Inspiration for this blog

In Februray of 2009, a girlfriend and I decided to take a spontaneous trip to New Orleans during my spring break week from school (I was teaching at the time).  It was the week before Mardi Gras, and little did I know that I was about 2 days pregnant....My wonderful friend "R" treated me to an amazing 5-course meal with wine pairing at Restaurant August (http://www.restaurantaugust.com/) while we were there, so I guess that was my little guy's (well, my little zygote's) first gourmet meal.

I have always enjoyed food, from both ends of the spectrum. Sometimes I crave a fine aged cheese or duck confit, and sometimes Chef Boyardee raviolis or a McDonald's cheeseburger.  It is the sensory experience that draws me in; tuning into the combination of sight, smell and taste can make food of all kinds an adventure!

During this pregnancy, I ate organic dairy and produce, and I avoided all of the high-mercury seafood and aged cheeses that we in the US are instructed to. I may have slipped up once or twice with a fried clam or a lobster roll....but it was summer and I was on Cape Cod! Anyway, my baby turned out just fine: William was born in November 2009 through natural childbirth, and tasted his first food: breastmilk! But I'll get into that more later.....

As new parents, my husband and I have had so many important decisions to make: breast/bottle, where the baby will sleep, choosing a pediatrician, circumcision/not (something I had NEVER thought of before!).....When it came time to start solid foods around 6 months, I put a lot of thought into it. My husband is the opposite of me when it comes to food: he has a very limited repertoire, and he does not enjoy going out to eat.  Can you believe that????!!!! His mother tells me all the time what a "picky eater" he always was, and I feared that this might be genetic!

I was inspired to gather information: what is "normal" when it comes to introducing solids in infancy? What is safe? And how adventurous of an eater can my baby become?

An epicurean is "devoted to the pursuit of sensual pleasure, especially to the enjoyment of good food and comfort." Doesn't that sum up most of what early infancy is all about? This shouldn't be too hard......