Solid Food

Finally, Baby had his first official meal two days after he celebrated his 150th day (5 months). The incident at La Toscana told me he’s quite ready for it. I’ve been intending to introduce solid food to him only after he turns six months. I was told feeding Baby on breast milk for 6 mos is equivalent to giving him a “hypo-allergenic” diet. That is, baby’s chances of having food allergies would be greatly reduced. I’ve been trying so hard to stick to such a plan but even at 4 months baby had already showed indication of his preparedness for solid food. He would look longingly at the dining table where our meals are spread. He would root and reach out towards the food as if wanting to take a bite. For a while I endured looking at him at this stage. Every time he would look longingly at the food and then to me, my heart would break a little but I have remained firm in my resolve. Up until the Resto incident. That’s when I knew I couldn’t have him frustrated any longer. If he’s ready for his first “bite,” then so be it :)

When he was about to turn four months, B had already been excited about shopping for Baby’s first vegetables. Yup, vegetables. We were told potato is a good way to start. There were several other tips thrown our way from “well-meaning” friends and family, most especially from the “Mama’s” and Aunts in the family who would give us advice in such a manner that would leave no room for argument. After all, according to them (this is just implied of course), they knew a lot better than we do having lots of practice on the matter. In the end, B and I settled on rice cereal. Not the kind you could buy in boxes at the supermarket though. It’s rice cereal the old fashioned way – “grounded” rice (giniling na bigas).

It was quite difficult to look for NFS rice (organic) at the grocery store. The only organic rice I saw there was unpolished brown rice. I immediately thought that unpolished brown rice is far “too solid” to be baby’s first food. So I opted to buy “prime” white rice instead. My heart sank when I put it in my basket. I knew it was probably reeking with fertilizer. When I arrived at home, it turned out that Ate Gaga had bought the NFS unpolished brown rice herself. I took it as a sign hehehe It helped that I got reassurance from the family that it’s going to be grounded anyway and thus be something that would be easy on Baby’s digestion. So that was it, for Baby’s first food he had a bowlful of grounded, unpolished, free from chemicals, brown rice. It looked pretty much like glue to me hehehe B and I even joked about it. But I know that it’s good for him than any other processed food. To us, that is most important. Notwithstanding that preparing it is quite laborious compared to the commercial cereal where you would only add hot water to it and then it’s ready to be fed. B had to cook the rice over low fire while constantly stirring at it to make sure it’s even in consistency. We can’t have Baby feeding on muck-like, indigestible “paste.” For added flavor and "nutritional value," I put in a good amount of my milk too. It’s all labor of love, really. So I think Baby is getting a lot more in his bowlful of rice cereal. He’s getting a good dose of mine and his Tatay’s love along with a dose of carbohydrates. Talk about having a “Power” Meal. Really love you both.