Aaw tasha, look at him grinning away, what a little sweetie. You're lucky he'll smile for the camera. James smiles all day long but show him a camera and out comes The Frown.
Tasha doing your own food is dead easy, maybe you could give it a try on day if you have some spare time (but don't worry if you haven't got the time, remember most of us are on our first baby! we know you're run off your feet)
All you really need is a hand blender and a sieve, I got my blender for about £3 from asda. All I do is peel and chop an apple/carrot/pear/potato/sweet potato or whatever, and pop it in a steamer or a pan with a little water until it's soft, then put it in a deep jug, blend it with the blender and if it needs it I push it through a sieve (to remove pea or sweetcorn shells or tough fibres for example. Mashed potato etc doesn't normally need it) But to be honest I'm doing away with sieveing in a week or so cos he's coping fine when I forget to sieve!
One of J's favourites is apricot puree, which is just a handful of dried apricots stewed in small amount of water for 10-15 min until soft and squidgy, blended and mixed with a little baby rice, porridge, rusk or petit filous as they taste quite strong and zingy on their own. I'm going to try it with a few dried prunes too.
You can store the purees in the freezer in old baby food jars, or small tupperware pots, and just pop them in the microwave for a minute or two to defrost.