solid foods

The role of parenthood is full of many "firsts" and I must say, most of them are amazing, but every once in a while, I come across a first that sets me back a bit. At Sophia's 4 month doctors appointment we got the green light for solid foods. He suggested that I start her on rice cereal for the month, move on to vegetables at 5 months and then fruits at 6 months. Well, I was sharing this information with some people a while back, and felt as if I had just told them I'd be giving my little girl bubblegum and soda starting next week. Seriously, these people thought that I was out of my mind. I never knew that there was a controversy over foods specifically made for babies. If it wasn't a good idea to feed them to her, then our pediatrician surely wouldn't have given us the go-ahead, and I'm pretty sure that Gerber would be out of business, right?

So, as our pictures lately have proven, we started the rice cereal, and everything has been going great. Not only does Sophia eat almost 2 tablespoons each night, somtimes she gets a special afternoon feeding too! She holds her mouth open anticipating a spoon full of goodness coming towards her. And she'd do ANYTHING to feed herself. :)

Fast forward to this month. Month 5. We are now entering the highly-controversial land of solid foods. Where apprarently, everyone and their mother has an opinion on what and when I should feed my baby.

As much as I don't like conflict, or confrontation, I have to say, the thing that I have learned the most is that not everyone is going to agree on the decisions that Matthew and I make for Sophia. But you can be sure that we are educated in our decisions. We talk (sometimes to the death) about each and every situation we encounter before we decide how to handle it. What it always comes down to, and always will, is the safety of our little girl. We love her more than words could ever describe, and we'd never purposefully make a choice that could be dangerous for her now or in the future.