9 months = no more food?

Like everyone, we obviously assume our baby is perfect. Even when it comes to feeding solids, he would not only consume everything given to him voraciously, but he would literally grab spoons out of our hands and shove them in his mouth.

At least, for the first few months.

For some reason, around the 9 month mark, feeding solids has now become a challenge. He gets cranky, seals his mouth shut and turns his head away, and after a few minutes, just generally seems like he doesn't want to be in the high chair and doesn't want to eat. He's still taking his bottles fine and once he's out of the chair, his mood improves. There's nothing medically wrong and in every other regard, he remains our perfect baby. But the change has not only been sudden, but a bit discouraging; we want him to get the nutrients from food and it helps him sleep through the night, but we're stumped.

Has anyone else experienced this? Any tips for what might be helpful? He eats just fine at daycare, probably from the "peer pressure" of the other kids eating as well, but it used to be something he enjoyed and we could count on and now it's something we both kind of dread.