Ten Things about Weaning

1, The futures bright, the future is the same colour as mashed carrot. So is the carpet.
2, Baby rice literally tastes of nothing. Some people complain that tofu is bland, but it's a myriad of flavours and interest compared to baby rice, but then I guess that's the point.
3, Baby lead weaning? Oh the middle class nose-in-the air mummies go on about this in the naive assumption that the baby is going to be able to pick up the pieces of food in front of them and get them in their mouths, gum them enough and swallow without choking. Joseph and I have done well with pureés, but so far with "baby lead" attempts he has nearly choked on a small piece of cucumber, squashed some pieces of soft bread and scattered the crumbs everywhere without any of it getting anywhere near his mouth and utterly ignored some lovely pieces of steamed carrot. All this "baby lead" stuff is stupid, he's a baby for goodness sake, not an adult and he has no ability to make sensible logical decisions at all. Besides, he likes pureés.
4, It seems, at least with Joseph, that it pays to be brave. I've been trying him on lots of new flavours recently and whilst the first few mouthfuls have been greeted with the kind of expression you'd expect if I was feeding him lime juice he's actually got used to the new stuff quite fast. He likes broccoli!
5, I have bought jars of baby food as they are easy, but I also have two lots of weaning pots in the freezer (really big ice-cube trays in essence) full of home-made stuff. I am also using the empty bought jars and re-filling with home made flavours.
6, Baby rice has no effect on nappy contents. Vegetables do. Nuff said, I think.
7, "Mummy, why are you waving that thing near my face? What's that, can I grab it? Oooh, it's all mushy! I like this, it feels all nice all over my hand and I can spread it all over myself, the bumbo, the floor and your face as you come a bit nearer to try and feed me again. Now why are you looking all cross?" - some of Josephs thoughts.
8, Baby pasta is expensive and a faff. Just use couscous!
9, Bibs. They used to just get a bit crusty from the flows of dribble all over them but now they're a vital piece of kit in the fun world of weaning. Josephs best trick to date is getting food on his hand, pulling at his bib and getting the food on the underside of the bib which then smeared all over his clothes whilst the top side of the bib remained quite clean! You can tell when he really likes a flavour because it doesn't end up all over his bib. Joseph likes tomato with onion, basil and oregano.
10,  Farleys rusks are nice with a mug of tea.