Experiments with food

Lately we've been experimenting with food. Since Zoe has repeatedly shown us that she is not ready for traditional "solid" foods like baby cereal, mashed yam, mashed banana, and mashed avacado - her response to all these foods has been the same, gagging and spitting out the offending substance followed by emptying her entire stomach contents - we are trying something different. Zoe has been learning about food by tasting large chunks of hard foods like apples and carrots. She sucks on them just like she does with blocks or other toys, but these have the added intrigue of flavor. They have been a big hit! Sucking on chunks of apple is what got us through her fussy moments during our recent plane trip, and yesterday she experienced carrot for the first time and liked it so much that she held onto it after lunch and took her afternoon nap with the carrot clutched firmly in her fist! So cute! We also tried a few large pieces of dried fruit yesterday, including papaya, mango, banana, and pear. Papaya and pear were a hit, but she wasn't a big fan of the flavor of mango or banana. Interesting how she has taste preferences already!