The Travelers Taste Buds

Little Man turned seven months old on Christmas. (I’m still getting used to that!) Since he was about three months, I’ve been super excited for him to try solid foods. I couldn’t wait to share the experience of different tastes, textures, and smells. Not to mention, I had no idea what kind of baby food would be available in Helsinki. Though gone are the days of mashed peas in the US (I hope!), I had a feeling the basics in Finland would be different, to say the least. One of the main differences is that it’s encouraged in Finland to start babies on (very runny) solids at four months, instead of six. I didn’t realize that the bottles were labeled based on age, so I ended up purchasing baby food for four, six, and eight months. Obviously, the four month food was very smooth and consisted of different fruits, whereas the eight month has quite a few chunks and varying food types.

The names themselves were fun to translate. I got aurinkoinen (“sunny”) which has pineapple, apricot, and mango; metsämarjainen (“wild berry kind”) with pears, blueberries, and lingonberries; and, my personal favorite, omenainen kuningatar (“an apple for the Queen”) with apple, blueberries, and raspberries. So far, the little champ has enjoyed all of them.

As Hubby and I enjoy most types of food, we decided that Little Man should try some “adventurous” flavors. Thai Wok was not a favorite:

However, he did very much enjoy the squeeze pouch of pear, avocado, and lime. He tolerated the chicken and couscous, and changed his mind about liking the meatballs, mashed potatoes, and lingonberries. (It’s basically a plate of food from IKEA.)

He has yet to try the meat and vegetables, mashed potatoes and salmon, and a smoothie consisting of apple, carrots, orange, and ginger. His face is priceless with every new taste. It’s fun to see how he lets me know he wants more or is completely done with something. He’s so very expressive, it makes every meal fun. Bonus: now that he has his high chair (thank you, IKEA!), he can sit at the table and we can have breakfast together. Best coffee date ever!

As delicious as all those flavors are, let’s not forget that toes are still the best dessert!

What first foods do you/did you feed your babies? What did they love or hate? I’m interested to know which foods are a baby “must have” in other countries. Let me know in the comments. This could be fun!