Dear Aviva,

I am currently in the midst of a huge baby food making frenzy. This is the third or fourth time I've worked for hours making you batches of food to freeze since you started solids. It gives me great pleasure to make you nutritious food. Since breastfeeding didn't work out as I hoped, I figure the next best thing I can do for you is make sure you eat a huge variety of healthy foods to set the groundwork for good food choices as you go through life.

Knowing what we do about food these days, your father and I strive to give you mostly organic produce and grains/cereals, and will only give you antibiotic free/organic meat and dairy. No, we cannot control what you will eat outside of our home/watch, but if we can give you the best there is as standard, we think it will impact you for the best. Unfortunately we grew up with processed foods and other evil things, but this was before anyone really knew the harm of them.

It is easy to provide you with organic whole foods since you mostly are eating purees and things geared towards babies- like puffs and mum mums. Recently though, you've been getting bites from my plate when I think it is an acceptable thing for you to try. This is really making me strive harder to eat the good stuff we only want for you, since soon you will be having whatever we eat. We try to be more mindful of our own food, but we have a while to go before we get it really worked out.

You have not had any jarred/store bought purees. I know there are some out there that aren't bad, but I figure making my own is super cheap and the only way I can know just exactly what is in it! I am always trying to think of new things for you to try, and I've even made you some things that even I have never had, like the parsnips I roasted for you tonight (they kind of taste like lemony pine potato... we'll see what you think of them soon enough!) Right now I am making carrots, cinnamon apple sauce, parsnips, cauliflower, and butternut squash. Tomorrow I will make zucchini, and I will attempt Brussels sprouts and asparagus as well. In the freezer now there are apricots, chicken, broccoli, and garlicky peas. You have had turnips, pears, steel cut oatmeal, pasta, quinoa, yogurt, cottage cheese, bananas, avocados, black beans... quite a list for someone who has only eaten food for the past 2-3 months.

The funniest thing is that even though I love cooking and preparing food for you, I can't tell you the last time I've cooked anything for your dad and I that was this intensive. I really kinda dislike cooking, so I always look for shortcuts or forgo it entirely. It just goes to show that I will do anything for you, including getting better at cooking and cleaning the house (blech!)