Baby-led weaning, that’s what we’re up to this week.  We’re feeding our baby great dripping chunks of food.  Well, okay, dripping might be overstating it a smidge, though we did give her a chicken wing which she held very much in the manner of a tiny Henry VIII munching on a drumstick.  She even has the ginger hair.  But no beard.

So far she’s eaten, to give an inexhaustive list, broccoli, asparagus, bread & butter, potato (sweet and regular), spinach, carrot, sausage, the aforementioned chicken… no mush, no spoon-feeding and no problems.  And she’s only 5 months.

It’s a joy to watch.  She grabs at the food, looks at it intently, then gums it into submission.  Some food is more popular than others, but it all gets thoroughly investigated before she casts it aside, bored of that now.  Her expressions when grappling with new, unfamiliar foodstuffs are real treats, from open disgust (and yet she won’t stop eating..) to enthusiastic pleasure.  We try not to stare too plainly at her, don’t want to give the poor girl a complex, but it’s hard not to gape in delight as you watch a small human learning about the amazing world of food.  And make no mistake, she can handle it.

I wouldn’t feed her puree now for anything.  She’s on solids, and that’s exactly how it should be.