Food glorious food

We're getting used to Jake's development coming in fits and bursts, such as the week when he suddenly decided he could sit up by himself for ages, pass things from hand to hand and reach for things.

His approach to food is no exception. Up until a week ago, we were feeding him 6 bottles of formula a day, including one in the middle of the night that was almost killing me. Last weekend we decided to try and break him of this habit (result - one night of no sleep and a week's worth of 12 hour night sleeps...fingers cross that continues!) he's suddenly decided that eating real food would be much more fun than milk. To be fair, we tried starting him on purees and baby rice a while back, but it wasn't realistically until we got to the US in December that we tried to feed him baby food in earnest.

The big problem that we've found with shop bought food is that a lot of the savoury dishes are either really sweet or really bland. Jake is very clear when he tastes something that he doesn't like, and he now passes everything for a quick lip test before sticking it in his mouth. For the most part, the shop bought stuff doesn't pass inspection, though there are some surprises as to what he'll enjoy (a rice and green bean mixture that tasted foul to us was apparently acceptable...maybe he was just starving at that point!).

A better solution all round, especially given the cost of ready made baby food, is to make our own. I have traditionally done the lion's share of the cooking as I find it a soothing and calming activity after a day's work, but my wife has stepped up to the plate in the weeks since we've been home which is in part due to the fact that she enjoys making food that Jake will like. It's a much cheaper approach and both of us like knowing exactly what's gone in there. We can also tailor his diet so it resembles the meals that we eat the most and that he will grow up eating with us. We have found a use for the shop bought stuff in that it gives us empty bottles to sterilise and refill with our own purees and blends.

Feeding Jake is one of my life's great pleasures. The timing on an evening works out well so that he's ready for dinner as I step through the door. I get greeted by my wife with a kiss and a bowl of baby food and Jake with a smile and an open mouth. It's a great feeling to feed him, watching him learn about different textures and tastes, knowing that we're able to care for him in a way that formula doesn't seem to provide. It's also a fun experience because he manages to get it everywhere as he's constantly kicking his feet in excitement, moving his whole body to get closer to the spoon.

Jake's also learning about finger food, and our approach is to give him bits of whatever we're eating, as long as it's not too salty or spicy. He feeds himself a lot of bread (pizza crusts included!) and it's amazing watching the difference between a couple of months ago when he would just chew on it for fun and give you back a masticated lump of goo and now when he chews to make it easier to swallow. Anything that is smaller than his hands is fair game to eat in his eyes, so we like to experiment with different fruits and vegetables in particular to see what he likes.

The final upshot of all this development is an unexpected but very pleasing evening routine. My wife and I are very much TV dinner people, choosing to talk about our days once we've eaten and zoned out for a little. Feeding Jake makes us both stay in the kitchen and more often that not we eat earlier so we can sit at the table with him. It makes me flash forward to many years of family suppers together, and I can begin to see why my parents take so much pleasure in having the family together around a dinner table.