Here are some "soft" food ideas, of course all should be in tiny pieces:

Slice of American cheese (or other soft cheese)
Soft fruits (without the skin)
Cooked soft veggies
Oatmeal
Macaroni and cheese
Grilled cheese
Cooked egg whites
Meatloaf
Veggie burger
Baked, mashed, or boiled potatoes
Waffles, pancakes, or muffins
Gerber Wagon Wheels (these are not soft, but instantly dissolve in their mouth)

These are just a few ideas. If any are too textured, just kinda mash them to your DS liking. Hope this helps!!

How about some soups? It would be a pretty smooth texture but a little differnt than say baby food or a drink.

If you get your son to eat macaroni and other noodles, there are tons of possibilities like spaghetti and other noodle dishes~maybe even some of the kinds that come in a pack.

If he likes pancakes~try French Toast. My DS is 2 1/2 and LOVES it and he calls it sticky toast. I suppose the syrup is his favorite but we don'[t load it on.

DS also liked some lunch meats~especially ham. I don't know if you'll have a meat eater on your hands or not but our DS just doesn't like to eat much of most meats but LOVES ham and most times roast beef.

I guess in general you could just give him bits and pieces of things you're eating and see what he likes. We did that a lot when DS was younger. Just be sure that if one of you don't like something, you don't let the child know that. Keep a straight face. Most kids will eat hot and spicy stuff and not say anything but learn that it's hot from adults, same with sour stuff.

Good luck! Once they start eating more adult food it becomes easier to prepare them food and to go somewhere. :-)

~Leslie~

We found that in addition to much of the above, our son really loved casseroles. You sound like you are still feeding him from a spoon, but many of the casseroles work for finger foods too. Sure they are a little messy, but they often have larger pieces like potatoes or pasta that the kids can latch on to. I always cut any meats like chicken or turkey into smaller pieces that a child could eat before I put it in the casserole. Meats like ham go through the blender first.

The soup, as mentioned above, is another great finger food if you use minestrone or vegetable and don't add too much water. Sometimes when you have a picky little eater, you can get them to eat a variety of vegetables in the soup without them being aware of it.

I agree about not telling your ds that you don't like certain foods. Keep a straight face and let him decide. I hate olives and dh hates tomatoes, but ds doesn't know that and so far eats both.

Our almost 11month DS loves 'grown up' food. His favourites are quiche (mashed) ravioli (cut into tiny squares) mashed banana, roast chicken (he likes a drumstick to gnaw on) and Vegemite on toast (he is an Aussie boy, after all!)
Basically, I let him sample whatever we are eating for dinner.Some things get spat out, but he seems to enjoy most food.

Thank you for all the suggestions. I will try the really mashed up stuff first. He seems to really freak out with anything that doesn't seem mushy on his tongue...and possibly a touch of paranoid momma!

Anyone of the canned vegetable soups. dilute as usual heat and then pour off the liquid. that leaves the child with a bowl of finger ready soft tidbits.

Jill,
This may sound horrible since I'm guessing your a first time Mom but kids can choke on really anything~if that's why you're paranoid. Even something that you would think is safe, could slip down they're throat too fast or they could have too much. Same thing happens to us adults. The first couple times you freak out. Then you realize its normal and usually it's just that something went down the wrong pipe as we say. Know how when a kid kind of chokes, people are trying to get the item out of they're mouth? Even to this day~DS is 2 1/2~if he starts to cough or choke, he'll put his fingers in his mouth. We realized he associated us doing that to get it out as how to stop the choking! Then he ends up gagging himself and I guess it works. Here I am rambling on and probably freaking you out because of the subject. Trust me, things that scare you when they're really young, won't bother you as much once you're used to it more. Does this make sense to any other mothers who have older kids? Or am I a nutcase? :-)

~Leslie~

Jill-
DS ate things like steamed zucchini and carrots, cubed avacado, canned peaches and pears. graham crackers are great- they dissolve really easily.cheese or meat tortelini is great, since the meat inside is really small and the noodles are easy to grab. oh, and frozen peas have always been a hit. when DS was smaller, I'd puree zucchini with a little tofu and he'd gobble it up. Tofu cubes in chicken broth, if you're into that sort of thing, are easy for little ones to eat too. and it's a great source of protein.

You might look into a cookbook for children- might find one at your library- that would have more good ideas for kids that age. it's been a while.. I can't remember that age so well. :)

Carrots, sweet potatoes, applesauce, bananas, peaches, baked beans (got a good story with that one) scrambled eggs. My dd loved them all. I tried pastas but I wouldn't recommend that for awhile as they suck up the spaghetti and that can cause them to choke. Mac and cheese should be fine tho. My dd loved cheese and crackers and yogurt! Would you believe she won't eat a mashed or baked potatoe! If it aint fries she won't eat them. I baked french fries and she developed an early love for ketchup!

Leslie,
Isn't it funny how if a baby coughs or gags on something everyone assumes they're "choking?" My grandmother starts banging my sweet girl on the back everytime something doesn't go down quite right (like when she first started trying out cheerios, and they'd get on her tongue in a funny place and make her gag, she wasn't choking, it was just a gag reflex!), and it DRIVES ME CRAZY! ANYWAY! I was so afraid to give her things at first, but if you don't give it to them, they're never going to learn to eat foods with texture! Timberly (she's 9 mos) loves those toddler things(I think they're gerber) with the meat and sauce inside the ravoli (I do, too since they're nice and neat!) cut into quarters. Also cut up green beans, little pieces of chicken tenders (the kind you get in the freezer section), and LOVES TOAST! I put a little butter on it and she practically inhales the stuff! One thing I am anal about, though, if she's eating prepared babyfood or anything else with peas in it, I make sure to mush them up first...