Taste Testing

The last couple of weeks have been busy ones for Lana. She hit several developmental milestones in a very short period, including rolling over consistently, passing items between her hands, reaching for things she wants, and noticing her feet. And by noticing her feet, I mean grabbing her feet and stuffing them into her mouth.

To be honest, pretty much everything within Lana’s reach now ends up in her mouth. She takes particular pleasure in noshing on magazines and catalogs. One might even call her a catalog connoisseur. She finds that Victoria’s Secret and Pottery Barn have a nice flavor, but when she’s feeling really indulgent nothing satisfies like Red Envelope.

Watching Lana gnaw on feet and magazines made me think it might be time to start feeding her solids, so I consulted my books and favorite baby sites for information on introducing solid foods. One of the articles I read listed “shows interest in adult food” as a good sign that your baby is ready to start on solids. What Lana does is more along the lines of, “lunges at adult food and attempts to wrench it from said adult’s hands”, so I figured the time was right.

With her doctor’s blessing, we introduced Lana to a small bowl of rice cereal mixed with breast milk. She took a few hesitant bites and let the cereal dribble down her face, enjoying the sensation of something other than breast milk or paper goods. The surprise only lasted for a minute, though. As I moved in with the fourth bite, she coolly grabbed the spoon from my hand and stuffed it into her mouth. The look on her face said, “I’m a baby, not an idiot, Mom. Spoon in mouth, spoon in bowl, spoon in mouth. Now give me something hard to do.”