Now that I think about it, it's gagging, not choking. I know I should probably start (or should already have started!) doing bigger chunkier foods, it just scares me. I have a huge fear of choking, even always telling DH to take smaller bites, always having drinks with my food, etc. so i'm terrified of giving him big things of anything! I saw Dug Baby in a photo with big, chunky broccoli and it started making me so nervous, even though there was no way she could really choke on it.
Totally understand! The gagging would make me nervous too. Hopefully he can work through that quickly and get the hang of not putting food too far back in his mouth. I was nervous at first with Dug Baby, but once I saw that she could manage things (spit out or pull out things from her mouth that were too big), I felt a lot better. There have been a couple times where she made us nervous, having some big chunk in her mouth and not getting it out right away and we removed it for her, but I know that's generally a no-no, since you don't want to accidentally push it back further. Have you done an infant CPR class? We did one just before she was born and it helps a bit to know how to handle choking, if it were to happen. I guess the good thing to remember is that the gagging reflex is keeping him from choking on things, so that's positive. And I wouldn't worry about him not self-feeding table food yet. I'm in a little facebook group with other local moms who have babies the same age and some babies are into food and some not. One person actually has identical twin boys and one is all about the table food and the other just gags. So, he'll get it when he gets it, I think.
Would you mind giving me other food ideas? And can you tell me which book you were reading about baby led weaning? When he turned 9 months, we gave him those cereal puffs, the ones that dissolve, and he started gagging and I immediately took them away. What kind of pouches do you like? I'm still making my own baby food, but incorporating meats from pouches from Ella's Kitchen like the beef, chicken, and 4 bean food.
Sure. Just was thinking that peas might be a good one. Too small to choke on and pretty soft. You might want to give those dissolving cereal puffs another shot too, since he won't choke on those (but may gag, as he tries to figure them out). Maybe something like mashed potatoes? We haven't tried that yet, but seems baby-friendly. We did cottage cheese (let her put the spoon in her own mouth and/or pick it up with her fingers)...it was messy, but she liked it. Oh, and Cheerios are always a standby here too. I'm sure there are a lot more things, but just trying to think of good ones to start with.
The book that I used is "The Baby Led Weaning Cookbook" by Gill Rapley & Tracey Murkett. I actually checked it out from the library initially, but then decided I wanted to have the recipes on hand, so I downloaded it onto my iphone. There is also a general baby led weaning book by the same authors, but the cookbook has the same info PLUS the examples, which I liked. Now, we pretty much just feed her whatever, since she does so well. She had some of my crockpot ravioli casserole for dinner tonight and did well (noodles, ground beef, etc.)
For the pouches, I've got mostly the Plum Organics ones, but I know we had some Ella's Kitchen too...those same meat ones...I must have had a coupon! Anyway, we just let her suck straight from the pouch. She usually needs us to squeeze some up when she gets towards the bottom, but otherwise she does it on her own. And she seems to like every flavor so far, so I'm not too picky in what I get. If you have other questions, let me know. I'm so impressed that you make his purees...that's one reason we just did the baby-led weaning from the beginning...I'm too lazy for that, I guess.
I was looking at a grocery list the other day from AKV just to see what the prices are, and they did have whole milk. I think half a gallon was $3?
Great, thank you! That's good to know!
I'll just answer the ones I know about here:
I do have a few questions that hopefully you guys can answer for me. Some F&W related and some not.
3) Where do they sell those F&W passports that Ive heard about?
Unless something changed since 2011, they are in the Festival Center (the old Wonders of Life pavilion) and they are free. You can get them stamped at each booth as a souvenir. The other good thing to get there is one of the wristband gift cards, if they're still doing that. Very handy for frequent purchasing.
4) How hot is it in October? What kind of clothing do we need? Sweaters at night?
We haven't been in October, so based on early November, I'd say have a fleece or cardigan with you on the trip, but you may or may not need it. I like to be cozy, so I would probably put it on in the evenings, but that's just me.
5) Which booths are the absolute best? Which foods and drinks are must dos?
Oddly enough, we were just looking at the menu earlier today. Sun Country is running an awesome sale where we could go down there for a few days at the beginning of October for under $200/each round-trip. We probably won't do it, if we have the willpower. But, boy is it tempting. The menu looks great!
Some highlights from past years (we went in 2010 & 2011):
Argentina: Grilled Beef Skewer with Chimichurri Sauce and Boniato Purée
Belgium: Belgian Waffle with Berry Compote featuring Driscolls® Berries and Whipped Cream (I also see they have one with Chocolate Ganache this year, which sounds great!)
Also Belgium: Chilled Coffee featuring Godiva Chocolate Liqueur
Canada: I guess you can have a mini Le Cellier meal by getting the cheddar cheese soup and the filet!
France: if you like escargot, Dug says it's good; we both like the Kir and Cosmo Slush for drinks in France
Ireland: Dug loves the Fisherman's Pie. I loved their lava cake dessert, but they changed it to pudding this year. It still has Bailey's, though, so hopefully it's good.
There's a lot of other great stuff too, but there's some highlights. Also, if you haven't already checked it out, disneyfoodblog.com has a lot of good info on the F&W festival.
I'm a California girl and I've been to DL tons, but I haven't been to WDW since the 1980s 
and I don't even remember it much 
Which got me thinking that he would actually love WDW, especially Epcot. So I'm considering our 1st trip (his and DD's, mine as an adult) next year.
It's still up in the air since I don't have my vacation bid for next year done, but hopefully it will work out. Following along here to get ideas and inspiration!
joining in 
x
This is our 1st time to F&W and 
And here I am posting a quick update before heading out to dinner.
Thank god I checked them today and changed it. 
