A Solid Food Story by a Young Mother

My daughter was only out of the womb for an hour the first time she ate. Fortunately she had no problem latching on and started healthy eating habits from the get go. She was an average size baby, 7 pounds 6 ounces, by the time we brought her home she was 7 pounds. They told us that it was normal for babies to lose weight in the first few days and not to be concerned. 
She continued to grow but her weight gain has been slow. When we went to her 4-month check-up the doctor advised that we should keep nursing her until six months, unless we felt she was not satisfied. At around 5½ months, she seemed hungrier than normal and I didn't think I was producing enough milk for her, so I decided to try to give her some rice cereal.
While at her last doctor's appointment I read an article about homemade baby food, they said it was simple to make and better for the baby because it didn't have all of the preservatives that the jarred food had. I was inspired and purchased the supplies I would need to make my own. When it came time to make the rice cereal I took out my coffee grinder and threw in the brown rice. In the recipe they recommended making it in a pot on the stove and whisking for about 15 minutes. I decided that was unnecessary and threw it in the microwave which was a disaster. I could not get the cereal the right temperature, I must have tried 5 different ways and it still came out wrong. 
My husband found my struggle very amusing and proceeded to laugh as I became more and more frustrated, I thought this was going to be simple. I finally got the rice to an amenable consistency only to realize I had no little bowls or kids' plates to put it in. A small glass would have to do for now. We began to feed her the cereal, she was not sure what to make of it and I don't think the sand like consistency was helping. She was making the most hilarious faces as my husband continued to shove bites that were 3 times bigger than they should be into her mouth. I wasn't sure about my decision; perhaps I had jumped the gun so I decided to wait a few days before trying the cereal again. 
The next time I tried I had the same problem; the cereal was a wreck. I was a rice cereal chef failure. That afternoon I went to Target to get some things and decided to purchase some pre-made baby cereal. I was also able to pick up some baby bowls and spoons; I was armed and ready for our next attempt. I came home and whipped up some of the cereal. The box did not mention anything about heating up the cereal; simply add the desired liquid, stir and serve. Making this cereal was a breeze, no mess and no struggles with the temperature. 
It was time for the final test; I put my little nugget in her seat and prepared her for dinner. Much to my surprise she loved it. She was so excited; she barely took time to swallow before opening her mouth for another bite. Perhaps I had been led astray in thinking it needed to be served warm; maybe I wasn't a cereal chef failure after all.