Starting Solids

We gave Joshua his first serving of rice cereal last night. I had planned all along to start giving him solids at the six month mark. But about a week or so ago he started waking up around 4:00 am several days in a row. This is so completely unusual for him that I figured he must be getting hungry and we needed to bump up the solids timeline. But I'm such a preparer that I hadn't done all my research yet, so I sort of jumped in head first.

"Hmmm...interesting."

Before I even gave him his first spoonful, he was grabbing for the bowl. Once he tasted the food, he sat there thinking about it for a moment. Then he took another bite and decided he really liked it! He would reach for the spoon and wave his arms.

"Gimme, gimme, gimme..."

He had to learn to swallow though, because it would just pool in his mouth and then he would smile and it would all come dribbling out.

"I LIKE it!"

It was so fun to start this new phase! But I'm also feeling behind in knowing how to move forward. I have so many questions. How quickly can start experimenting with new foods? What do I want to experiment with? What is going to be the best way to have things ready for him with grandparents? When can we start the sippy cup? I have some books and resources and I'll certainly be checking with those, but there will have to be an element of just giving things a try and see how he does.

He's just growing by leaps and bounds!