Will He Eat It? Episode One: Hummus with Kalamata Olive Tapenade

  I've said before that Lukie is the least picky eater of just about any baby I've ever met. I'm hoping he stays that way...it's awesome! We're kind of a food-loving household-- my favorite thing is trying out new recipes, and Pete's favorite thing is eating, so we're a good match when it comes to food. I was kind of worried we would have a picky kid (though I know some of that is of parents' making...but there are also kids who are just inherently picky eaters and have textural issues, etc.). Not so, apparently...which is why I'm starting this segment on the blog: Will He Eat It?

I have a goal with Lukas' food adventures, and it is that he never thinks one thing is a "kid food" and another thing is a "grown-up food." I have a problem with that kind of thinking because I think it predisposes kids to dislike "grown-up foods" as soon as they hear that term. AND so much of the usually-accepted "kid foods" are almost devoid of nutritional value: macaroni and cheese, hot dogs, things made exclusively of ground beef and tomato sauce. Don't get me wrong...I like mac'n'cheese as much as the next person...like I SERIOUSLY LOVE mac'n'cheese...but I don't want Lukas to think that he can have a hot dog for every meal when I'm working hard to make sure we eat healthy foods.

Now, the general rules for teaching a baby to eat solids are that you give them a new food, repeat that food every day, and wait for four days before introducing anything else that's new (though you can also feed them anything they've had without reaction up to that point). You do this so that you can pinpoint what it is your child is allergic to if he or she has a reaction. We did this for about 2.5 months...and then I just started giving him bits of whatever we were eating. Lukas has shown no tendency toward food issues; if you have a baby who does, you might be a little more careful introducing things that have multiple ingredients.

Anyway, Will He Eat It?

Yes, He Will!!! This one surprised me, since Kalamatas are really briney olives, and hummus is really garlic-heavy. Kiddo has a tendency toward liking strong flavors, apparently.

I love my adventurous little eater!

Oh, and here's a picture from Sunday. It was 50 degrees outside, so we went for a walk and then sat on the porch for a while...which Lukie loved as much as he did when he was a newborn!

I'll update with more pictures later, including snow-day pictures from last Thursday, but mostly I wanted to put a picture in here so that the little thumb-size photo will be of him when I share this post on Facebook...otherwise it's just me. Who wants that when they could have a picture of Lukas?