Eating has never been so fun

Rice cereal

Dear JJ,

Suffice to say you come from a family that enjoys food- and for the past four months you have been on liquids - and then we got the word from the pediatrician that we could start feeding you.  Yup- you love your food!

So we started - very gingerly with rice cereal. The pediatrician warned us that your mouth was more use to breast than a spoon, and that the actions were different- and he was right.  More of it ended up on us than in you-- but we persisted.  A few days later we were in Atlanta and I fed  you some mashed potatoes-- they seemed to go down much easier (Norwegian's love potatoes) - so apparently less runny food the better)

I was eating some oatmeal while you were on my lap - looking at it.  So I put a bit in your mouth- and you liked it.  Your mom looked at me and admonished about the sugar and the milk and the oats. I assured her that I didn't give you sugar- that the oats are ok, and that you have been drinking milk. "I should know better than to argue with a surgeon," as she laughed.

So, now every morning you sit in your high chair as I feed you - either rice cereal or oats-- and you love it.  In fact, you are eating a lot. Your mouth goes after that spoon like a frog at a fly.

Feeding you is just one of the great joys of being a dad.  I never knew I could enjoy food with you so much. Someday son - we will share a burger - but I won't forget these moments of watching you take a rice bath!

Love,

Dad