The first place Hope and I went after receiving a green light from the pediatrician to start solid foods was the grocery store for some rice cereal.

I’m sure many of you with young children are rolling your eyes, disappointed that we didn’t start our adventure into solids with avocado or sweet potato. Well, just as our family landed on the ever-unpopular bottle feeding and formula supplementation—both no-brainer assurances that our sick and sleepy baby would be as strong as possible going into open heart surgery—so did we accept the guidance of the pediatrician that we wade into solids via rice cereal, due to its simple flavor and digestive tolerability.

Understanding that feeding Hope a tablespoon of rice cereal at 6 months would not guarantee us a sugar-indulging, vegetable-loathing child, we ignored popular opinion and started there. And we even mixed it with formula. [GASP!] Hope loved it.

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I spent my entire pregnancy eating an organic, well-balanced diet. Even my prenatal vitamins were certified free of antibiotics, pesticides, additives, artificial ingredients, and GMOs. So it obviously took some adjusting to our baby eating more formula than breast milk, taking multiple doses a day of Lasix and digoxin, and eventually requiring a blood transfusion, fentanyl, and morphine. But aside from her formula (non-GMO Enfamil), we get to start feeding our baby girl the way our family eats: attempting organic whenever possible and appreciating homemade goodness made of fresh ingredients.

That said, we’re having a ton of fun with The Best Homemade Baby Food on the Planet, written by Karin Knight and Tina Ruggiero, and haven’t met a food we haven’t thoroughly enjoyed. So far we’ve had rice cereal and oatmeal (store-bought) and apple and sweet potato (homemade). Although tricky at first, by day 3 of a new food, Hope is ready to trade in her bottle for whatever comes her way on a spoon.

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