Love Those Greens

I write this as I am taking on the ghastly task of sleep training our son. Yes, I know Dr. Sears warns about sleep trainers and how they are terrible beasts who hate children. I guess I'm just a terrible beast who desperately needs her child to get some sleep!

To take my mind off the difficult task at hand, I read and read all about introducing new foods to babies. Interesting stuff, you know. I learned all about nitrates and how they're not just in processed meats, but can be really concentrated in root vegetables and leafy greens. Buying organic helps a lot, since the farmers don't use commercial synthetic fertilizers, but being aware of how they're prepared and how much babies eat at first is important. Nitrates don't affect adults in the same way as babies, because of our ability to produce stomach acid that breaks it down (which babies start to produce between 5 and 6 months of age). Who knew?


To date Little has tried sweet potatoes, avocado, pears, banana, and peas. Avocado was the only food that he really didn't like. I tried it for five days with no luck. With that in mind, I set out to make Little his next two tasty meals -- butternut squash and kale. I, for one, love kale, collards, and just about any dark leafy green you can find. Despite his love for most of the other foods he's tried, I was still skeptical about how Little would react. He watched me from his high chair as I removed the kale stems and washed the leaves. He was especially excited by the salad spinner as it whirled around. And he was even more excited by the stick blender as it pureed them to a fine consistency.

My baby food book suggested that if kale was too strong, that you mix in a little banana. I was fully prepared to mix in A LOT of banana. However, the little dude surprised me. I gave him his first bite and he went "mmm" and flapped his arms for more. He's definitely his mother's son. It makes me happy that he has so many positive associations with the kitchen and with his food bowl. And I guess he's gained enough trust in me (despite my beastly sleep training) to know that I'm not going to put anything too disgusting in his mouth and that eating is a fun activity that we can all share.