Baby led weaning for us, and a 2 weeks menu

Lorenzo was 10-11 months when these pictures were taken, but they are representative of all our BLW journey.
At the beginning, it was mostly the shape that was changing (long stripes of soft food, bug chunks of meat to munch on). He also didn't eat much, but it wasn't important to us.
Every meal was more about the discovering and sharing a family moment. And oh, he was so happy after the first dinner (chicken and carrots) we shared together!

He started to eats small pieces and to eat to actually fill up his belly at around 8 months.
At ~10 months he started using the fork and drinking from his glass. He also decreased milk feeds.
At ~12 months he began to be successful with the spoon and very dense food (but after a while he dips his hands in and sucks on them).
Now (12.5 months) he loves small things (berries, he picks peas out of soups) and to suck into spaghetti (italians :-) ). Loves dipping.
Somewhere he also started to accept being fed, which made it possible to introduce soups again (yey!).

I try to offer food that he can eat independently.
I try to fit in a menu some carbs (possibly unrefined) and vegetables. Less (animal) proteins since now he eats enough of those at the creche.
I also try to avoid the "one-dish meal" so that he can choose or experiment with different textures.

The menu: 

1) Tortellini, chichen and broth (with blended vegetables).
2) Pumkin risotto & almond chicken.
3) Green beans, potatoes and left over risotto-balls.
4) Salmon, grean beans and daddy-made whole cereal bread.
5) Chick-peas pasta.
6) Beef stewed with onions, mashed potatoes, roasted pumpkin.
7) Pumpkin and chickpeas soup. Spelt-crackers with hummus.
8) Bolognese whole-wheat pasta & parmesan cheese.
9) Milk-stewed pork, rice&spelt cakes, steamed spinach.
10) Some pre-made baby food (we have difficult days)
11) Daddy-home made pizza.
12) Quinoa-avocado-potatoes balls (I'm very proud of this one. Lorenzo didn't appreciated them..). Homemade bread with tofu and avocado spread. Tofu and cherry tomatoes.
13) Liver cooked with onions, mashed potatoes, swiss-chard.
14) Pasta with artichokes and pecorino, greek salad (tomatoes and feta cheese, oregano, olive oil).
15) Mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli, fine-herbs cod.
16) Beetroot and potatoes gnocchi, gruyere sauce. 

It worked as well (absent here, but we offer them often):
Farinata (with some spread). Quiche. (Meat)balls of every sort. Lasagne & Cannelloni. He's not a big fan of omelettes, but they would be a perfect way to combine proteins and vegetables.

Toys shelf at 11 months

I was hoping that after the long Christmas holidays, Lorenzo would look at his room and toys as if it was the first time.
Instead, the Imbucare box and the stacking tower were suffering from abandonment.
It was time to upgrade the shelf. 

Toy shelf in his room:

1. A tissue box with silk cutouts.
Not really reflecting the aesthetic idea promoted by Maria Montessori but we'll work on that.
At the moment Lorenzo enjoys pulling them out. But they are incredibly versatile, and very much loved. We received them as a present, from here.

2. A DYI imbucare box.

3. Stacking ring tower. 

4. "Sensorial" balls. 
Lorenzo was never particularly warm about them (although it's at least 3 months that he enjoys passing and receiving a ball).

5. Galt pop-up toys. 
As soon as I bought it, I made the mistake of showing him the jumps. He couldn't replicate the movement, and became so frustrated that he was tossing the toy as soon as he saw it. I had to hide it for a couple of weeks.
This is the only toy we bought for him. I like the toys that can evolve. Now he's putting the little men in place, later he'll make them bolt out or use them for colour recognition.

6. Matryoshka.

Other rooms:

Since most of our time is spent in the living room/kitchen, Lorenzo is using his room mostly during the weekends. As a consequence I started paying more attention to the material we spread around the house (before there were just wooden blocks close to the kitchen counter).

At the moment, it counts three areas: 

- some books on our bookshelf, 

- a reserved space in the always-present Expedit 
(how can I speak Montessori without an Expedit).
The Expedit is now devoted to the exploration of musical instruments.
Soon I'll import my old portable stereo to make him independent in the music area. He's a dancer, and deserves a musical area well defined and complete.

- A trolley close to the kitchen counter:

It contains:

1. A plastic book with rhymes.

A present from a friend, and I'm thankful for it. He loves to press the button (it turns red) and dance to the music.

2. a teether. 

3. The stacking cups. 

There are ten cups in total but so far, I have given him only three. This is already challenging enough.

4. Wooden blocks with two containers,

5. Sensory bottles. 

There have been out for a while, but he's only enjoying them now.



He also has a couple of drawers from the kitchen that are safe for him. He loves to pull out cutting board and oven pans. And, surprise surprise, he's starting to put them back in as well! Yey!