Finger Foods

This past week Lucas suddenly decided that he no longer likes baby food. He pinches his mouth shut and turns his head when I offer the spoonful of food, and if he does get baby food in his mouth, he often makes a face and spits some out. But it's not that he's uninterested in eating. He goes crazy for finger foods. When I put cheerios or Gerber Puffs on his tray, he starts flapping his arms in excitement and shoving them into his mouth as fast as his little fingers can grab them.

But a baby cannot survive on cheerios and puffs alone. So it's time for me to get serious about giving him finger foods. This is so much earlier than with Ryan. At 1 year of age he still had serious gag reflex issues and rarely ate foods with texture. I am excited that Lucas is such an eager eater, and I love watching him try new foods.

This morning for breakfast I gave him a little bit of jarred peach/banana/oatmeal baby food. When he lost interest in that, I gave him cheerios and egg yolk. The other night I gave him small carrot pieces that had been cooked until tender in a soup. Last night I made Cajun Chicken Pasta and Lucas absolutely devoured the seasoned fettuccini noodles. I need to get in the habit of cooking meals that all 4 of us can eat, rather than preparing separate food for the boys. Any tips on preparing and feeding finger foods to an 8 month old?