Feeding You

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Dear Charlie,

It’s Monday, August 11th 2025, and over the last few weeks, you’ve been trying some solid foods, which of course thrills me. Here are some things you’ve enjoyed eating so far.

Sweet potatoes. Roasted at 425°F until soft and tender with bits of caramelization bursting out of the skins, about an hour or so. I split them open and wait for them to cool and feed little spoonfuls to you. You like these a lot, but then it leads to constipation so we have to ease up on the sweet potatoes. I can’t expect you to love food I myself don’t love which is why I’m not surprised that you don’t seem to care for avocados. You already have good taste. Mangoes– simply can’t get enough. I’ve read you can cover the pits with flax seed or something as some sort of edible toy– once you’re gripping things we might try that, seems fun.

Blueberries. “You’re a blueberry boy, a sweet blueberry boy” is a made-up song your dad and I sing to you a lot. You absolutely love blueberries. Fresh ones, squeezed between my thumb and forefinger until the skin bursts and the fruit is exposed (all of your clothes are now stained with blueberries, as are most of mine). At first, I was so afraid of you choking that I’d crush them beyond recognition before feeding them to you, so you’d kind of lick the crude blueberry puree from my fingers. Now, in an act of love and service, I bite each individual berry open for you, peeling the skin away (choking hazard?) so you can then (very forcefully) nibble on the “whole” (skinless, slightly crushed) berry with your gums, it’s quite cute. It must feel good to you (“I think he’s teething” is a thing we say a lot, though still, no signs of teeth). It feels like feeding a goat at the petting zoo, and like when I feed a goat at the petting zoo, I giggle.

Other purees. Carrots. These you enjoyed but not as much as the sweet potatoes. Once I tried to sneak a beet in there (seemed healthy). You knew these were not regular carrots and