My LIttle Birdie...

For the past 2 weeks or so I have been thinking and debating and basically agonizing over when to start Anne on solids. When she turned 5 months old at the end of last month I thought there would be no way possible that she would be ready for solids in 2 weeks, which was when I initially thought I would start solids. Then I asked my Dr. and she said to wait til Anne was 6.5 months old and showing very clear signs of wanting food, such as reaching for my food when I ate. I thought that answer solved it all and I would start in a month and a half. Well then on a whim, I sat her in the high chair, just to keep her occupied, and she sat beautifully! So that made me wonder if maybe she would be ready sooner. Then the past week or so she has been not sleeping so great. I have heard that a sign the need to start solids is when they start waking in the night when they have previously slept through. (Anne has been waking at 2 and NEEDING to eat...Daddy rocking her does not put her down anymore at 2 am.) So I'm debating and obsessing all this week. "Is she ready?" "What if she's not ready?" "Am I going to damaging her somehow by giving her solids too early?" "What's another two weeks?" "She's so young" "Is this going to affect nursing"...On and on and on. I have asked friends and coworkers when they started and I have read too many internet articles to count. But, I think today finally answered it for me. I was cooking dinner and snacking on an apple. Anne was getting really fussy and I thought "I'll just let her have a taste of this apple. See what she does". Well, Anne sucked the heck out of that apple! She really seemed to enjoy it. (I was holding it and she was just sucking the flesh...no choking hazards here.) I took it away and she didn't seem to care. Then a few minutes later she was fussy again, so I knelt down and showed her the apple, asking her if she wanted some. She immediately leaned forward, grabbed for my hands, and opened her mouth like a little birdie. She did this every single time afterwards too, and I offered her some more at least half a dozen more times. So, I guess the verdict's in...Anne let us know she is ready. This weekend I'll be taking a trip to the grocery store to buy some sweet potatoes and make my little sweet potato some baby food! Pictures to follow of course...