Feeding Baby Linna Solid Foods.

Eating beets and bulgar in her highchair at Grandma & Grandpa Saigh's house.

It's been about a month since we started Baby Linna on solid foods, and so far things have been going very well! The first couple weeks were all about "experimenting", but now Linna is all about the solids!

Our Beaba Babycook and Milk Trays by Sensible Lines
that we use for homemade baby food storage.

About every two weeks, I make a big batch of homemade baby food and store it in the freezer. I'm using the Beaba Babycook to steam and puree the food, and I use Milk Trays by Sensible Lines to store the food in the freezer. The Beaba has been amazing! In one little machine, I can steam and puree Linna's food in just a few minutes. I love it because I'm not having to wash pans, a steamer and food processor. Then, I pour the food into the milk trays (which I also use to store my breast milk), which are frozen into one-ounce servings. When I'm ready to use the food, they pop out of the trays in little frozen sticks and I just stick them in the microwave! It's also great when I'm sending food along for overnights at grandma and grandpa's house, because I can put the sticks in little baggies.

So far Linna has eaten fruits, veggies, rice cereal (which have have discontinued due to constipation), oatmeal cereal, bulgar, cheese (whole fat mozzarella), yogurt, Cheerios, and Rice Crispies. We're holding off on proteins, like meat and eggs, until she's about eight or nine months. We also offer Linna a sippy cup with water at every meal. We've already gotten her to eat solids at breakfast, lunch and dinner. She'll have a bottle before her morning nap, after afternoon nap, and a big bottle after dinner/before bed.

Blugar wheat.

For breakfast, Linna eats a fruit (usually banana or mango), oatmeal cereal and yogurt. We've been giving her plain whole-fat YoBaby yogurt by Stoneyfield Farm. She's not a HUGE fan of yogurt, so I try to mix it in with her fruit or oatmeal cereal. I also give her Cheerios to play with while I'm making her meals. She knows how to pick them up, but hasn't quite figured out how to put them in her mouth, so mama helps with that:)

For lunch, Linna will have a fruit and veggie, as well as some Bulgar mixed in with the veggie. So far, the veggies she has tried are: carrots, green beans, peas, sweet potatoes, avocado, cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini, and beets. She LOVES avocado, sweet potatoes, peas, broccoli, beets and carrots, which I usually mix with Bulgar for texture. Her favorite fruits are mango and bananas, but so far she's had apples, pears, peaches, and blueberries. Linna is NOT a fan of blueberries!

For dinner, we skip the fruit, and do a veggie, some cheese, and Bulgar or oatmeal cereal. She loves dinner time and eats like a champ!

Avocado... Linna's ultimate fav!

Baby Linna is so good about telling us when she's had enough or if she wants more. She will literally close her lips so tight when she's had enough, that there's no way we're getting a spoon in her mouth! She'll also do a little "whine" to let us know she's finished. If she's hungry and wants more, she keeps her mouth open like a little bird. We are also teaching her sign language for "all done" and "more", and she totally knows the difference between the two! This will hopefully help her communicate with us when she's still unable to say words:)

I've also learned that it is IMPOSSIBLE to keep the baby clean during feedings! If I put a bib on her, the bib goes into her food-filled mouth. If I don't put a bib on her, she brings her clothes up to her mouth, or drools her food all over. She is also obsessed with the straps on her high chair, and they go right in her mouth so they are constantly covered in food! I'm so glad we have the Boon highchair because it is so easy to wipe down. I'm still trying to figure out how to take the straps off so I can wash them. Baths are also an almost every-night event!

Sign for "more".

I'm going to introduce quinoa (which is known as a "super food") this week, so I'll let you know how that goes! Next up, PROTEINS!!!

Sign for "all done".