Chicken, Smashed Potatoes, and Steamed Carrot

Well, it was chicken breast really and it wasn't great. I baked it but it came out a bit tough. I still gave Boo a chip-shaped piece of it as I thought gnawing on it might feel great on his gums. If I can find some roast chicken at the store that isn't overflowing with butter I may try that next time. The chicken I made was too tough for Boo to actually eat. To go with the chicken Boo enjoyed smashed potatoes leftover from yesterday's dinner. He did a great job with his spoon once again. I'm not sure how he felt about the steamed carrot. I peeled it, cut it into quarters, and steamed it. Because it was so soft he was able to gum off pieces of it which made me a bit nervous. Plus he was really going to town trying to shove in as many pieces as he could at one time. At one point he got this really alarmed look on his face and he started shaking his arms. He made this high-pitched trying to breathe sound. So I promptly picked him up, tipped him over, and beat him on the back. That was all he needed. This seemed different to me than the gagging that he does when he pushes something too far back. He doesn't usually look quite so alarmed. However, he's a trooper. Once the food was out he went right back to eating. Business as usual I suppose.

Well, there you have it. I plan on disclosing the good, bad, and ugly as we journey through the world of baby-led weaning. And we had a bit of bad/ugly with our carrot tonight. But Boo certainly doesn't seem traumatized.

I was thinking about something today. I was an infant teacher at a Montessori school for awhile and we started babies on table foods maybe around 8-9 months. I don't remember exactly, it's been awhile. But the babies always gagged on something or other. It's all part of learning how to properly manipulate the food inside the mouth. Boo will get it just like they did.