Food! Glorious Food!

Blogs are like buses! You don't do one for ages and then 2 come close together. Well, you need the inspiration and action to fill cyber-pages and Hunter is at an age where things be happening. We are well on the way with the weaning and so far, he'll eat pretty much anything so long as it is the consistency of custard. If there is even a hint of lump, he screws up his face  before getting a bit vexed. I have to admit: I have made and puréed a few bits and when we were in Devon away from the distraction of friends and family, I was religiously preparing all his meals from scratch but now? Not so much;(. Life just gets in the way I'm afraid and I quickly tired of slaving over a hot hand blender only to have to chuck the whole thing down the sink because it wasn't quite the consistency His Nibs preferred. Sod that. So now, he has a mixture of what I have the time (and inclination) to prepare coupled with the good old pouches. I also give him petit filous and let him try pretty much anything I am eating provided it's not seasoned or a choking hazard. It's funny though, because throughout all the sleep training and other stuff that I have managed to be really quite pragmatic about, weaning is the thing that has properly set off my maternal guilt monitor:-/. I bought the Annabel Karmel book the other day and 2 chapters in had a total stress attack: cue a frantic supermarket dash and a diary emptying so I can make and freeze some decent food for The Bear. I am so worried that I will do it all wrong and end up with a legacy of fussy eating from him or worse, I will deprive him of vital nutrients.

I nearly forked out £40 on a mouli too until after I sleuthed the Internet and discovered that a potato ricer does the job and does it MUCH CHEAPER;). So anyway, today is earmarked as Annabel Day so I can't hang around too much longer....

One thing that scares the living shit out of me with this weaning business though, is the choking thing: a few times he has got himself so upset that he's screamed with a mouth full of food, then as he's inhaled to ready himself for his next lungful of discontent, he's inhaled his food and had a right good choke, gag, cough. Cue terrified mother, extremely upset child and binned meal:(.

I'm actually doing a basic first aid course at The Baby Show in Earls Court at the end of the month and I think I will probably do a longer one when I can so I know what to do in some of these emergency situations. Because what is far more frightening than the thought of Hunter having an accident, is not knowing what I have to do if anything goes wrong. At least if I do a course, I will be prepared.

What I will say about our foodie journey though is there is nothing lovelier than seeing your child really enjoying the taste of something new. So far, he seems fairly easy going about what I give him, give or take those pesky lumps, but I will continue to worry about the onset of fussy eating since I was a pretty fussy eater myself. In the meantime, I'll just enjoy watching his hilarious facial expressions as he takes on the challenge of loving puréed sprouts (well, it is nearly Christmas!).

Hunters first peanut butter on toast goes down well.