Butternut Squash

The title says it all: Gretchen ate butternut squash today and I had to share some of the pictures. I know I had promised that avocado would be her next food, but this was very spontaneous of me! She loved it. I was eating lunch and I figured she would like to enjoy some with me. So, I placed a good amount of squash (mashed, not pureed) on her tray and we ate our lunch together. However, I was a tad bit neater about the ordeal. She seemed to really enjoy the squash and was sucking her fingers for any "extra" that might have appeared.

Butternut Squash - Very squishy, messy and fun!

 Not to mention: Tasty!

 Finger lickin' good!

 "Wait, I'm not sure I got it all -- let me lick this finger again."

 "Mom, eating solids is fun!"

When we chose to follow baby led weaning instead of regular spoon feeding, I knew that I would face a lot more messes than the average baby that is spoon fed purees. I wanted Gretchen to explore the world of eating solid foods on her own, with some supervision, of course. She's gaining a wonderful sensory experience and they literally tell the parents to sit back, watch and take tons of pictures.

Squash is a very low allergen food, so it's a great first food to introduce to your child. Next time I might bake it and give it to her in "stick" form, but this was what I was eating (leftovers from a delicious Sunday dinner), so I wanted her to feel involved, too.

I'm okay with messy clothes, food flying all over the place, and a good amount of "mess" to clean up at the end of the day as long as my child is enjoying her food, independently discovering what she likes and dislikes, etc. She's only little once, and I'm enjoying every second of it.