Broccoli and green bean

I decided to do some green veggies for this meal. I don't want Buttercup to have a sweet tooth. I've read that babies are actually hard-wired to prefer sweets (especially if they've been breastfed), but I still want her to have a good balance in her diet.

Secondly, I'd read that broccoli makes for a really good first food, as it has built in handles. Also, it's also a good source of iron, which is of some consideration if you're passing on baby cereal (check out the FAQs page for a blurb about baby cereal and iron). I grabbed a green bean out of my garden as an afterthought, mainly to see what Buttercup would do with it. My poor little lab rat...heh heh

I pulled 3 frozen broccoli florets out of the freezer and steamed them along with the green bean.

Before you think I'm horrible person for feeding my baby frozen broccoli I think it's worth noting that most of the time frozen veggies are actually better quality than fresh. They are picked at peak ripeness and frozen within hours, whereas fresh veggies are picked under-ripe and shipped halfway across the country (sometimes world) and sit in the back warehouse of Walmart for several days before the customer brings them home to sit in their fridge for several more days...I digress...Anyway, I let the broccoli and green bean get just soft enough that I thought they'd be easy to gum up, then I let them cool off.

Ok, so I held up a broccoli floret and Buttercup promptly wrapped her fist around it, and shoved it in her mouth. She definitely has this game figured out! But, I was amazed when the broccoli reemerged several seconds later with many of the green knubbly bits missing, presumably down her gullet. When she dropped it she made little frustrated yelling noises until I helped her get it again. I never knew my amazingly calm content baby had an impatient side until we started "real" food! The bean wasn't as much of a success. She chewed on it a bit, made a horrible face, then dropped it. I offered it back and she refused to touch it.

I found little tiny broccoli "leaves" in Buttercup's diaper the next day, which made me chuckle. This is a good time to mention that it is perfectly normal to find seemingly undigested bits of food in baby's diaper when introducing foods. It doesn't mean there's anything wrong with your baby's digestive system (much to Hubby's relief).

Broccoli -
PROS: very easy to manage and eat, and high in iron
CONS: none!

Green beans -
PROS: nice built-in BLS shape
CONS: a bit difficult to gnaw on