Let's eat!

So she's just shy of five months and Emma already got to try rice cereal. Yesterday James and I agreed we'd mix some rice cereal together with breastmilk and water to let her try eating big girl style. She has been wanting to eat every two to two-and-a-half hours the past couple of days. Dr. Moore said that if she starts to want to eat more frequently, that is a big indicator that she's ready to try solids. I wouldn't necessarily say what we gave her yesterday was solid though. It was one tablespoon cereal mixed with FIVE tablespoons liquid. It was definitely interesting trying to feed her liquid with a spoon. And I'm not sure how much of it actually made it down the hatch. Most of it dripped down the chin, rolled into the neck and dampened the bib.

We only fed her this after she had a full nursing session, which is what our books told us to do. We make sure she gets her nutrients from nursing and then just try to add in some extras. Dr. Moore told us at her 4-month appointment that we were a go to start giving her solids if we wanted. I told him we wanted to wait at least until the 5-month marker. But Emma has just seemed to be giving us signs she wanted more. James said this morning, "Is it better to wait until a specific date on the calendar or to watch our daughter and let her tell us when she's ready?" Daddy is smart. It wasn't going to hurt to try.

Here she is laughing at Daddy in between bites (i.e., dribbles).

Toward the end, she was more interested in chewing on the spoon than eating what was on the spoon. I seriously love her facial expressions.

I'm not sure how often we're going to give her cereal. It might turn into a once-a-day thing or just an every-now-and-then occurrence. Yesterday was a huge turning point because not only did we offer her some cereal, but I also fed her two ounces of formula before bedtime. Emma had been exclusively breastfed up until then. She had nursed pretty well for a half hour but still seemed fussy afterward. She kept frantically trying to stuff anything she could get her hands on into her mouth. So I went and mixed the smallest amount of formula I could into a bottle.

She made a huge mess of drinking out of the bottle but actually sucked down those two ounces of formula pretty well. I couldn't believe she had nursed so much and then also wanted to drink more! The look on her face as she drank out of the bottle was precious -- she stared into my eyes so intently and it was like she was thinking, "How am I able to look at you so straight on while I'm eating and WHAT is this new taste? I'm not sure I like it but I am drinking anyway..."

James and I agreed we'd try once a day to give her a small amount of formula and see if she takes it, but only after nursing first. We are going to continue to nurse her as her main menu but add just a couple ounces of formula to her diet to see if that changes anything. We'll keep you posted on how the rice cereal adventure goes, too.

I love every step of this parenting journey. Emma is really becoming a little lady now and has so much personality. It seems every day brings a new milestone ... like yesterday, in addition to her food excitement, she also figured out how to turn the pages of the books we read!

P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WYATT! The official teenage years begin TODAY! I can't believe how much you've grown. James and I are very proud of our little brother and can't wait to see what you accomplish next. We love you!