Tastes of Summer

I am waiting to feed Matthew food until he is 6 months old. I waited with my other two, so I don't see why I wouldn't wait with Matthew, too. A lot of people start feeding their baby food when they are 4 months old, but I am more conservative when it comes to these kinds of milestones. If you think about it- there are only a few months in a baby's life when they only drink milk and I cherish these times!

When my other two kids were babies, I never felt the need to feed them early or even give them a taste of food. But since Matthew is so aware of his surroundings and seems interested in what we are all doing, I have found myself tempted and have given in! Last week as I was biting into a juicy apple while holding Matthew, I noticed that he was watching my hand was I bit the apple and returned it to the table. This went on the entire time I ate the apple and I decided that I would quench his curiosity. So I put the apple in his mouth. He ran the tongue over it and then started sucking . . . and sucking . . . and sucking. He brought his hands up to the apple and was pretty much attacking it! After a few minutes, I took the apple away and he had a total meltdown. Screaming and kicking, but I couldn't give it back because he had weakened it and I didn't want to have him break off a piece in this mouth. Then the next day, he watched me intently as I drank water from a glass. So I gave him a try and again, he loved it! When I went to take the glass away, he again screamed and screeched. At dinner the other night, we were eating watermelon and it was so sweet and good. He watched Michael and Claire eat their watermelon from start to finish. Damien thought we should give him a taste and I totally agreed! He sucked on watermelon for about five minutes straight- barely taking a moment to breathe!

Matthew is not a little baby. People comment all the time about his chubby arms and legs and how 'healthy' he looks. This little guy loves to eat! I will continue to give him tastes of food, but as far as eating cereal and food from a jar, he only needs to wait two more weeks. It should be fun to start foods since he really seems to enjoy trying new things!