First Solid Food

Ruby had her first taste of solid food tonight!  We had planned for her to have some avocado on her 5 month birthday which is Thursday.  But, we had nachos for dinner tonight and we were having avocado with it...so we gave in to the temptation.

These pictures are all out of order but I am too tired to fix it right now.

 Corey fed her some on a spoon.  She did NOT spit it out.  She made a funny face but then acted like she wanted more. :)

 The first thing we did was put some on her tray.  She pushed it all around, mushed it, squished it, but did not put it in her mouth.

 A teeny bit came back out at one point.

Overall, she really seemed to enjoy the avocado. 

The original plan had been to wait till she was 6 months old.  Up until a year, she really only *needs* breastmilk. It's the very best thing for her.  Starting too many solids early on can cause early weening which could affect her health. So it is important for us to not overdo it.  She is getting the most perfect food in the world which keeps her healthy and her brain growing strong.   

But, in the past couple of weeks she had hit many readiness signs for experimenting with food.  She is holding her head up completely well (been doing that for a LONG time), reaching out and grabbing things, especially with her fingers (pincer grasp).  She is sitting up pretty well for a minute or so at a time, unassisted.  And she has been particularly interested in our food, smacking her lips and smiling at us and watching us eat.  I was fairly certain that her tongue thrust reflex was pretty much gone as well. I was right when she didn't just try to push the spoon out of her mouth and immediately thrust the food out when it was put in her mouth.  So, with all the readiness signs there we decided to go ahead with a little mushed up bit of avocado.  It is the newest fad in perfect first foods. :)  It is really a very healthful food.  All kinds of goodness packed in there.

Since she has already shown a tendency toward food intolerance (milk and peanuts when I eat them), we are going to be very slow, very observant and thoughtful about what/when/how much we introduce.  This will probably be the only food she has for a while.  There really isn't a rush.  But the first pictures and experience were pretty fun for everyone!  Katie and Noah were excited to see her eat, and I know Corey enjoyed feeding her something too.

But I am in NO hurry for her to eat very much more. 

 I want her to stay my sweet nursing baby for quite a bit longer!

UPDATE:
Well.....it looks like I will get to keep my baby little for a while longer.
It is 4:19am and I've been up with little Ruby since 1:00 am when she woke up coughing and choking.
:(
Her symptoms are exactly what they were during her roughest reflux period.  I did some internet research while I'm sitting here awake and yeah...it looks like in some babies introducing food can make reflux worse.  I will definitely not be in a hurry to try again any time soon. Say a prayer this passes quickly!