"I waited 6 months for this?"

I'm sure this is what Jack was thinking when he took his first bite of rice cereal this past Saturday...homemade organic brown rice cereal, to be exact!  I was so excited about his first bites of "solid" food and spent the early part of Saturday morning in the kitchen with the blender and sifter grinding rice and sifting out the soft flour.  After I got the rice flour, I had to cook it and constantly whisk it for 10 minutes!  That "Earth's Best" box cereal was looking pretty good about this time!  Once the cereal was cooked I thinned it out with some milk, cooled it down, and we were ready to eat!  

Lollie and Pops and Grandma and Grandpa got early morning wake up Skype calls so they could be a part of the action.  Daddy was ready with the video camera and point and shoot camera to capture our sweet boy's reaction to his first taste of real food.  We put Jack in his high chair, put his bib on, and were ready to see what was going to happen.  

In my mind he was going to LOVE it...all my hard work making this special, wholesome baby food.  I mean I think I was waiting for him to just take the spoon and feed himself with a big toothless grin on his face the whole time.  Lets just say that was not the reaction he had to his cereal.  He looked puzzled at first, "Hey, what is she doing to me" and then annoyed "Seriously, this is what all the talk about solid food is about?  Give me the boob again."  And then just mad "Okay lady, I've had enough."  He never really spit it out or got tearful, but you could tell he wasn't the biggest fan.  I won't take it personally...yet!  I think that our biggest battle was the texture (as is the case with the majority of babies).  He couldn't really figure out what to do with it once it was in his mouth.  But have no fear, we will try and try again!

Even though Jack's first bites of solid food didn't go exactly how I had envisioned, it was a very special morning.  He is growing up so quickly and learning so many new things each and every day.  This fun memory just adds to our ever growing list of "firsts."  Here's to rice cereal!  Baby boy, you are well on your way to the good stuff...like chocolate chip cookies!

Happy 6 Months, Jack!

I can't believe that our precious baby is 6 months old!!  His 6 month birthday was yesterday.  What a wonderful adventure the past 6 months have been.  Our sweet boy has taught us so much in such a short period of time.  As parents, we have learned that sleep is overrated, eating is optional, and anything is possible with one hand (yes, even dusting baseboards with a baby strapped to your chest).  We have learned that a silly song, a funny face, or a goofy dance can turn tears into joyful giggles.  We have learned to give Tylenol slowly (too quickly and you have a massive spit up resulting in a mommy who sleeps in the guest room with the baby), to not leave a curious infant with paper close by (that resulted in a finger down the throat), and that it is ok to leave our angel with capable caregivers at the gym and church nursery (it only took me 5 months and 3 weeks to finally leave him with someone other than family).

We have learned that our pediatrician is a saint and that turtle toys won't cause seizures, that "crying" back at our baby won't cause emotional damage in his teenage years, and that involuntary arm movements in an infant are a-okay.

It has been reinforced that we have an amazing support system in our families...Lollie and Pops, Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Hollie, Uncle Russ, and Henry, Aunt Blair, and Aunt Morgan...wow!  How blessed are we?  Weekly and monthly visits, surprise gifts in the mail, emails, phone calls, and texts (to Dave of course) have helped to provide us reassurance and encouragement when we just weren't sure we were doing the right thing.

That precious tiny person sleeping in the room beside me has turned my world upside down...how thankful I am for that.  These have been the best 6 months of my life.  I will take the sleepless nights, missed meals, and dust bunnies for the love and laughter he has given me...the most precious sound in all the world is that little laugh that makes me weak in the knees.  Here's to the next 6 months (and the many, many, many more months after that)!!