Rice Is Nice

Sunday, August 14th was Sophia's 5-month birthday. As an extra-special big-girl treat, we decided to let her experience the wonderful world of solid foods. The girl has been eyeing our dinners and mimicking our chewing motions for weeks now. In lieu of birthday cake, we opted for a gentler, kinder first food—mushy rice cereal. We strapped Sophia into her high chair and bibbed her up. I tried the concoction first to make sure it was edible (I suppose starchy tasting water is edible), and then I spooned up a small bite for the babe. The little birdie cheep-cheeped with beak open wide, held the mush in her sweet mouth for a moment, and worked the bite back and down and swallowed. And smiled. And looked at me with an excitement that said, "More!" What wasn't spilled was eaten heartily and happily.

I love my little birdie baby, the one who each day loses a small piece of her babyness and grants me glimpses of her lovely girlish charm. Who knew that mushy rice cereal could make a mommy laugh and cry in the same breath.