Gosh first BLS are very exciting!!!! I felt incredibly lost too when we first started but just last week I thought how natural it all is now. You are doing it all right, DD may not have put any in her mouth because she was interested in the feel and new look of the cool new play things you have given her! Just keep offering each time she is showing interest or whenever you are eating, dont force it. You will be suprised at how soon she realises she can gobble that food up and then you'll be guarding your plate We tried lots of different steamed vegies and baked vegies cut into chips too, a firm favourite became english muffins! Now at almost 9 months she loves everything....especially what Mummy has, even if she has had her 1st lunch LOL. At 6 months DD was pretty small still and we would put towels in her highchair to make her sit up a bit higher. HTH.

As for the mess, I havent combated that yet