There were a few things I was adamant about in regards to raising our daughter. One was I wanted her on a semi-firm schedule, and the other was I did not want to feed her solids until she turned 6 months. Mainly because we have family history of digestion issues on both sides of the family, and everything I read said the best way to avoid that in babies was to wait to feed them solids until 6 months. So wait we did. Kyle tried to sneak in licks of things here and there, but he completely respected my feelings on this one and agreed waiting was best for her.

About a week before she turned 6 months, she started showing all the signs that she was ready for food: interest in what we were eating, waking early from naps, and merging two of her liquid feedings into one giving time for real food. If there’s anything you might not know about me, it’s I’m a little stubborn. Just a little. And don’t listen to a word my family says about me being anything more than a little, wink, wink. So I made my sweet little girl wait until her 6 month birthday to let her eat anything. Mommy knows best, right?

Saturday was the big day. We got up, and fed her sweet potatoes right after her morning nursing session. A whole tablespoon worth : ) I fully expected her to not really like them, and make a complete mess out of things. Kyle on the other hand was totally shocked she was so messy. He thought we’d be the one with the clean child, haha. And he was surprised to see swallowing food is not a natural reaction, it’s a learned skill.

Experiencing this as a family was so fun. Her faces were adorable. She definitely did not like them, but kept opening her mouth for more, so we kept feeding her until her tablespoon was gone. Sweet potatoes were everywhere, bath time was definitely warranted at the end, and Baxter discovered she’s actually worth something to him now. He’s been waiting her whole life for this!

So far she’s had sweet potatoes and peas, and sucked on a carrot. She still doesn’t like the potatoes much, but seems to really like peas. She’s learning how to swallow her food, and we’re learning how to feed her without getting it everywhere. We’re all having a blast!