Baby Led Weaning: Adventures with Solids

This past weekend, Brayden was being fussy and we thought it might be his little tooth that has been playing peek-a-boo for a while now. I gave Zack a slice of my cold apple to give to Brayden. B LOVED IT! He was gnawing on it and got mad if it got taken away. He has been pretty interested in what we have been eating for a bit now. I know at this age (almost 5 months) then tend to become more aware of their surroundings and what is going on. But because he grabbed the apple and knew where to put it I took it as one sign of being ready.
At his 4 month appointment his pediatrician and I talked about when to start solids. She said when he becomes VERY interested in what we are eating (check), when he can sit supported (check; actually he sits UNsupported) and when breastmilk isn't enough (he is satisfied with just nursing so this one doesn't really apply) we can try solids.
I have been researching solids since I was pregnant. There is SO much information about when to start, what to start and how much. The World Health Organization just recently changed their reccomendation of strictly breastmilk or formula for the first 6 months back to their old reccomendation of 4-6 months with the appropriate developmental milestones met. Experts say to start with rice cereal. It is bland, can be mixed with what the baby is already eating and teaches them to eat off of a spoon, BUT it contains NO nutritional value. This is also where baby led weaning comes into play.
BLW is all about not feeding your child from a spoon, but letting them decide how much they want by picking up their own food. You give them chunks and they bite off the appropriate size. They are in control! This makes it easier on me, as I want to make all his food. We may do a few purees and he can do the spoon himself but I want him to explore on his own.
We tried our first veggie on Sunday! He had sweet potatoes and seemed to LOVE it. I cooked it pretty soft and put little chunks on his tray, which he SMASHED and licked off his hands and mine. I cooked it a little too soft so it was a little too easy to smash. I mixed in a little BM to see if he would take it from a spoon. I think he would rather do it himself which is okay by me. He had fun and I think we will try some other things here soon.
I told myself NO solids until 6 months no matter what, but I am letting Brayden decide. If he decides that next time he doesn't want any solids, that's fine we will wait a little longer. He's only had them once and is still satisfied with nursing so we aren't going to push anything on him. I will let him tell us!

I will come back and post pictures of his first experience!