Upgrading the Menu

Asher is just shy of nine months old and, as I recently posted, it's becoming increasingly difficult to feed him. I'd read that many babies grow tired of the bland, soupy baby food around this age and desire a more mature diet. You know, foods that haven't been pureed to the point where you could suck it through a straw.

This evening I gave him one of his new stage three baby food dinners, chicken and country vegetables. It had little chunks of potatoes, carrots, and peas. Yum yum. This was by far the chunkiest food he's had so far; he's had tiny bits of bread, mashed potatoes, mushed fruit, and his snacky finger foods, but he hasn't had anything that's actually had firmer lumps in it large enough to chew or that doesn't just dissolve in your mouth. I figured he'd love this new textured food.

Wrong.

I don't think he quite knew what to do with those chunks. He moved them around his mouth for minutes with a sad look of confusion on his face. Do I swallow? Do I spit it out? Do I chew? I know, I'll GAG! And gag he did. Repeatedly. Until he cried and I gave up. I figured gagging was better than choking, though. Of course, he choked a little, too. But just a little.

So for now, I guess we're sticking with the mushy, but thicker, stuff, like mashed potatoes. He helped me eat these today at lunch and boy, he cannot get enough. He's also become quite the master of his puffs, too, often cramming several in his mouth at a time. We'll try sneaking in chunky food again soon, as I'm sure it's just going to be a matter of him getting used to it and figuring out what to do with those damn lumps.