LET THEM EAT CAKE

The first real food Joey ate, other then rice cereal, was peas.

Picture the scene from Exorcist, now insert your baby. That was pretty much it.

I had read the books, I wanted to do this right. Most babies love fruit, but then they may reject anything that isn't sweet. Starting with veggies might sound healthy, but it is actually more important that your child LIKE eating foods in the first place.

My advice:

Let them eat cake. (not really)
Or fruits, or whatever. Because once you move onto finger food, everything changes.

Joey would scream and cry the minute she tasted broccoli. I mean it really was her arch enemy. But fast forward a few months to the night I gave her soft, over-cooked broccoli florets for her to eat herself, with her own fingers... she couldn't get enough.

Pureed foods just simply don't taste the same as the real deal, even when you are making it yourself like I do.

What to feed your baby first?
Yellow Vegetables. Most "yellow" veggies are actually orange - Carrots, Sweet Potatoes, Squash

They are sweet enough to past muster, but not so sweet as to sabotage any future veggie forays.
I have also found that a dash of cinnamon makes the medicine go down. Or carrots & sweet potatoes in this case.

The books talk about not flavoring the food. To let your child enjoy the natural taste. I'm gonna call BS on that one. Joey likes it better with a little flavor. And I don't think I'm ruining her because the food you eat as an adult is flavored. I'm not adding salt, but a dash of cinnamon here and a sprinkle of cheese on an egg yolk there can really make a difference.

I'd like to talk about making your own food vs. jar food, but that will be another entry.