Ready or not...

It's soon time to start Emmett on solids.  I had actually thought about starting him with some cereal when he reached 5 months, but I chickened out.  I have no doubt that he would've been ready for it at that point, but I decided that I  wasn't ready for it yet.  I wasn't ready for my little baby to start eating already.  I wouldn't have thought that I would have a problem with it, but it just seems suddenly that he's growing up too fast.  Since he's likely the last baby that we have, I'm finding myself wanting to hang on to these baby moments a little bit longer.  There's also the convenience factor of it.  It's so easy now to just toss a bottle and some formula into the diaper bag and go - things get a lot more complicated when you add food into the equation.  So I've put off starting him on cereal....  until now. 

I think whether I'm ready or not, it's time to start him on some food.  He sits with us, in his high chair, already during meal times, so he's very aware of what's going on.  Annika often leaves food left-over on her plate, and you can almost see him thinking "if she's not going to eat that, I will!"  If we have him on our lap during a meal, he will reach for anything within his arm's length.  The other day, at Y Neighbours, he was trying to get my frappucino (he's got his mommy's good taste - he already knows Starbucks is good). :)  So, I think the time has come.

With Annika, I made almost all of her baby food myself.  I think it was, in part, a way for me to compensate for the fact that I couldn't breastfeed her.  I may not have been able to nourish her in that way, but I could do it by making her baby food.  It was also a huge boost to my mommy-ego when she would actually refuse jarred baby food (she hated those "meal" combinations) and want to eat my homemade food instead. :)  Hopefully I will be able to make most of Emmett's baby food as well.  I found that using my Magic Bullet was a great way to make purees, and then I would freeze them in ice cube trays so I had plenty on hand.  It did take a little more effort, but I think it was worth it, in terms of saving money and reducing waste.  I think (most) jarred baby food has come a long way, in terms of not having a lot of extra preservatives and other stuff in it anymore, but I still think homemade food is the healthier way to go. 

One thing I'm not looking forward to is taking along baby food when we go to the lake or camping this summer.  Because Annika was born in spring, her first summer at the lake she was breastfeeding or taking a bottle, and by the next summer she was already eating mostly table foods.  Emmett will just be eating baby food this summer, so I may end up buying jarred food to take along, just for the convenience of transporting it.  Or I guess I could bring my Magic Bullet along and just puree up whatever we're eating.  I guess we'll see when the time comes.

So, I think that Saturday will be the day to start the cereal (so Carey can be home to see it too).  I'll let you know how it goes, and I'm sure there will be pictures to post!