A Spoonful of Cereal...

A spoonful of cereal makes the...spirit go down?

Today Ginny had her first taste of big people food. And she gobbled it up! My little baby has entered a new and exciting phase of life. "Real" food.

So why do I feel a little disappointed?

My previous posts have been about the hilarity and fun times of having a baby around. But today I think I encountered the first bittersweet moment of parenthood. When my daughter starts to gain a little independence from me. Up until now, I provided her with all the nutrition she needed! Thinking about it makes me a little teary even as I am typing this post. And by "a little teary" I mean my face is snotty and there's a pile of tissues by my laptop.

I am very proud of Ginny for loving to learn about new things and her new enjoyment of food. But now I realize that the days of her snuggling up to me to eat are numbered. I was thinking today that there must be special angels that are around mothers and babies during nursing, and that as a baby is weaned, those angels draw away. Part of the sadness of a baby being weaned may be the loss of those heavenly angels. Then it made me wonder, I bet the Lord can relate. There are times in our lives when we happily follow the Lord like little children, but we need to feel independent--we need to make our own decisions. It's part of our growth as people. I wonder how He feels? Is it like this? He's happy we're becoming our own people, capable of truly loving Him--but maybe a little sad to be losing our total innocence? Babies too need independence from their mothers as part of their growth as individuals. (Another tissue on the pile.)

So who knew one measly bowl of rice cereal could do this to a person? I should write Gerber and complain.

My apologies for providing you with a bittersweet parenting post. But I *did* promise I would give you a realistic view of parenthood... I promise-- more gassy baby stories next time!