See Abby (and Cornelia and Ethel) Grow

So it turns out what we're going through with Abby's eating habits is pretty normal at her age. With Abby, she's not picky about what she eats, it's how she eats. I dusted off my copy of What to Expect the First Year and sure enough, there was a big section in the ninth month about "fussy eating habits." I haven't read any baby books in a while, so I've been pretty conservative about what I feed her because I just didn't know. It turns out that it's ok to start feeding Abby more table foods, as long as we stay away from highly allergic foods like nuts, honey, and berries. She still eats pretty much anything I give her, as long as she can feed herself. A couple things the book mentioned that I'd been doing is to go ahead and "skip the mush" and let her feed herself, and not to "drown her out." Since she doesn't eat very much when she feeds herself, I've been giving her a bottle of formula afterwards. Apparently, she's drinking too many meals, so she doesn't have an appetite when it comes to solids. Instead of giving her a bottle first thing in the morning, I cut up a banana and she ate more than half of it.

Last night, we took John out to Sawtooth Grill for a goodbye dinner, and the waiter mentioned that they have a small veggie plate for babies he could bring out. It was sliced zucchini, celery, baby carrots, and a package of crackers. Perfect to keep Abby busy. The look on her face when she picked up her first slice was priceless! She looked at it with total disgust until she tried it. It turns out that she really likes zucchini. That was her favorite.