When my first baby was born I was wildly protective of her, and because of this protective nature I had I always sampled whatever she ate before she ate it for the first time. This means that I’ve sampled the whole gamut of things that might go into a baby’s mouth:

• Baby Food
• Infant’s Tylenol
• Infant Vitamins
• Breastmilk

Yes, I drank my own breastmilk. I had to try it once just to see what it tasted like, and then once I tried it to see if it was true that what you eat actually changes the taste. I didn’t notice any difference, but then again my palate is a little more used up than my daughter’s was as a newborn.

I’ll never forget the worst baby food I ever sampled. I was vacationing with my daughter in California and spied a jar of macaroni and cheese for babies. I was really excited because it wasn’t something I could find back home. I loved exposing my daughter to new flavors, but since she was still on jarred food (and I’m not crafty enough to make baby food from scratch) our options were limited.

I took one taste of that macaroni and cheese and was immediately assaulted with a horrible taste in my mouth. It was disgusting. On the other hand, I believe in letting my girl decide for herself, so I gave her a small spoonful and braced myself for the projectile spitting that would undoubtedly come back at me.

You probably can guess what happened next: She loved it. She couldn’t get enough. She reached for the spoon and kicked her little feet, and I fed her the whole jar…all the while cringing that she was consuming such vile stuff.

I guess it just goes to show that we can try to protect our babies from things, but once in a while they know what’s best.