Food, frustration and fun By Kate

For almost four months Rosie has been exploring the wondrous world of food. Weaning is the correct term, but I think she's drinking as much milk as she ever did, so it's possibly not accurate. Yet.

Since the first post on this subject, we have discovered a shop in Madrid which sells organic baby food that isn't loaded with unnecessary added salt and/or sugar (UK-made). But it's heinously expensive, so definitely only for emergency situations.

Luckily, after initial despair that Rosie would never condescend to eat the pureed preparations lovingly crafted for her by her Daddy, she soon started to respond more willingly when they were offered. Not to absolutely everything you understand, but as Theo got the hang of baby cuisine and sussed what Rosie's palate would be more likely to accept, we had more hits than misses.

Fruity stuff goes down well, not surprisingly, as do concoctions involving lentils and chick-peas - providing they're well spiced with ginger and/or Garam Masala. Orange stuff is usually preferred over green stuff, but green stuff is deemed acceptable if sexed up with added fruit. Greek yoghurt - taken plain or with added fruit - is an ongoing favourite.
Finger food goes in and out of favour. Roast veg were a big hit to begin with, especially courgettes. Now she spurns those, as she does the potato wedges she once enjoyed and tends to favour red pepper and well-cooked carrot.
Cheese has gone down well (we haven't tried strong-tasting varieties yet except goat's cheese, which wasn't exactly successful) and bread remains popular, although rice-cakes are now preferred over toast. Pasta is generally welcomed, especially if it's rigatoni and almost all fresh fruit is eagerly consumed.
The main problem Rosie finds is that over-enthusiasm for something leads to an over-crammed mouth which she finds almost impossible to empty. Instead she'll look perturbed and wail loudly until the problem resolves itself (the food melts down into more manageable proportions) or a parental finger is inserted to help ease the situation. She'll then spurn the remainder of the offending food as if it's to blame for her predicament.

If dining gets too onerous and Rosie's tolerance levels become exhausted, there's always a fall-back position: the Mummy And Daddy In-house Cabaret. See below for details. Then you can always sneak in a spoonful or two while she's distracted by the live entertainment.