5 Months

On Valentine's Day, one day before she turned 5 months old, we fed Evelyn solid food for the first time. It was a smashing success--it only took about 20 minutes to get three teaspoons of food down her gullet. (Those of you who have never introduced a baby to eating from a spoon are probably scratching your heads at why I would describe that as a smashing success, but believe me, it was.) "Solid" is a total misnomer in this case. We're not giving her rare steaks (sorry, Dad), but rather rice cereal which is thinned out to the consistency of soup.

Alex and I took turns spooning her cereal into her mouth. When we didn't get her next bite ready quickly enough, she would lunge forward toward the spoon with her mouth wide open like a hungry little baby bird. She dribbled food down her chubby little chin, grabbed at the spoon and cup, and amidst all this adorableness... I cried.

I guess it's because she's growing up so fast, and because I know that my days of nursing my infant are coming to an end. It was a bit of a struggle for the first couple of weeks, but now it's one of the best parts of my day. Having her sweet, warm little belly snuggled up against mine, her tiny soft hand resting on me, and just feeling her breathe is profoundly relaxing. It's a wonderful feeling as her parent to know that I'm providing everything that she needs so naturally and easily. It almost makes me feel like I can do the rest of the whole parenting thing.