solids for beginners

Plunket says not to start solids until at least 4 montsh and when they are startting to show signs (can support their head, can take food from a spoon etc) your plunket nurse should give you a dvd about it soon. Generally before that age their digestive systems arent developed enough to deal with the solids I think.

I would say if hes hungry to give him more milk, however farex or baby rice with breastmilk or formula is a good starter, it gets really runny so the consistancy isnt that different.

In terms of making your own, awesome idea! To start with I just did single food (ie- not mixing flavours) as to find out what bubby likes, give them the same thing for a couple of days then try a new taste).

For veges I either boiled them or steamed them in the microwave and blended until smooth with a bit of the water they wrere cooked in.
Meats like chicken you can steam or boil the same (although I think steaming keeps in more of the nutrients) then blend aswell.

I mixed all sorts of things with the farex (still have the bag too, it lasts for ages!) esp puree apple/apricot etc for breakfasts :)

If you dont have a blender you can push it through a sieve, but that takes soooo long!

Another thing I found was getting ice cube trays with lids ($5 at warehouse!) and freezing the purees so you can just defrost a small amount. Also saving the baby food jars are useful for all kinds of things.

Hope that helps! sorry for the novel!