6 month birthday and Banana Carrot (pan) Cake

My sis-in-law (y’know, the one who passed on the fabulous banana bread recipe to me) reminded me for Mozely’s 6 month birthday. I’m a pretty terrible mother in that respect. People ask me how old Moze is and expect me to answer in weeks, and I’ve been saying “6 months” for at least a month now.

Luckily, Jill remembers these things, and it helps that Mozely’s cousin is one day younger than him. I’m fully expecting them to be best buds and that he will beat up all the boys who are mesmerized by her enchanting eyelashes.

Mozely has been chomping at the bit, literally, to get some food into his mouth.

The recommendations for introducing babies to food have become much more lax and the ideas that researchers had previously about allergies may have actually caused more food allergies. In a nutshell, they’ve found that babies are probably ok eating a variety of foods and the main things you need to avoid have to do with food safety or baby sensitivity and have very little to do with allergies.

For this reason I’ve exercised a lot less caution than I did with Amaya. I still haven’t jumped into peanut butter or anything, even though, supposedly, as long as there’s no history of allergies in your family or with previously fed baby foods, it should be ok. Swallowing it is a different issue, which is why I haven’t given it to him. Of course.

But in the less than month since we started letting him eat, he’s had avocado, rice crackers, squash, banana, bread, yogurt, carrot, Asian pear… And most of it hasn’t been mushy. I’ve been using the baby-led weaning technique and just let him suck and gnaw on things. I watch him very, very closely, but it’s been true so far that he hasn’t even tried to swallow chunks that are too big. If something does get in there, he just lets it fall out of his mouth. He’s gagged once, but his reflex just coughed it right out and my worry was over in two seconds.

Cons: It’s extremely messy. He loves having control over it, but usually freaks out when “mealtime” is over.

He loves food. So. Much. He acts completely crazy when we eat our meals without him.

Think we might be related?

For his birthday I decided to make him a “cake”. No sugar, only foods he’s already tasted, and he tried to feed himself. I helped a little. Big sis helped out by smashing up the banana and actually did the flipping of the pancake herself. She was excited to “make him a cake.” She picked some flowers and said they were for the party. She loves candles, especially blowing them out for Mr. Moze who isn’t so skilled yet. Mozely went crazy over the pancake and just dribbled whatever he couldn’t swallow fast enough. Everywhere.

Fridgidaire and Foodbuzz are partnering up to help us, the adults, think of ways to involve kids in healthier eating. In addition they’re working to get kids access to good food. When you visit they’ll donate $ to the Save the Children fund (oh yeah, and you’ll be entered to win an appliance—can you say double bonus?).

I adore that Mozely is beginning his life with whole, good foods. It shouldn’t be any other way.

Banana Carrot Pan Cake

• 1/2 banana
• 3 Tbsp shredded carrot (rasp grater works wonders here)
• pinch of cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp olive oil

1. Mash the banana and carrot together (older sister can help here, but don’t let her NEAR the rasp grater. Way too sharp). Stir in the cinnamon.
2. Heat a pan over medium-low heat. Add the olive oil and swirl around.When the pan is very warm, put two tablespoons of the mixture for each pancake into the pan. Smash down with a spatula and let sit for about 3 minutes until the underside is dried and somewhat caramelized. Flip and cook for a few minutes more (4-year-olds can flip quite well with supervision). Keep cooking the pancake on both sides until it seems firm enough to handle but still soft.