Lydia's Newest Milestone

Thirty times a day I hear the words "I'm hungry!" Half my waking hours are spent in the kitchen area, either making a meal, serving a meal, or cleaning up a meal. And when you consider I myself am a human dairy farm for our youngest child, providing nourishment for my children is, in fact, a 24/7 endeavor. I'm thankful we are able to provide for them, but it can be exhausting. So I had hoped that Lydia could wait about six months before she needed anything other than breastmilk. That idea quickly changed about four in the morning last week after I had been up five times already trying to soothe a hungry baby back to sleep. Rice cereal time.

I have a love/hate relationship with this milestone of life. Any milestone with my children is fun- a permanent memory made and documented in pictures and video. Brooke's first bite of food was in the first house Bill and I lived in as a married couple. Madeline first tasted solid food at our church's young adults New Years party. Isaac first ate cereal in our home that was up for sale after we planned to build our new home. These memories are so much fun. The work involved---another story. Feeding a baby requires about an hour's time out of the day, even grosser, smellier diapers, messy spit-up that stains clothes, and extra planning when on an outing. You get spoiled when they are tiny infants in the food department, especially if exclusively breastfeeding. Aside from the awkwardness of public nursing (I wear a cover, but still...) there are no bottles to wash, no formula to pack, no fear of running out of food.

So last Wednesday, it was Lydia's turn to make a memory. She did well with her first taste of cereal; not a fan at first, but now at a week later she waves her arms in excitement when I put her in the Bumbo and she sees the cereal container. I started her on bananas yesterday and she LOVED them. It's so adorable to watch her try to eat her bib the entire time I feed her. Even if it is so much extra work, the additonal one-on-one time with her is priceless.

Enjoy the pictures from the first meal- she is such a beauty!!

Bon appetit!!