What do kippers, papaya, Kitkats, mashed potato, tuna, mango, yoghurt, broccoli, Weetabix, toast, cheese, peaches, salmon, scrambled egg, Philadelphia, and chocolate Buttons have in common? No, that’s not my hangover diet (well, take away the fruit/veg, add a packet of Boasters and fourteen cups of tea and it is, actually), it’s a list of the foods seven-month-old Joe has tried in the past couple of weeks.
I’m not ashamed to admit I’d started to fret about the fact that I hadn’t really cooked anything for Joe. Okay, I hadn’t *cooked* anything for him at all. I had mashed some fruit and… that was all. Joe and I were both perfectly happy with the fresh fruit combined with the Organix pots and packets (and breastfeeding), but I knew that I had to cook something sometime. But what..?
And then I was sent an Annabel Karmel book in which the author pointed out that, at Joe’s age, he could pretty much eat anything the rest of us humans eat. It was a revelation! Scrambled eggs? Had never occurred to me! Yoghurt? I thought he had to be one before he could have cows’ milk (turns out you have to be one to drink it, but can cook with it sooner). Toast? But, um, he hasn’t got any teeth.
The very same day I started reading the book, we were round at my in-laws and I mentioned to my mother-in-law that Joe could now eat scrambled egg. Whereas I had thought, “Hmm, scrambled egg. I’ll make that for him one of these days. If we’ve got any eggs”, she said, “Should I make it now?” and was spooning it into Joe’s gob less than ten minutes later. And, blimey, was Joe grateful. I want to say that he sat, beak opening like a baby bird, but in light of what he was eating that might be insensitive. Still, he loved it. But I’m not sure it loved him, since that night’s sleep was, I think, the most unhappy and disturbed of his life so far. He was inconsolable. It might be a coincidence and his teeth were giving him gyp, but he won’t be having egg again for a while.
Everything else he has been thrilled by. He likes to have a combination of something sloppy – he loves mashed potato with fish and Philadelphia stirred in – and something crunchy (which makes me suspect those peggies again) and so he usually eats with an Organix rice cake (or two) (he likes the flavoured ones) clutched in his fists. And yesterday I bought (yes, bought!) Organix Crunchy Carrot Sticks and he LOVES them. I love watching him eat them too since he can hold them and crunch them really well. It makes him look so grown up.
It’s frightening really. With Harry, every new eating stage was a stress-fest I could barely cope with. With Joe, he’s changing so fast that I can hardly keep up. He’ll be cooking for me soon.
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Keris Stainton
