Back in the day I once wrote a post on how my daughter would not take a bottle. After much trial and error and finding different bottles and fast flow nipples, we found something that worked (The mOmma Bottle by Lansinoh!) It’s amazing how much can change in three months – she’s currently drinking from different sippy cups, taking bottles, practicing with the pincer grasp to feed herself and allowing others to spoon feed her as well. This means a lot of fun in the food department and a lot of exploring.
As Julia is beginning to transition from baby food to more and more table food, I also find her being so interested in the foods that Alex and I are eating. If she is not participating while we are eating, she makes her disapproval known. I feed her breakfast before I eat my own, but regardless of how much of her breakfast she eats she is always saving room for whatever I am having. All of this new interest in food has had me thinking about what she is eating and what Alex and I are eating when we share so much food with her.
For the last three months I had been relying on the fun and convenient food options – those squeeze packs (which are incredibly expensive!) to introduce her to all of the various fruits and veggie combinations. I’ve gravitated more towards the ones with vegetables in them, but most have fruit mixed in them too. I always felt good giving her these knowing that she has had a serving of fruits and vegetables while also knowing that we are introducing her palate to a variety of different tastes! Some of them even have kale and spinach in them with chia seeds as well – super nutritious! But at nine months, one pouch doesn’t do much to phase her appetite.
Last week I made a smoothie for my lunch and somehow it all ended up in Julia’s belly. It was one of the green monster varieties – spinach, bananas, almond butter, a little milk, some yogurt and a bunch of frozen strawberries. She slurped it all down and wanted more. Which got me to thinking…Why not make Julia her own baby smoothies? You could even use a Little Green Pouch to put the smoothie in and you instantly have a much cheaper and alternative version of the convenient “to-go” baby foods!
Most days I just use what I have on hand to make Julia’s smoothies. We’ve had different combinations from spinach and bananas, to avocados and strawberries. It doesn’t really matter what is in them because you can’t really go wrong. Our smoothies usually look like this:
*All babies are different; consult your pediatrician if you aren’t sure what is appropriate for your baby. Our pediatrician approves of these ingredients for Julia*
-Baby Yogurt or Yoplait regular yogurt or almond milk
-Handful of spinach leaves
-A spoonful of almond butter
-1/2 banana
-1/2 avocado
-Berries (anything goes here! Maybe even mangoes, pineapple, sweet peas or beets!)
-Splash of water and 3-4 ice cubes
That’s just our base…the options are seriously endless. I usually just try to mimic some of the flavors that you can find in the food pouches, such as banana + blueberries + greek yogurt, or more odd combinations like pears + peas. I figure if those are sold commercially, babies must like the flavors! I always add the ½ avocado to her smoothies because it makes for a really great consistency but primarily for all those healthy fats! Just use what you have on hand or what needs to be used first. We go through spinach rather quickly, so it’s not always on hand for smoothies. That’s okay – she’s still getting a TON of other healthy stuff! She usually won’t eat the entire smoothie in one sitting, so into the fridge it goes until she’s ready for a snack or she will just have the rest at dinner. It will stay good in the fridge for about 24 hours.
And when she doesn’t want the food pouch and she insists on drinking it from a cup like the adults, you end with a blueberry smoothie mustache…and a happy, full-bellied baby!
