The Gaga Diaries

Not to brag or anything, but my 17-month old has figured out on his own how to handle a pair of chopsticks better than many adults I know! 

I would easily say that Baby Gaga’s favorite food is tomato.  In any given week it is guaranteed that he will pack away a few pounds of tomato whether they be in raw form, pico de gallo, salsa, you name it.  He can’t get enough.  So I guess it shouldn’t have come as any surprise that he loved, and I mean LOVED, his first taste of tomato soup that he had on this dreary first day of May.  If he could have taken a bath in it, oh wait… he kind of did. And he got one with soap and water right after too!

After a doctor’s appointment today, Baby Gaga and I decided to treat ourselves to some Greek food.  My little man loved the lamb and beef gyro, but I think his favorite part was all the raw onion I was picking out from our meal that he kept scooping up and devouring.  Seriously. This kid will eat anything! 

                                               A is for Apple 

Last weekend we went to one of our favorite Chinese restaurants to partake in their dim sum menu for the first time.  Papa Gaga and I are big dim sum fans, but we realized we had yet to introduce the little guy to the wonders of these delicious little plates.  

Attention baby-led weaning parents: dim sum is awesome for your little eaters!  With the exception of the saltiness (just be sure they chug lots of water throughout the meal), everything was perfect for Baby G and he seemed to really enjoy how easy it was to pick up and taste all the new things on his plate.  He especially loved the steamed pork and vegetable bun (we had to place another order just for him!), grandma’s pie (like a scallion pancake with sauteed bok choy?), and the soup dumplings with juicy pork filling.  

But this, by far, was his all-time favorite part of the meal: 

Sesame seed rice balls.  Papa Gaga and I weren’t too nuts about them at this place, to be honest, but Baby G thought these were UHmazing! The sesame paste filling almost looked like dark sand, which might be off-putting for some adults, but for little babies who don’t know any better, they were absolutely delicious. 

And then there were the fortune cookies, another one of my boy’s favorite treats.  I love that his favorite sweets at least aren’t sickeningly sweet things.  He actually grabbed a chopstick to try to get to them since they were a little beyond his reach.  

Smart boy… it worked.  Success!! 

His fortune couldn’t be more spot on, if you ask me. :) 

We weren’t five steps away from the restaurant before he conked out.  He even let me transfer him to his crib once we got home without batting an eyelash.  That *never* happens. I guess that’s a sign of a full, happy, sleepy boy! 

                            Wow. I guess he really couldn’t wait.  

This past week we met up with a friend for lunch at Clover Food Labs, one of our favorite vegetarian restaurants in Harvard Square.  We’re not vegetarian, but this place is so good it makes me consider switching sides! As Baby Gaga reached over and snatched a chickpea fritter and handful of purple cabbage out of the sandwich I ordered for us to share before I even had a chance to sit down, I had a flashback to the last time we were in this same booth.  It was April.  The not-so-little “little guy” was only 4 months old and could barely sit up on his own at this point.  

Then: 

Now: 

My how quickly time flies! Makes me wonder what he’ll be like after another 9 months. 

One of Baby Gaga’s newest obsessions is eating everything out of little bowls. He especially loves to take things out and put them back. It kind of reminds me of the big beefy guy in that gym commercial…’I pick things up and put them down.’ On tap tonight from left to right: cucumber salad with rice vinegar and roasted sesame seeds, soba noodles with dashi, and panko-crusted shrimp.

• Blueberries taste better when dipped in yogurt.  So do egg yolks. 
• Anything can be turned into a soup.  Just combine a bib with a catch-all pocket + a sippy cup and prepare to be amazed. 
• Above soup doesn’t taste so bad.  Trust me, he’s made me try it. 
• There’s nothing quite as enjoyable as breaking bread together as a family.  

                        Roasted seaweed chips are the new puffs! 

Have you ever had something SO good that you just can’t seem to eat it fast enough?

For Baby Gaga, that would be Vanana Yogurt.  Oooooh yeah.  You heard that right… Vanana.  

YUM! Baby G gives that stuff two very yogurt-covered thumbs up.  

Leave it to my son to eat a bell pepper with such enthusiasm, like it’s a big old crunchy apple.

Or a piece of chocolate cake, for that matter! 

Where did this kid come from again?? 

I couldn’t help but laugh out loud when I saw this in my 50-week newsletter from TheBump.com… 

your baby Food fight(er)

Baby may soon start to show interest in feeding himself with a spoon. Let him! Try to accept that mealtime will be messy for a while, and keep reminding yourself that this is a step toward independence for baby. Soon, you’ll be able to enjoy your own meal while baby eats all by himself. 

I promise I am not exaggerating for a second when I tell you that we have been able to “enjoy our own meal while baby eats all by himself” ever since our son was 6 months old because of baby-led weaning! Well, to be fair, it is true that we have always enjoyed our own meals since then but to be accurate, Baby Gaga didn’t officially move from playing with food to actually feeding himself (sometimes with cutlery, sometimes without as you’ll see in the video below) until closer to 7 months.  

If you are at all curious about baby-led weaning, you must pick up a copy of this book. Sure, BLW might be a little messy, but it remains one of the greatest and most rewarding parenting decisions we made in Year 1! 

I’m pretty lucky to have a baby who loves to eat.  He really doesn’t show preference for one thing over another most of the time because he literally eats everything.  It’s pretty amazing if I do say so myself.  But lately he has become obsessed with citrus fruit, particularly those tiny, sweet, cute little clementines.  He can easily down a couple at breakfast and a few more at lunch if I let him.  A couple weeks ago I was unpacking the groceries and turned around to find this: 

I can take a hint, so I plucked one out of the carton for him, promising he could have some as soon as Mommy peeled the skin off. But that was apparently too long for Mr. Inpatient! 

But guacamole sure is worth it.  YUM!!!! 

[Pictures from November 12]