Yum Yum Yam

"Not bad. Not bad at all..."

This will be short and very sweet:

Lulu and I are elated to report that our first non-nursing feeding was a remarkable success. Not only did she absolutely love sweet potatoes and even wanted more, I surprised myself by being totally okay with this next evolutionary step I had been dreading. In fact, I relished every second. 

Watching my baby take her first taste was pricelessly tender. She must have felt some sort of victory, after months of intently watching us chew, bite, swallow, drink, dunk biscottis in coffee (her mama does that religiously every morning), not to mention cook (I try to talk her through my cooking process as much as possible). She is now one step closer to joining the club. What an enchanted experience it was to see it all in her eyes and through her eyes: the fascination with the color, flavor, sensation in her mouth, the open-eyed curiosity, and even pride, knowing that she now has even more things in common with us. She experimented with ingesting this new substance and once in a while gave us a big smile. 

I remember someone telling me that when you have kids, you get to experience things as if it was your first time. There was something about watching my baby take her first metaphorical bite (no teeth yet, by the way, just teething pain...) that connected me to a primal place of discovering what food tastes like. When was the last time I got to do that?...Not since I myself was an infant. What a privilege it is, to witness the first pure moment, so simple yet so complex, of our baby stepping into this uncharted territory.

I've come a long way from pushing away the idea that Lulu's food would not be breast milk forever to this brand new thrill and fascination with the prospects of sharing the world of food with her- the smells, tastes, colors, textures and so much more. Already planning what's next on the menu!

One day, not too far from now, we will be able to share our favorite meals with Lulu. Curious to find out what her favorite foods are. Will she like black cod, sushi, dark chocolate? Will she like kale? Shiitake mushrooms? My oatmeal with almond milk? 
I think I'm getting a little carried away...This post is also making me hungry. We have left over sweet potato. Yum.