The calendar is marked. January 21st is circled. Abby is turning 6 months old. Although this should be a time of excitement and joy I can’t help feel nervous and a bit sad. My little baby is no longer little, she is growing up so fast.

As nervous first time parents, my husband and I visit the library and take out every book we can find on starting solids. Of course the information we find only leads to even more confusion…go figure. Should we feed Abby all green veggies then all orange veggies? Or should we start with rice cereal? But wait! Some say that rice cereal is the devil and we should begin with free-range, organic, grain fed chicken eggs or liver. Some books even recommend feeding her exactly what we are eating. The choices were endless and everyone seemed to be an expert. The first foods you feed a baby are so important. This seemed to be the only thing the books agreed on!

After carefully reading as many books as we could we decided that her first food should be chicken and breast milk. As unappetizing as this sounded to me it had all the nutrition she required and had low chances of an allergic reaction.

We decided that we would start her solids on a Saturday morning. It was a few days before her 6 month mark but I really wanted my husband to be a part of this milestone, as it will be one of the only milestones we will have some control over. That morning he went to the store and bought Abby her organic, grain fed, chicken breast (the books scared me about all the additives so I thought we should play it safe for her first time. Thanks ‘mom-guilt’). I boiled it up in a frying pan, as it is recommended that poached is best. Then I puréed it with some breast milk. It looked like old fashioned paste, the kind that was used in schools, very unappetizing. We sat down together at the dinning room table, my husband and I with our breakfast and Abby with hers.

Like tourists at a national monument we had cameras at the ready. My husband carefully put a small amount on her spoon and brought it too her mouth. She opened wide as always, expecting an empty spoon. The look of shock and surprise on her face when she discovered that there was food was priceless. We allowed her to take the spoon and try and feed herself. With chicken covering her face and arms she banged the spoon on her tray and smiled. Chicken and breast milk was a success!

I am now infused with a sense of excitement. I can’t wait to try new foods with her and enjoy her reaction to new tastes that I have become accustom too. Time to let the culinary adventure begin!