Four years ago I had a crazy idea. I wanted to start a blog. So my husband and I sat side-by-side on the couch brainstorming names for this little idea I had. We each had a laptop at the ready and as we shared possible blog names back and forth, we searched for them on the internet to see if they were taken. When we came up with the name “teeny tiny foodie” it felt right and it was available. Woohoo! So on January 15, 2012 teeny tiny foodie, aka my “Internet Baby”, was born. I came up with the tagline “One little hungry baby and a whole lot of mess” and off I went!
I started the blog as a way to share my experiences as a first-time mom introducing my baby to solid foods. I knew I wanted to cook Eliana’s baby food and I wanted to expose her to a variety of flavors and textures right from the start. I loved putting together new taste combinations for Eliana’s purees and adding a few spices and surprises to her foods, too. Eliana was overjoyed with this new thing called eating and happily tried everything I offered.
But, as much as Eliana’s adventures in eating were exciting and fun, they were also overwhelming for me. For example, I was sure she was going to choke or throw up everywhere or spray food all over our apartment. And everybody had a different opinion about the “right way” to introduce a baby to solids. Adding to the challenges, there was a whole new schedule to figure out. I was supposed to feed Eliana two “meals” of solid foods per day on top of breastfeeding and bottle feeding, and this was supposed to happen in between her three naps and any outings or play groups we wanted to attend!
It felt like a whole lot to deal with and I needed an outlet for it all. So I wrote. I wrote about my mission to make all of her food using only real ingredients and mostly seasonal produce. I shared different recipes I created as well as my ideas and tips I was learning about how to feed a baby and ways to expose babies and young kids to food concepts. I offered some insight into my, ahem, particular ways of thinking about things like messy eaters and the utter importance of a bib. I’m aware that I was little nutty!
But who would read this blog thing I was starting? I knew I could eventually get my family and some friends to read teeny tiny foodie, but who else? I kept writing and sharing and badgering friends and family into reading and blanketing my neighborhood in Brooklyn with flyers about the website. Eventually, people I didn’t know started to pay attention. And over time my little internet baby grew and grew. Now we are four years in and I’m feeling amazed, lucky and humbled at where we are right now.
Four years ago I never imagined there would be people we’ve never met from across the world who care about our stories.
Four years ago I hadn’t yet realized that my little blog would become a resource for tips on feeding babies and young kids.
Four years ago I certainly couldn’t have dreamt that teeny tiny foodie would be nominated for, much less win (win!!!) an award for the best recipes for the whole family on the web. (I still pinch myself when I think about that.)
Four years ago I didn’t know I’d flood the website with ideas about how to get young kids involved in the kitchen or write and design illustrated recipes for kids.
And four years ago I couldn’t have conceived that my tiny baby and I would be teaching an after-school cooking class together in Manhattan.
So as teeny tiny foodie turns 4 today, we want to say thank you, dear reader. Thank you so much for your love and support because none of this would have happened without you. Whether you’ve been with us from the beginning or you discovered us recently, we appreciate you and hope you’ll stick around to see where we go.
Xoxo,
Jory and Eliana
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