Solid Food!

It is amazing how something so seemingly insignificant as smashed carrots can make such a big difference in our lives.  I guess that’s what parenthood is really all about - small seemingly insignificant things making huge differences in your life.  Still, carrots? 

I knew that the fact that Safia wouldn’t take a bottle was adding stress to our lives, and was making everything seem so much harder than it really was, but I didn’t know how much it was affected our mental sanity until it was no longer an issue.  Enter the mashed carrots.  Safia started eating solid foods, and drinking from a sippy cup.  Huge sigh of relief.  She can be fed by someone other than me!  Rube can meet all of her needs.  What a difference it has made!  She has taken to eating vigorously, the look in her eye seems to be telling us, “Finally, this is all I wanted all along!”  We’re going slowly because we’re introducing solid foods a little early.  So far, it’s been rice cereal, carrots, avocado, and sweet potatoes.  Also, breast milk out of a sippy cup.  She doesn’t seem to have a favorite so far, as long as she can stuff it in her mouth, she’s happy. 

At times, I still do find myself questioning whether we introduced solid food too early.  As with everything with parenting, there are lots of people with lots of opinions.  Some people adamantly believe that you should solely breast feed until the child is at least one year old.  We had originally planned to wait until she was six months, but once the doctor gave us the go ahead, there was no hesitation.  Well almost.  Every once in a while, I worry we introduced solid foods because we needed to, not because it was the best thing for her.  I find myself being defiant and almost defensive when I tell people we’ve started her on solid foods.  But then reality sets in – what is best for us is often what’s best for Safia.  We’re better parents because we have more patience, because feeding her is not anxiety-ridden and I’m not feeling as trapped because Rube can feed her.  And most importantly, she is loving eating solid foods.  There’s not much anyone can say to me to convince me we made a mistake when she’s grabbing the spoon to feed herself and smearing food all over her face!

In other news, she’s really starting to move around, no crawling but she’s mastered rolling and I don’t think that it’s going to be long until she’s figured out she can roll around the room.  She’s also starting to skootch around.  I’m not sure I’m ready for this mobility, but she sure is.  She’s also teething – her preferred teething comfort is our fingers, but she does try to put everything in her mouth.  The amount of drool she’s producing is amazing. 

This weekend we celebrated Rube’s birthday.  We had people over on Saturday night and rolled an insane amount of sushi.  Safia enjoyed the party, and went to bed like a champ, so I could enjoy the party too!