Oh I can totally relate. The only thing I can say is not to get yourself too worked up over it. We started the gerber puffs at like 8 months (only half a puff, mind you). It seemed to take forever before he stopped gagging on them. Now he's a little over 9 months and he can get like 4 of them in his mouth.
He also likes the little gerber vegetable crackers broken up into 4 pieces. Loves them!!
And little bits of banana he will eat off my finger.
And that was it! That's it! Little cooked carrots, bits of sweet potato, bits of pasta or pancake, even pastina - all those "1st" finger foods that kids should love - was having nothing to do with it. Still not having anything to do with it. I gave him a stage 3 food not too long ago that had little bits of pasta in it. He had the 1st spoonfull and literally threw up. Just threw up. Unbelievable.
I'm a bit encouraged because he's taken to the gerber cereal bars that I break up into teeny tiny pieces. Like the previous poster said, I just ignore it. I don't make a big deal out of it. I just keep trying. I keep trying the little ditalini pasta's. If he tries it, he tries it. But something will always be on his tray.
So he's over 9 months and all he'll eat are gerber puffs, crackers, banana and cereal bars. And he's not a big fan of the purees either so if your son is at least chowing down on that, consider yourself lucky. I still have to give my DS a bottle in the middle of the night because he's hungry.
Hey, they dont eat the purees forever so something has to eventually click in their little brains, right??