What Lucy Eats

One of the fun parts of raising Lucy is being able to introduce her to all sorts of new foods. Jordan and I consider ourselves somewhat foodies. We love a good meal at a great restaurant. We can be sort of 'restaurant snobs' in that we don't generally eat at chain restaurants. We love seeking out new places to eat and have a handful of staples that we make sure to frequent on a regular basis. We love a good beer or wine dinner, and have been lucky to attend a handful of restaurant openings. Our love and passion for good food is one thing we hope Lucy will share. That's why the food she eats is very important to us. 

In the beginning, I was adamant about making sure that Lucy was breast fed. I did my research and found my personal reasons why breast feeding was the way to go. Jordan agreed and has been incredibly supportive of my decision. I'll admit it was very difficult at first and took a good two months until Lucy and I were in a comfortable groove. But the benefits of breast feeding her far outweighed the pain and discomfort I experienced in the beginning (the details of which could make for it's own post). I felt very strongly that I did not want Lucy to have formula at all. Obviously to each their own, but breast feeding was the only option for us. I'm proud to say it's been 10 and a half months and Lucy is still breast fed. Once she reaches a year we will switch to organic whole milk, probably with the occasional nursing session at night. 

Once Lucy reached 6 months we began to experiment with solid foods. First we started with rice cereal, which she loves to this day. One by one we started with a few solids - mushing up a banana, or mixing some avocado with her milk. My original plan was to make all of Lucy's food. I successfully made a few batches (okay, one) of home made food. Sweet potatoes to be exact. Lucy wasn't crazy about them and I got a little lazy and turned to store bought food. Still trying to make sure she gets what we feel is the best food for her, we turned to a mostly organic diet. 

Here are the foods that Lucy eats.

We've tried a few variations of rice cereal. Plain, apple flavored, and now whole wheat. Lucy loves them all. The teething biscuits are a great little snack that keeps Lucy occupied and satisfied for up to twenty minutes (which is a huge chunk of time when you're a mom). The biscuit slowly dissolves and falls apart as Lucy eats, but every once and a while a chunk that seems a little too big breaks off. So we definitely keep a close watch when she's eating one. They come in packs of two, but one at a time is more than enough. Just a warning: these are very messy and sticky biscuit crumbs will end up all over baby's hands and mouth. 

These are the solids that Lucy generally eats one or two times a day. 

We recently started with these squeeze packs. They're easy and planned so your baby can hold and feed themselves. Unfortunately for us, they didn't quite work that easy. I gave Lucy one during a grocery trip when she started to get hungry and fuss. She loved the taste, but couldn't quite master the squeezing part. Half of the mango packet ended up down her jeans and on the grocery store floor. So Jordan and I spent the rest of the shopping trip taking turns squeezing the packet for her. For now until she gets the hang of feeding herself we generally mix these with her cereal in the morning. One pack lasts up to three feedings and can easily be resealed and refrigerated between each.

My mother in law introduced Lucy to these puff snacks. The great dissolvable treats are the perfect finger foods for Lucy's age as she can feed them to herself. I always have a stash of them in her diaper bag for shopping trips or when she might start to get a little fussy between meals. 

Of course, we have a healthy stock of boob juice to hold her over when I'm at work.

We aren't going to be super hyper about only letting Lucy eat organic foods. It would be hypocritical as Jordan and I don't eat strictly organic ourselves. But we do keep a lot of our basics in the house organic: milk, pasta, butter, etc. I'm realistic in that as Lucy gets older and can vocalize what she wants to eat, she's going to start experimenting and wanting to eat other foods. I'm not going to deprive her of something she wants to try simply because it's not organic. If she wants a hot dog at a baseball game, she's going to get a hot dog. Even now when Jordan and I take her out to restaurants we share with her little pieces of fruit, bread, or whatever we might be eating. She loves a good lemon wedge.

At the moment we are being strict not to give her certain things like nuts or any dairy and a few other foods as her body isn't developed enough for them. We are flexible in that we will change her diet as we see fit. Once she turns one and can start to eat a few more foods, we may curb the organic kick or we may try to enforce it, who knows. For now the organic diet works for us - the food is easy to purchase (any grocery store and even Babies R Us carry the brands we like), and we've found there is little to no price difference in going organic.

I feel with regards to raising a child, obviously every set of parents needs to find what works best for their family. I will never tell someone that they shouldn't use formula just because we didn't. To each their own and this is what works for us. In the end as long as Lucy us happy and healthy, then we are happy.