So Dugald is starting to eat some proper food. A bit of carrot here, a bit of baby rice there. And my head is spinning with science, heresay, opinion, myth and folklore about how to balance the delicate weaning process to avoid the terrors of faddy eating, asthma, fattiness, skinniness, sleeplessness and other assorted baby related disasters. Common advice from the scientists, the witches, and the 'wise elders' seems to be to vary the first proper food as much as possible. Carrot yesterday? Rice today and sweet potato tomorrow! Thereby supposedly ensuring an eclectic and sophisticated palate in later life, and less sulky plate pushing in his early years. But - how to remember what he ate? I can't trust my sleep deprived brain with this information. He could be eating nothing but carrot until he's 12! So - lunch-time Inventoid time - the weaning fridge magnet kit! Presenting draft 1: A nice flexible system - no oppressive boxes - just loose associations. If he's having 2 solids a day he gets two little magnets next to each day marker - or 3 or 1 or whatever. The set would include all the 'good' baby foods - so if you couldn't find the magnet you shouldn't feed it to the baby. Manufacturers of baby jars could give little magnets with them to use with this system as stupid little collectible freebies. The delux set could include light up day magnets which tell you what day of the week it is - and which repel any other magnets within 2 inches every 7 days - thereby self reseting that day at midnight. Now you won't forget what day it is because it'll be empty when you get up! weanmagnets.com is available - amazingly enough. And just to make sure I get less hate mail about this inventoid than I STILL get about the one from last year about mutilating moleskine notebooks - I do know that you don't give starbucks to babies. The roast is WAY too dark for their tiny little tummies.