Exploring and Enjoying Food with Baby

At almost 10 months old, BabyC spends at least two hours per day in her high chair.  She loves finger foods and takes her time with them.  For me, this is a great time to catch up on the dishes or work on preparing a meal, all the while chatting with BabyC, replenishing her high chair tray, and listening to some music together.   

As much as I value that productive, multi-tasking time, I’ve been making a real effort to prepare food for both of us and sit down to enjoy meals with her.  Due to his hectic work schedule, my husband is rarely both home and awake during our meals, but we’re sitting down to eat with Dad when we can, too.  I want BabyC to know that mealtime is family time.

 

BabyC examines the ingredients of lasagna, a dish we can both enjoy.  BabyC now notices when I have something on my plate that she doesn’t have, so it is nice to eat the same foods.

Mealtime is also a great time to explore the tastes and textures of foods.  We’ve been having a lot of fun with this lately.  I pull the high chair up to the counter so that BabyC can watch me prepare food.  Fruits have proven to be the most exciting.  Try handing your baby a fresh peach, a kiwi fruit, or even plopping a whole cantaloupe on her tray.  Let her smell it and feel the texture of the skin.  When I put the cantaloupe in front of BabyC, she was clearly impressed with the weight of it.  She tried to pick it up with both hands, but it was too heavy for her.  She looked up at me inquisitively, and I agreed with her, “That is a very heavy cantaloupe, isn’t it?”

Next, I cut the fruit open on the counter while BabyC watches.  Then I show her the inside of the fruit and let her touch it and smell it again.  By this point, BabyC is usually really excited and ready to eat.  Finally, I cut the fruit into pieces that are a little more manageable for her, and we both sit down to enjoy eating together.  What a great way to engage all your baby’s senses!

If this was the first time you’d seen the inside of a cantaloupe, wouldn’t you be interested in exploring it further?

To further cultivate our baby’s understanding of food, we have also visited several local u-pick farms this summer.  Many of us will take our kids to a pumpkin patch in a month or so for some classic photo ops.  Pumpkins are really fun, but right now is harvest time for lots of foods that your kids already know and love, so it is the perfect time to visit a local farm and learn more about where your food comes from.  We visited Detering Orchards just outside of Eugene last week.  They have lots of u-pick fruits and vegetables in addition to a gorgeous farmstand where you can buy pre-picked produce.  What I love about this farm in particular is that their crops are so diverse.  We went out to pick apples but then stumbled into some gorgeous fields of cabbages, broccoli, and beets, and then we wandered over to the peach trees. 

We also had a 2- and a 4-year-old with us, and they loved checking out the veggies, especially hunting for ripe beets.  (I’m not sure the beets were supposed to be u-pick, but how can you deny a 4-year-old that is really excited about beets?)  BabyC had a great time, too.   

I’m sure BabyC’s understanding of where her food comes from is pretty rudimentary at this point, but I like to think that there is now some wiring in her brain associating delicious food with the texture of dirt and the fragrance of an orchard.  In fact, I’m pretty sure that she thinks dirt is a food right now, because it goes straight in her mouth. 

Responsible mama note:  If you are going to do some tasting of freshly-picked foods, be sure to check the farm’s policy on spraying pesticides and choose an organic farm to be safe.  Also, be aware that there are risks of foodborne illness associated with eating even organic foods without washing them first.  This post depicts irresponsible parenting behavior – eating produce fresh off the farm.  I grew up on a farm where we ate straight out of the garden all the time, but I should really take this more seriously because I hate the thought of my kid getting sick!  It is best to pick first and save the tasting until both food and hands have been washed.