ruby eats

right around her 6 month mark, ruby began showing the classic i'm-ready-to-try-solids signs.  so a few weeks ago we started solids with a sweet potato.  we gave her a spoon to keep her little hands busy and fed her with a finger to make sure the temperature was right.  she LOVED it.  i had to wait awhile to get a typical first food photo (the last one, below) because she was enjoying it so much.  i have never seen a baby eat so well, so soon.  everything she has tried so far she has loved.  it's not just that, but more the way she eats - going right for our finger and keeping food in - that i can't get over.  it is like she has been waiting every single day of her life to finally try eating the way we do.

as with many things, i feel so much more relaxed this time around compared to the stress i had when feeding mateo.  with him i read and researched and worried that we needed the special baby food books and kits and contraptions, but this time around i just pull something from whatever we are eating that evening and steam or bake it especially for her.  i like to include flavorful (not spicy) spices with their food to keep it exciting and get them comfortable with it.  so far so good.

i am enjoying the timing of our two spring babies in relation to the seasons.  pregnant and warm all through winter, new life in the spring along with animals and blossoms, no covering up their sweet newborn skin in the summer, and then being surrounded by some perfectly seasonal first foods like apples, sweet potatoes and winter squash around the time of their first tastes.

ps. i like to compare these photos to mateo's here.  :)  (except that they make me miss our old house)