My prince loves his rice cereal

There are two things I've done with each of our children that would send any of today's pediatricians into long dissertations on the harm I'm inflicting. One of them involves solid foods. Rice cereal to be more exact.

All the books, doctors and experts lecture parents that a child should not be introduced to any solid food until at least four months of age. Alena made it closer to this recommended age than any of the others and that was due only to my new mom paranoia. But even she was being fed from a bowl, not just a bottle, by three months.

I learned with Alivia that babies actually take to a spoon being stuck in their mouth much easier if you make your move earlier. By a couple months of age she was eating the rice cereal as quickly as I could get it to her little lips.

A few weeks ago Trace hit a feeding frenzy. Every two hours he was crying for more. He was getting up more at night, to eat, of course. It seemed that the more we fed him, the more he had to have. We finally got the picture that the formula just wasn't cutting it. Rice cereal it was.


He didn't hesitate when dad offered the first bite. Slurping, sucking and sticking his tongue out for more. I had made just a small bit to start with, thinking that even the small serving would go half to waste. Not so with this growing prince. He ate every last spoonful.

Over the course of the last three weeks or so we've increased the rice cereal he gets each day, first a tablespoon just one time a day. Then two tablespoons each morning. This week we've gone to two tablespoons twice a day. I can't recall a feeding that any has been wasted. We've even spiced things up by adding a small spoonful of prunes or peaches to the cereal mix.

Unlike his predecessors, he's so taken with his new food he's fairly clean in polishing it off. With the exception of a small amount that inevitably gets smeared on his face near his mouth, bib, hands and seat stay relatively clean (he's not willing to miss out on any).

His new love affair with cereal just might be responsible for the ever diminishing gap in weight between he and Alysse ... just two ounces separate them now. She better watch out, next week we're bringing out the squash.