Good eats for all

After much internal debate and waffling back and forth aloud to anyone who would listen, I broke down and introduced solids to Henry today. All the angst was due to the fact that there are varying opinions about the correct age at which to introduce solids-- as with anything and everything else related to parenting, of course. Henry's pediatrician gave us the go-ahead to introduce rice cereal a little while ago, and many pediatricians do support introducing solids at four months. However, there is also a significant amount of research that advocates for later introduction at 6 months, as a way to reduce the chance of allergies, asthma, and other various conditions like eczema. Weighing everything out, it seemed like maybe if I just tried giving Henry a spoonful or two of solids to gauge his readiness, there wouldn't be much harm. Henry had been showing all the signs that he was ready for solids for several weeks, and honestly, being the sole food source for a large, growing baby has been getting pretty tiresome. He still wants to be nursed every two hours, and has been waking up hungry during the night lately. So, those were my justifications for potentially being a bad mommy and dooming Henry to a lifetime of itchiness, food allergies, and/or wheezing.

This said, I think all of Henry's signs of readiness have been very real. When I whipped out the little plastic spoon, he had a look on his face like "Finally, lady! It's about time I get to try this thing out!" I only mixed a teeny, tiny amount of rice cereal for him, and it disappeared very, very quickly. With only a small amount lost to the bib. Henry couldn't get enough of the stuff. As you can see in the first video below, the smiley boy enjoyed his intro to the world of solids. This video captures his very first spoonful of solid food ever, and the resulting grin. How could you deprive a baby of such happiness?







Later this evening, Brian and I took Henry with us to our favorite Chinese restaurant, where he behaved like an angel. Apparently, the rice cereal had contented him enough to patiently watch us eat while he played with his toys. It always feels like a triumph when we have a successful meal out with our little dining companion.

A relaxing day today followed lots of action for Henry during our trip to Pittsfield on Friday and Saturday. Henry, Brian and I joined a great celebration for my grandfather's 80th birthday, where Henry also met his second cousin (or however you call the formal name for my cousin's son), Quinn. Ever the party animal, Henry missed out on virtually all of his naps for the day, putting him into a tailspin of baby insomnia for Friday and Saturday nights. The almost hourly waking cast us back to the days of early babyhood. Yaaawwnnnnn. I'm hoping that he's down for a good span of several hours tonight, and makes a return to his status as the miracle sleeping baby. Keep your fingers crossed for us...