Hi Alice/Sparky. The only thing I can think of is that you might want to steam the veg until it's a bit more revoltingly overcooked, so that it smushes up a bit more in his mouth. It may be that his tongue thrust is still pretty active, so he's chewing but then his tongue is pushing the food back out. Which is fine, tongue thrust is lost at different ages. Has there been nothing in his nappies to indicate that he has swallowed anything? And to be honest I'm not in love with your husband's dry veg thesis... the baby doesn't know that we conventionally slather our veg in dleicious fatty and salty liquids, he's just going 'blimey, what's this orange thing she's given me?' Plus a lot of people, myself among them, love a bit of plain broccoli. Talking of which, has he tried broccoli? Or sweet potato chips? Apart from that he sounds like he's doing well, though, really, three-quarters of a pear is an enormous and impressive amount. Given that he really can't be expected to know the difference between fruit and veg it might just be that he prefers the texture of soft fruit. I do hope so, cos that would make your life much easier if you just have to overcook things for a while.