Florence's Adventures of Baby Led Weaning

Blueberries, burritoes and sprouts

2008-03-11T01:31:00.001-07:00

The indigo orbs lay still on the table. A chubby finger pointed at one. Suddenly a plump fleshy fist scooped the fruit up and squashed it mercilessly into the dark gaping hole that was Florence's mouth...

Blueberries. We cannot get enough of them. I'm seriously getting concerned she will end up looking like Violet from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory film, after eating the experimental chewing gum.Oh well at least they're good for her, five a day and all that.

Spouts. Steamed, eaten whole and also adored. Nice nappies too afterwards...

Burritoes. Not strictly baby food but eating what the whole family at. Besides it was all home made so I know there was no added salt etc.

News flash. We dont like mashed potatoes. Actually extremely ironic for Papa as big sister bella doesnt either and never has. Papa insisted that Bella eats them and is happy to rant on about how picky children are a result of weak, indulgent parents etc. So it's more than satisfying to see papa's little angel has decided all by herself at eight months she doesn't like it too. Ha. Bloody know-it-all Daddy.

Gnocchi, Fusilli and all that Jazz

2008-02-27T11:57:00.000-08:00

Well another trip to the house in france yeilded more new delights for Florence and also a revisit to now old favourites. Pain au chocolat and raisin were again eaten with gusto and we had fun, fun, fun with Fusilli (Florrie has got that sucking action down to a t!).

Gnocchi was a new treat, coated with a little red pesto, and well recieved it was too.

We also tried our hand at junk food, although it just didnt seem so bad whilst dining in a France!Was a little puzzled by french baby food though. I mean the fact that all the french seem to eat is red wine, steak and pastry and yet NO ONE is overweight puzzles me immensley but on looking at the baby food I have no idea why France does not have an obesity problem to match Britain's. Readily available was chocolate, strawberry and banana flavoured baby milk! And the sugar content of the baby biscuits and desserts took my breath away. It seems that they have no problem in giving their babies food that, lets face it, you'd be arrested for giving to a baby here in Britain. Goes to show it's not so much about what you eat as how you eat it (portions and frequency I mean).

Pancakes, Pesto, Pizza and Pineapple

2008-02-06T10:24:00.000-08:00

Pancake day came and went and even Florence joined in the celebrations. Mummy bought some pancake shaker mix which turned out to be more appropriate for scotch pancakes but nonetheless it still went down and Florrie enjoyed extra thick pancakes minus the lemon and sugar.

Next day Plumpscious had visitors. Lula and Tilda came to play; or should we say Lula came to perform. Fun was had all round; Florence just watched as Tilda and Lula played happily (and on occasion not so happily) with Florence's toys and made themselves familiar with the bookshelves, coffee table, kitchen cupboards, upstairs and anything else they could find. Tilda and Florence tucked into homemade pesto and spinach pizza. Lula had other ideas, mainly practising her sad/happy/cute/crazy faces for her captivated audience. Tilda also very generously shared her fruit pot with Plumpscious, of which she was very grateful. Mummy was in domestic goddess guise (as opposed to the usual domestic slut mode) and threw together homemade tasty pizza for Tilda and Lula's Mummies, but they got a little stuck to the greaseproof paper. Sorry ladies (mental note NOT to buy ASDA greaseproof paper) hope the yummy cabernet sauvignon compensated!

Dinner time brought houmous and carrot again (new favourite) and pudding was a new taste sensation- pineapple. And a very warm reception it was given too. Florence is still singing about it as I type. Yum yum yummy.

P.S. We have a second tooth!

Green beans and Mini sweetcorn

2008-02-01T01:29:00.000-08:00

After a browse through Aitch's website looking at the finger foods folder i decided to try Plumpscious with some green beans and mini sweetcorn. Green beans I wouldnt have opted for myself as they tend to have that stringy thing going on down the sides but anyway we tried as one contributor mentioned that baby enjoyed sucking the little beans out of the pod. A sure fire hit and as predicted Florence did indeed enjoy sucking the inside out so to speak. Mini sweetcorn not so hot though. Perhaps try again another day...

Pitta, Houmous, Carrot and Raisin

2008-01-30T13:07:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Mummy's research on Aitch's BLW website (see link on right; babyledweaning.com ). Mummy has picked up some pretty fab food ideas and recipes. Hence we have a new confirmed favourite; Houmous, grated carrot and raisin pitta pockets. Yum, yum, yummy. Mummy loves it too!

Spinach and Lamb lasagne went down a treat with the whole family too. Well done all at http://babyledweaning.blogware.com/blog/Recipes/

The gift of Raisins

2008-01-24T11:05:00.000-08:00

Florence has been quite unwell of late. Two extremely restless nights, which appear to affect Mummy more than Florence (Mummy looking none too hot). A high temperature has seen off any desire to eat much at all; not sure if this is a genuine precursor to an illness or teething. Any affliction is usually blamed on teething but with little else except tears and and a temperature we think that is probably the culprit. Back to the eating now though.

Raisins are very popular with all babies it would seem, however due to choking hazard most parents would not give them to a six month old baby. However a fourteen month old baby would give them to a baby. Mummy's friend Luan has a little girl called Tilda. When Tilda came to visit she felt so sorry for Truly Plumpscious, especially after borrowing Florence's dummy, as a sign of love Tilda promptly poked in Florence's mouth one of her own juicy little raisins. No signs of choking and Florence seemed pleased. Especially as it lasted quite a while and was still to be seen in her mouth ten minutes later.

Feeling brave and eager to see how well honed Florence's pincer grip was becoming, Mummy decided to give Florence some cinnamon and raisin toast for dinner. Florence loved it and spent the whole of dinner trying to pick up scattered raisins.

Florence was triumphant on more than one occasion and although Mummy's not sure if Truly Plumpscious is readyof a box of sunmaid yet she is glad Tilda introduced Florence to the world of dried fruit.

Mess- a shade embarrassing when out

2008-01-22T03:33:00.000-08:00

The food lay still, scattered around the highchair legs. Pasta decimated by little pudgey fists rolled silently back and forth, sweetcorn had been strewn with abandon. Garlic bread tossed carelessly, half sucked, half chewed, half loved....

You get the picture. I know that BLW entails mess and luckily we have a tile kitchen floor, but on going to a restaurant with my family I got a little embarassed by the sheer volume of mess on the floor that Florence left. Literally it was as if we had just thrown the food on the floor. Felt a little ashamed as if I was a waitress/er i wouldn't be impressed having to clean that lot up.

However watching Florence eat her food, tuck in heartily whilst I ate mine unhindered was worth it. Epecially when Auntie Tracey seemed impressed and the Mummy at the side of us spent most of her time trying to cajole her (much older) baby into sitting still and eating what she had brought with her.

Naughy, naughty Mummy

2008-01-21T11:52:00.000-08:00

Today Florence tried crumpets for breakfast. Not sure how she felt about them. After sucking all the butter from them (there was only a dribble, honest) she then proceeded to rip them to shreds so they looked more like a tatty natural sponge. The floor was bestowed with most of them. I think will try again another day.

Lunch was a fabulous hit with pasta and pesto. That simple. Lurrved it. Florrie and Mummy both ('cept mummy's had cheese shavings on so was more naughty)

Dinner was a very very naughty affair. Mummy committed a truly heinous crime. Would you like to know what Mummy did children?? Are you ready?? Mummy gave Florence sausage and chips...(tumble weed rolls by, gasps of horror from all perfect mummies everywhere..)

Mummy has found a new website called 'The Bad Mothers Club' and although Mummy thinks some of the ladies are slightly unhinged, a tad angry if not hostile, Mummy also thinks they are very very funny Mummies too. And after reading some of their 'tantrums of the week' and another section with a teensy weensy swear word for the title, Mummy now feels that its not only her who breaks the rules, totally ignores the HV and panic stricken, rule obeying FTM's and says 'sod it' if the food has a tad too much salt or sugar, wasn't hand produced by albino virgins on some hidden isle in the outer Hebrides or endorsed by Jamie Bloody Oliver.

Anyway they were chi-chi sausages with 80% pork. And mozzerella. And fire roasted tomatoes (!?! is it me or ??) AND basil.

Anyway had melon for pudding so that was good. Wasn't it? Oh and it was Honeydew. No problems Aitch...(maybe i did help a wee bit then Aitch...). Lurrrved that too. Didnt drop a bit, spit any back out. She bit off scarily large chunks of the stuff too.

Oh and Florence has suddenly figured out how marvellous the tiny diner mat is. As you can see here she is just looking what to have for thirds, and forths, and fifths....

P.S. We have a tooty peg!! (had it a week or two actually, just forgot to mention it...)

Strawberries and Melon

2008-01-18T06:09:00.000-08:00

I know there out of season but trusty old Aldi came up trumps and for lunch today madam dined on fresh strawberries and melon. Went down a treat. Yum yum. Honey rice cakes were applauded too. Actually concerned Florence may soon look like a rice cake. Well thy're not called BLW old faithful for nothing...

Cheese, again

2008-01-18T06:08:00.000-08:00

Cheese, although good and tasty, is now a no-no. Florence regirgitates this for hours and the smell is awful. So as from now cheese is a no-go. Shame

Sleeping through

2008-01-18T05:43:00.000-08:00

I have come to the conclusion, due to particular circumstances that have arisen (not going to bore you) that Florence needs to take a bottle. Not neccessarily formula but being that it is that since her birth I have spent exactly one hour and perhaps ten minutes without her, I need to get her to feed from someone else; her papa. So after lots of attempts with various bottles, milks and family members I have enlisted the help of an expert. My best friend's mum, Moira. An expert in my eyes as five children and nine grandchildren down the line, she knows a little about babies, perserverence and patience.

Guess what. Where all others failed, when all others produced tears and screams of horror (Florence not the adult), when others promptly gave up and announced " She wont take it!", Moira conquered. She came, she sat, she fed. Took ten seconds. No fuss. No tears. No gasps for breath. Florence was officially a bottle drinker.

Not giving up the boob though. So give it a rest now Mum....

This however hasnt aided the sleeping through. Moira has though. She suggested giving Florence a bottle of water in the night when she wakes; Florence wakes up between once and five times a night. She always wants boob,but rarely feeds for long. Thus on giving water from a bottle (which she doesn't want)and not giving her boob and offering a dummy to stuck, which what she really wanted, two nights later she's not waking up for a feed and will happily take the dummy instead. Sorted.
Love you Moi...

Not blogged for a while

2008-01-18T05:29:00.000-08:00

Not blogged for a while. Sort of found other things to do, christmas, france etc. No excuse. Well florence has hit the six months stage and now the pressure is on to eat. Before this milestone I wasn't really concerned about what she did or didnt eat and some days didnt bother with the food. I certainly didnt go for the full three meals a days. I'm just too lazy to organise it all. However now she is six months I have to concentrate.

We have been going for the full three meals a day for the last couple of days or so (built this up obviously), but to be honest now I'm starting to get a little concerned she is eating enough. Those that have humored me (mum, some friends with babies) and my plan to BLW have now started to ask whether she is getting enough food. They cite Florence's inability to sleep through the night as evidence. (more on that point later)

Now in all honesty I haven't had her weighed for an embarrassingly long time. But she is happy and seems healthy and the weight issue is a moot point with me. My two other children were totally different in their approach to food and their size; one considered too small and the other too large. So the weight issue means nothing in my mind. I would like to state at this point that I am confident enough to say that these little comment dont creep ino my psyche and make me question my decision to BLW and that on baby number three I am sublimely confident to just say 'no, I'm fine, i know what I'm doing'. However I'm not that confident and I have been worrying a little. Suffice to say I have been teaming the batons with a little squashed baton mush....

God knows why

Back on track

2007-12-14T07:03:00.000-08:00

Well after a good week or ten days full of cold and a really bad cough (see, thats what cuddles with boys gets you-Oliver!) we are back on track with eating. Florence has been quite unwell with a cold and as a result was sick almost everytime she ate- although it didn't stop her from trying! Not to mention spraying everyone at the table with food particles and snot everytime she coughed or sneezed. Back on track though and finding out that we are lovin cheese, especially strong mature english cheddar (having none of that weak welsh muck caerphilly!) Florence is quite happy to break off large lumps from her chip shaped cheese chunks and suck for ages till the cheese melts into her mouth. However
Mummy just cant cope with the fear she will choke and it will stick to her throat making it hard to regurgitate or dislodge. So we are now being cheesy by sucking on grated bits which Mummy kindly shovels in. NOT strictly BLW but Florrie loves the stuff so.....

Kiwi's a go go

2007-12-03T01:03:00.001-08:00

A whole kiwi, two thirds peeled eaten with two fists. Lovin it, lovin it, lovin it, we're lovin like that... Went down a T R E A T.Surprised me really as kiwi's can be quite tart. But no, nothing is standing in the way of Florence and her Florence led weaning adventure.

Rice cakes R us

2007-11-30T08:13:00.000-08:00

We love rice cakes! Ra ra ra. The pale crispy polystyrene tasting discs of fun. Florence has discovered that she can have one of these and feast for literally hours. She can store any left overs under her chin, in her neck, armpit, even elbow and continue to suck and gum away hours after the fact. Laden with philly they can even be stored on the roof of her mouth for supper mmmm mmmm.

We decided to go with the rice cakes even though some of the packets (heinz) say not for babies under twelve months and even though it is not in keeping with the not wheat/gluten / fun/ taste/ solid 'guidelines'. The cow and gate ones say six months so maybe not soooo bad. Extremely handy tho'. We have shared a organix biscuit too, with a friend Oliver. That went down a treat, especially on her clothes, in her ears, eyes and all over Mummy too.

I'm not exactly sure how much food Florence is taking in, and to be honest a little part of me is still concerned that I'm giving her food that 'guidelines' (grrrrr) advise against but so far, fingers crossed, everything is going well. Florence's nappies definately indicate some food is reaching her tum tho'!

My Mummy's Roast Dinner is the Best (bar Nannie's)

2007-11-26T13:39:00.000-08:00

The Lamb was beautifully pink and juicy, the parnips were perfectly roasted, the carrots were sweet with honey and the gravy, ohhhh the gravy...

Mama's roast dinner, a perfect opportunity for Florence to sample parnips, carrots, lamb and roast potatoes. I roasted the carrots and the parsnips as advised by hananabanana on her baby centre blog- lightest spray of oil and pop in the oven, keeps them in one piece better than steaming or boiling- and gave Florence a nice large piece of lamb and a crunchy roast potato too. The carrots were quickly discarded ( didnt quite cut them large enough; they shrink when roasted) and the potato was scattered by the amazing wind screen wiper action arm (wax on, wax off). The lamb had a good old gumming but Florence began a love affair with parsnip which lasted at least twenty minutes or so. She just couldn't get enough. What a lovely couple they made.

Also found glorious evidence of Florence actually consumming what she has been playing with since last week; Her nappy demonstrated the delights of brocolli branches, kiwi pips and one lone raisin- must have been the raisin toast I let her chew on early one morning- NAUGHTY Mummy, NO RAISINS!!!

Little trees

2007-11-23T11:30:00.000-08:00

Florence was asleep again for dinner. Florence has no concept of routine in regards to sleeping or BF; she sleeps when she's tired and BF's when she's hungry. Some may wince but by baby number three I've found far more important things to worry about and having the luxury of being a SAHM makes it all a little easier to bear.

We managed to wake sleeping beauty and place her gently in her throne. She was still a little woozey so she sat and watched Daddy eat his dinner and didnt seem to notice the titchy green trees of brocolli on her brand new pink tiny diner 'hey diddle diddle' tray (ebay bargin). She didnt even notice the fluffy new silly billyz purple bib she was now wearing (again thank you Mr Ebay). Bechod, but never mind. Eventually Florence noticed the florets and decided to have a nibble. She managed to get some into her mouth and pulled some peculiar faces; not sure if she didnt like the taste, texture or just all a little strange.

I have been wondering whether Florence has actually eaten any of the food over the past few days; her nappy is yet to reveal her secrets. To be honest I have been wondering/worrying whether I have started all too soon. But she seems to enjoy the sitting at the table process and picks the food from the table and into her mouth all of her own accord so she is doing exactly what it says on the tin - baby led weaning...A little later however, on sitting up after a little BF, she brought up a little milk which had a few green tadpoles surfing on it so I now know some food did go down.

Sunblushed or sundried?

2007-11-22T10:04:00.000-08:00

Today Florence managed to stay conscious for her evening meal. Bright and alert she sat ready on her throne, waiting excitedly to see what delights her loyal sevants would bring her. Juicy quarters of rosy red tomatoes, sprinkles of matured Irish cheddar and succulent slithers of jewel green cucumber were piled high on the royal plate. With gusto she dived in and devoured the plump ruby chunks. Impatiently she squashed the pale green sabres into her eyes, cheeks and fists desparate to reach her wide open mouth...

You get the picture. Basically it was carnage. Papa was on pins desparately trying to stop the plate (tupperware top actually-still no tray as yet) hitting the floor or any of Florence's food invading his own precious meal. Food was everywhere, in every orafice, crease and crevice. But again fun was had all round and Florence seemed to genuinely enjoy feeding herself again.

Until next time...ttfn

Baby got back

2007-11-21T11:00:00.000-08:00

Well we now have a cushion, booster an' all, so now baby got back so to speak. Thing is they're not waterproof?!? Not sure about the rationale behind that but they match the highchair so...

Looks eerily like a James Bond ejector seat don'cha think?

Anyway today Florence slept through dinner so perhaps BLW hasn't started after all! She did have a suck on some toast this morning though. Here she is with her big sis. From the look on Florence's face I think maybe she did miss dinner actually...

Party of five

2007-11-21T04:01:00.000-08:00

And so dinnertime came and the party of five, Florence with her new highchair, sat down for their first ever meal together...ahh bliss

Or rather mess, slobber, peels of laughter, regurgitated cheese and cucumber bogies.

On a whim (limb?) the usually neatly polished and indecently organised mummy had managed to conjure up a new highchair (bought before birth, previously hidden in the rafters of the garage), large bibs (gift from work colleagues) and organic, free range, dairy/gluten/peanut/wheat/flavour(?) free cucumber, grated cheese (grated to prove a point to Papa that shoving a huge lump in is not the best way) and cracker bread. However due to fact that commencment of FLW (Florence led weaning) was in fact scheduled for late December/early January, Mummy did not have - Floor mat, plate/bowl/table mat, booster cushion and very importantly a drink beaker/cup of some description.

Note to self- compile list of must haves for future reference/other BLW'ers.

So Florence happily munched through her meal (well if you can catagorise sticking food in ones ears, nose, eye and neck, sucking enthusiastically and regurgitating and then reswallowing cheese, as munching) whilst strapped securely (read straightjacket type harnessing) into her highchair, propped gently (read blankets rammed into any spare space) by a blanket and the occasional shove from daddy to keep her upright. She feasted for fifteen minutes or so and was saved from dehydration by Mummy moistening her lips with tiny droplets of perfectly chilled and filtered L'eau du table (read Mummy tipping glass of water all down front of bib and said baby). Finn and Isabella laughed at every attempt and Papa secretly wiped away a tear as he marvelled at the knowledge that his baby girl was all grown up and demanding solids...

Mummy is now spending her day searching the internet for- roll up table mat (tiny diner hippo mat), doidy cups (Babyzoop), non leak (Pah!) beakers (any suggestions my BLW commrades?)booster cushions, tumble dryable bibs (silly Billyz), floor mat (blooming marvellous/ELC); Oh Papa will be pleased...

Pie and chips for next time...

Wasn't going to start this soon but...

2007-11-20T12:32:00.000-08:00

Florence turned 20 weeks old today and although she has been exploring food already, pain au chocolat and bagette in France at 17 weeks (can literally hear HV sharp intake of breath), and has been showing a keen interest in what goes in and out of Mama and Papa's mouths I had decided that we, Florence and I, were quite happy with just BF and were not going to offically try BLW or any other weaning for that matter, till at least five and a half months. However during a trip out to lunch with Nannie all that changed. On the arrival of Nannie's and Mummy's food Florence decided she was extremely annoyed at the two of us happily munching away. She proceeded to scream angrily until we gave her some food of her own. Initially we were shocked at her cries and both Nannie and I tried all we could to pacify her. To no avail these feeble attempts were to be. However on presentation of a baton shaped piece of pepper (an omen?), a thick slice of cucumber and a juicy red quarter of a tomato, Florence regained her composure, smiled angelically and sucked, munched and gurned her way through the rest of the meal...peace at last. And so at 20 weeks Florence takes her first steps in the unchartered realms of BLW...

until dinnertime then...