We went to a party on Sunday and there were tons of yummy brunch foods to choose from. I offered Chicken some bagel, figuring she'd want to eat if everyone else was eating and I didn't want her to make a mess. She enjoyed the bagel but kept reaching for my quiche. We didn't have a highchair with a handy plastic tray so I offered her some pieces of quiche on my napkin and she tasted them. Some ended up on me and the floor, but she ate a bit and the dog helped clean up. I helped myself to some fruit salad. I hadn't planned on sharing with Chicken because the melon was cut into chunks -too big for her to safely manage in her mouth, but too small to hold on to and take bites- and then there were blueberries which she'd shown no interest in before. Well, of course, Chicken stuck her little hand right in my bowl and helped herself. She started with some honeydew and then some watermelon. We found a spot to sit and eat so that she food focus on managing those slippery bits in her mouth and I could focus on her, in case the too-big-but-too-small pieces caused a problem. She gummed away and ate piece after piece. Then she had some blueberries one by one. I think it helped that the fruit had been mingling for a while so everything had a chance to soften up and get juicy.
I figured she must've liked the blueberries this time because they were softened up and flavored by the melons. Why else would she like them all of a sudden? I bought some organic blueberries to offer her at home to see if she'd eat them plain. She went nuts for them this morning! Watching her eat them, it occurred to me that she was doing so well picking them up and getting them into her mouth. I've read again and again that, contrary to popular belief and practice, small pieces of food are less safe for babies than large pieces that they can hold onto securely. The development of the pincer grasp, seen here in a photo I found online, is a sign that a baby can safely manage smaller foods in his/her mouth (not including nuts and other foods that they need a full set of teeth to chew).
Well, Chicken isn't quite there yet, but she's super close!
Yay for her getting those little blueberries into her mouth so skillfully! I'm excited to have another fruit option to offer her for breakfast.
Hooray! I'm almost ready to eat blueberries too (I'm not supposed to eat berries for a while because I guess they're harder to digest than other fruits)... I juiced some blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries last night and drank that. I'm just like Chicken - go us!
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