It's veggie time!

Last week, I wrote about Henry’s first time eating grains and meat. This week we are focusing on vegetables.

Henry has tasted celery, peas, zucchini, spinach and leeks through the vegetable soups that have flavored his bottles, but he did not have much success at self-feeding on our first attempt with peas. I decided to try again using what we learned with the pancake and pork chop experiences where he did well with long slices he can easily grab and bring to his mouth.

First up were sautéed zucchini fingers. I set the zucchini on Henry’s tray along with a stick of toast. As you can see, he preferred the toast. The zucchini went unloved. The lesson for next time is to set the vegetables out as a first course. After Henry tries the veggies, then he can have the other food groups.

Henry goes straight for the toast, but leaves the zucchini on the tray.

Next, we tried baked sweet potato discs. I sliced the sweet potato with a mandolin and baked them in the oven with a touch of olive oil and paprika. These were a hit even after a slice of grilled turkey arrived on his tray.

Henry can't resist baked sweet potato.

Third on the list were raw cucumber wedges. The cucumber was served cold from the refrigerator. I removed the seeds from the center but kept the skin on to help the cucumber keep its rigidity. Henry had no difficulty handling these. I am guessing the cool cucumber felt good on his gums since he seemed to use it like a teether.

Cool as a cucumber

Lastly, Henry enjoyed gnawing on steamed carrot sticks. Next time, however, I will cook them a little longer than I typically do to make them a bit softer.

Steamed carrots are easy.

Feeding Henry is getting easier now that I have a better idea on how to prepare vegetables in ways that will work for him. We’ll come back to peas in a few months when Henry starts practicing his pincer grip.