession: Despite telling myself that I would make my own baby food (it's so easy, just put table food into a blender!), it's even easier to just feed your baby table food.  As long as it's not a choking hazard or honey.  This is our new rule.

This explains why at five and a half months,  Anduin's eaten poi, beef stew, curry, bananas, mangoes, rice porridge, toast, chocolate croissants, spicy pork, ahi poke, ramen, whipped cream, haupia, udon noodles, Chipotle...  Maybe it's impressive that she's still pretty slim for a baby after all this.

Oh, and stink bugs?  They're just extra protein.

Anduin eating her first Chipotle chicken burrito bowl

Owen enjoying an extra sharp, aged cheddar