There are milkshakes all the time at our place, and sometimes smoothies too.

The girls are six months old now and have made a huge step in their food journey. We’ve graduated from strictly milk and we’ve added purées.

What’s interesting is what’s been recommended to us during our research into introducing solids.

There are many different traditions, scientific findings and medical recommendations from paediatricians which relate to when certain foods should be given to the baby.

What we’ve found is that families here in South Asia will feed their children things like mashed potatoes and puréed carrots first.

What is also recommended is that parents shouldn’t try different foods until they are certain that their child doesn’t have an allergic reaction to the last one introduced.

In Bermuda, we were told about the Western/North American custom of introducing cereal first, but we’ve learnt that process might contribute to fussiness in some babies as some cereals are high in sugar content. What’s important is doing what works best for your situation, and doing your research.

So last week, on the day they turned six months old, we started the girls on sweet potato!

I’ve got to tell you that sweet potato had some mixed reviews, but the girls were so cute tasting it for the first time.

Nuriyya was very enthusiastic about the prospect, even though her execution was a little bit messy; Liya was not too much of a fan, but she soldiered on and humoured us without spitting it all over the place.

Most likely you missed the first reference, but I’ve created nicknames for when the girls throw up so as to not ruin anyone’s appetite whilst reading. When the girls bring up their milk, I refer to it as it making a “milkshake”. When they bring up their puréed vegetables, I call it making a “smoothie”.

We’re trying to introduce them to a new food every three or four days.

Next up: carrots.

We’ve come such a long way from when they were first born. They were barely eating anything and only weighed about three-and-a-half pounds when they arrived on the scene, but now they’re both about four times the size — maybe even more! Thea and I couldn’t be more proud and we have to thank both of our families and our friends in Bermuda and elsewhere for their support during this journey.

It’s been a wonderful experience seeing them transform from their little chicken-leg days to now rolling over and almost crawling. It’s a privilege to witness their growth.

Hopefully, once they start eating mango I can finally bond with them over one of the greatest things that is known to humanity.