Solid Foods

The transition to solid foods have been a struggle.  Not only is it hard to get my baby to want to eat solids and wean off nursing, but it's also hard trying to make sure she's eating healthy.  At first I told myself no sweets until she's at least a year old.  I wanted to feed her only healthy foods. 

Lately, I've thrown my whole way of thinking out the window.  My baby wants to eat whatever we are eating.  Because I want her to eat healthy, I have found myself trying to eat healthier myself.  However, I'm not going to lie, I love my ice cream and occasional fast food.

Last week I stopped at Taco Johns to grab a quick bite to eat.  There I was at Taco John's feeding my baby a potato ole and a couple bites of my burrito.  I felt like such a bad mom.  How could I be feeding my baby this junk?  How could I be eating this junk?  But it was so good.  It was a treat.  However, at the same time I was feeling like I was being judged by others for feeding her a couple potato oles.  Then last night I came to the realization of something.  Instead of trying to keep my baby from sweets and fast food, I need to teach about moderation.

I don't want her to one day go extremely overboard when presented with sweets or junk food.  Temptation is always going to be there.  I know.  I experience it myself.  We can't protect her from the food that she will be presented with 24/7.  So, I've decided that I'm not going to deprive my child from the occasional bite of ice cream or cookie or french fry however, I also think it's very important to teach her how to limit her intake. 

I know some people will judge me for not offering only the healthiest of the healthiest of foods, but I'm learning to be ok with that.  I feel like way too many people out there judge and throw a fit for how people feed their children.  Yes, I do believe that there is a line that can be crossed.  When you're feeding only processed and other forms of junk food, I don't think that's acceptable.  But when your giving your child a well balanced diet, I think people need to back off.  So what if my baby doesn't eat the healthiest of healthy foods.  So what if I choose to use frozen veggies over fresh, don't you care that I'm at least feeding her veggies?  I just need to keep telling myself that my baby is happy & healthy and is getting a taste for a wide variety of food.  She's still getting feed healthy foods every day and she's hardly had any sweets and only at fast food once.

Through all of this God has been convicting me of my eating habits.  I've been finding myself wanting to eat healthier too.  I want to be a good example.  I've been trying making more conscious decisions on what I prepare for meals.  I've been more proactive making sure to increase our fruit & veggie intake.  For years now I've tried to be conscience about the foods I eat and exercising regularly but I feel like I'm now starting to bump it up a notch.  Now only if I could get back into a regular exercise regimen.

Some of the foods my baby has tried (and wanted to try) within the past month.
 1) Spaghetti
 2) Chili
 3) Tacos
 4) Stir Fry
 5) Chicken Noodle Soup (homemade of course)
 6) Eggs
 7) French Toast (her favorite)
 8) Hot dish
 9) Salsa quesidillas

She loves her tomato based foods and she loves to try whatever it is we're eating.  She's somehow figured out if I'm trying to feed her something different.