Hungry Monkey

 Feeding a baby is always an adventure. There's so much information out there, most of it negative. People are happy to tell you what not to feed them or to tell you that you're paranoid and that you can feed them anything at all. The truth, as always, lies somewhere in between the extremes. Every baby is different and our approach is that she can taste almost anything and if she likes it and it agrees with her, then she can continue to eat it after the first bite. As chefs we probably give her more food than the average parent because when she looks longingly at our plates and reaches out for what we're eating, as she does at every meal, we just can't say no. There's been salt and spice and everything nice and so far Amaya seems pretty happy with it all. Still sometimes we wonder whether or not we're doing the right thing. It's in a new parent's nature to worry. That's why I was so happy to discover Hungry Monkey by Matthew Amster-Burton. It's wry, entertaining, and altogether a fabulous read. It was so relevant and reassuring that I took it upon myself to take Alex's phone, download the Kindle app, and buy the book for him. He'll be reading it on the plane ride to San Francisco and if you have kids or ever plan to have kids or just like hanging out with kids you should read it too.