Of all the first times a baby will experience, tasting the first bite of solid food is probably one of the most exciting milestones to witness as a parent. 6 months is the recommended age to start with solid foods, but in Anvika's case, her doctor suggested to start early since she wasn't gaining much weight. So we started solids for her when she was 4.5 months.
To celebrate this transition from milk to solid food formally, we performed the annaprashan ceremony. This signifies a marked change in a child's life and we were lucky to celebrate it among family and elders. We performed this ceremony at home when Anvika turned 6 months old. Here's a video from that day.
A new range of food has already started for her. We started with baby cereals including oatmeal, rice and ragi. So far I have offered her avocado, banana, carrots, butternut squash, sweet potato and beets. She loves bananas, carrots, sweet potato and butternut squash so far. Yesterday I tried beets, but she
didn't quite like them. She shows a great interest in the food that we eat and we sometimes offer her a tiny bit from our plate. Anvesha loves to feed her as well. Hope she doesn't turn out to be a super fussy eater. Preparing baby food, though tiring, but is an exciting part that I look forward to.
Since we were in India, we thought we can also have her mundan ceremony. With Anvesha we had this in her 11th month when we went to India. I remember she was bald on her first birthday, not that she had much hair before her mundan, but on her birthday, she had zero hair :) Mundan ceremony is a significant time in a child's life and is a very important ritual as well. We decided to get it done earlier on for Anvika for two reasons- first, we were in India so got it done there and second, as she grows she may develop resistance and it will get difficult. I remember Anvesha crying uncontrollably when her hair was being shaved off. At last, she finally gave in and that was it. Not that it was easy in Anvika's case, but we finally got it done.
Here's the before and after pic of Anvika...
These were the 2 major rituals performed for Anvika in India. We plan to get her ears pierced soon and my next post will be on that, so stay tuned :)
A new range of food has already started for her. We started with baby cereals including oatmeal, rice and ragi. So far I have offered her avocado, banana, carrots, butternut squash, sweet potato and beets. She loves bananas, carrots, sweet potato and butternut squash so far. Yesterday I tried beets, but she
didn't quite like them. She shows a great interest in the food that we eat and we sometimes offer her a tiny bit from our plate. Anvesha loves to feed her as well. Hope she doesn't turn out to be a super fussy eater. Preparing baby food, though tiring, but is an exciting part that I look forward to.
Since we were in India, we thought we can also have her mundan ceremony. With Anvesha we had this in her 11th month when we went to India. I remember she was bald on her first birthday, not that she had much hair before her mundan, but on her birthday, she had zero hair :) Mundan ceremony is a significant time in a child's life and is a very important ritual as well. We decided to get it done earlier on for Anvika for two reasons- first, we were in India so got it done there and second, as she grows she may develop resistance and it will get difficult. I remember Anvesha crying uncontrollably when her hair was being shaved off. At last, she finally gave in and that was it. Not that it was easy in Anvika's case, but we finally got it done.
These were the 2 major rituals performed for Anvika in India. We plan to get her ears pierced soon and my next post will be on that, so stay tuned :)
