Rice, Rice Baby

I had wanted to wait until 6 months to start Samantha on solids, but since she is really showing signs of readiness and since we got the okay from Samantha's pediatrician to try her on solids, we went ahead and gave it a try. She just seems to be very anxious to do things ahead of time, so even though it's a little sad for me, I won't hold her back!

Signs that indicate baby is developmentally ready for solids include:

• Head control. Your baby needs to be able to keep his head in a steady, upright position. - CHECK!
• Losing the "extrusion reflex." To keep solid food in his mouth and then swallow it, your baby needs to stop using his tongue to push food out of his mouth. - CHECK!
• Sitting well when supported. Even if he's not quite ready for a highchair, your baby needs to be able to sit upright to swallow well. - CHECK!
• Chewing motions. Your baby's mouth and tongue develop in sync with his digestive system. To start solids, he should be able to move food to the back of his mouth and swallow. As he learns to swallow efficiently, you may notice less drooling — though if your baby's teething, you might still see a lot of drool. - CHECK!
• Significant weight gain. Most babies are ready to eat solids when they've doubled their birth weight (or weigh about 15 pounds) and are at least 4 months old. - CHECK!
• Growing appetite. He seems hungry — even with eight to ten feedings of breast milk or formula a day. - CHECK!
• Curiosity about what you're eating. Your baby may begin eyeing your bowl of rice or reaching for a forkful of fettuccine as it travels from your plate to your mouth. - CHECK!

We decided to feed her in the morning so that if she did have a reaction, it wouldn't occur during the night. And we did it on the weekend so Daddy could be there. The experiment was a smashing success! I was excited to finally put together Sam's new highchair, and she was very pleased to be sitting in it. I mixed up just a teaspoon or two of brown rice cereal with breast milk so that it was very thin and ran easily off the spoon to prevent her from gagging. Sam seemed to know right away what she was supposed to do! She did a great job of sucking the cereal off of the spoon and swallowing it. She hardly made a mess! Since the first day she has had cereal almost every day. She is doing better and better and she is definitely learning and catching on quickly. She is already opening her mouth for the spoon now. Yesterday I wanted to give her a few drops of water to help digest the cereal, so I held my glass up to her mouth and she automatically knew what to do. She opened her mouth for it and sipped the water! Such a big girl. We're going to stick with the rice cereal for quite a while still, but I'm really getting excited to start making baby food for her!

This chair is great! I feel so grown up.

Working the spoon like a pro.

Keep it coming, Mom!

Nom, nom, nom...

Very first bites!

Yum!